Very good! BUT only if this is your original comment. If you copied it from another video to receive undeserved likes and attention, you are everything wrong with the modern world and a virus to humanity.
I asked my staff what all this Kendrick/Drake stuff was all about, and I have been down the rabbit hole since early June. I found Curtis King, Justin Hunte and Professor Skye, and I watch your content on a regular basis now. The intelligent points of view have me doing additional research on my own. Kendrick has revitalized my interest in the genre and led me to pay attention to many artists that I would not have given a 2nd look before the "beef". Now, me and my 58 year old classic rock junkie self, is the person who let my staff know that Kendrick dropped on Friday and they were gobsmacked! I have listened to GNX on repeat with no skips, along with everything I can find of Kendrick's from Black Hippy to Mr. Morale. Thank you gentlemen, for all of your insights and thank you Kendrick, for being the artist that you are. Come on Super Bowl, which I hope will have 2 Lamars as I am a diehard RAVENS fan.😂🎶💜🖤🏈
Love it! And love that YOU told your staffers he dropped. 😂 Their mouths probably fell open with surprise. I have been playing it constantly as well. I agree. These three are very insightful. I love hearing their perspectives. Happy listening!
CORRECTION: Kendrick said he thinks when Drake see himself (Drake) and sexy Red together (picture) he (Drake) see two bad b-words. Kendrick does not see Drake that way. He said Drake sees himself that way.
As a Mexican. Hearing how Spanish this album was is incredible, I haven’t heard religious music sampled in hip hop ever like this. This entire album stands 10 toes for the west, there are no sneak diss’s. This is 2 of 🖕🏾🖕🏾 also “squabble up “ as a nor cal kid was exactly what we needed with a Bay Area beat. That shit thumps hard because we birthed funk and rappers like E40 and Mac Dre. You can smell the entire party when it comes on
@@ronaldtuckercvaHe is talking about as far as rap music, we know Ohio birth the era of funk. But it was Too short and other Bay Area artists in the late 80s early 90s who incorporated the sound of funk in their rap music. This is facts.
In a 2012 interview with Complex, K Dot revealed his father drove him home from the hospital in the parent model of the GNX, a Buick Regal. Lamar was also born in 1987, when Buick released the Regal and the GNX. "When I was born, I came home from the hospital in an '87 Buick Regal while my pops was bumping Big Daddy Kane," said
@@TheDrWillybeast this is interesting because it looks like the second car in the GNX video snippet is a regular 87 Regal, which is exciting thematically if the second album hypothesis comes true.
Right as you were talking about the corporate appropriation of hip-hop (at 16ish minutes in) RUclips cut in with an ad for Fortnite that zoomed in on a digital Snoop Dogg. Couldn’t have been a better/worse time for that ad to appear.
@@professorskyeI’d be mortified if I knew the people watching the content I put my heart and soul into were being interrupted by a video game version of Snoop Dogg (or god knows what other of the multitude of scam products you see on RUclips ads, normal companies seem to avoid associating their name with random RUclips creators).
#AVAA The connection between Tupac Shakur and Kendrick Lamar is deeply poetic, almost fateful, and radiates a melancholic beauty. Tupac, who never lived past the age of 25, died before he could realize the full extent of his potential. And yet in that short time he burned like a beacon, a restless spirit who thought deeply about social justice, life and humanity. He fought with all the passion of a man who knew he had little time left, and his music was a mixture of anger, pain and unconditional love for his community. Kendrick Lamar, born into a world that still carries Tupac's spirit, has grown older than Tupac was ever allowed to. This paradox - that Kendrick is more successful today and carries on Tupac's legacy - is both beautiful and tragic. While Tupac took on the role of a martyr who couldn't fulfill his dreams in death, Kendrick has the privilege and burden of carrying those dreams forward. Both are on a journey together, but with different fates. Kendrick was inspired by Tupac's work, he grew up listening to his songs, absorbing the energy, pain and hope that Tupac put into his lyrics. In Kendrick's music you can hear the echo of Tupac's voice, the urge to think beyond individual destiny and address the deep wounds of an oppressed community. Songs like "Mortal Man" reflect this connection - they're almost like conversations between two spirits living in different times but fighting the same battles. It's bittersweet that Kendrick walks in the path of his hero, yet experiences a kind of success that Tupac never could. Every step Kendrick takes on his musical journey seems to pay homage to Tupac - not only in the topics he covers, but also in the spiritual connection he feels to him. It's as if Tupac paved the way, and Kendrick is now walking on it, into a future that Tupac wished for but never saw. There is something beautiful in this tragedy: Kendrick lives not only for himself, but also for Tupac. While Tupac became a myth, a figure who could never age, Kendrick has the responsibility to keep his hero's legacy alive, but also to outgrow it. The thought that Kendrick is now older than Tupac ever was is a painful one, because it reminds us of how much was taken from us by Tupac's untimely death. And yet, in every new Kendrick song, in every further stage of his success, Tupac lives on, not as a lost soul, but as an eternal inspiration. This contrast - Tupac's tragic end and Kendrick's ongoing journey - is the essence of a story that is both sad and beautiful. It is the story of two souls who have never met, but are forever connected through art.
Beautiful... and so tragic. Pac was the first artist I loved who died - I was 14. It was devastating. I feel he's missed even more today than ever - he is *so* badly needed in the US right now. Just coincidentally (or not) I rewatched the Dear Mama docuseries the two nights before this album dropped, and had just finished listening to Dot's tracks from Like That to Watch The Party Die, and GNX came out right as the last song finished lol Stylistically, Dot always reminded me more of another top 5 of mine, Andre3000, and I always felt that he was inspired by Pac more on a spiritual level. But listening to this album, you _definitely_ hear it.
I love K Dot but honestly Pac was more than introspective. Pac put his life on the line. Kendrick has not, he’s only alluded to the corrupt power structure. Pac had Killuminati, and was actually about to dismantle the power structure with his voice of the people. To me Kendrick has yet to speak on the government/politics. Is Kendrick willing to die to put it on the line. I don’t think so because Pac is the example.
Luther Vandross passed away (to me, unexpectedly), and I was so heartbroken it took me @ 10 years to listen to him again. "Lutha" was sewn into the fabric of Black Folk. #AVAA
I can not lie, I was skeptical about watching a GNX breakdown from a white man (respectfully) but the way you correlated Kendrick to the car was almost poetic. The explanation about Isaiah- chefs kiss. You did ya big one with this my boy
Man at the Garden is a top 5 rap song ever. He writes from the perspective of Adam in the Garden of Eden, then Jesus in the Garden of Gethsamane, then Jesus from the cross. Listen again! Then he one ups the One Mic escalating cadence, with that Phil Collins vibe before he crashes out lyrically, ala Mike Tyson in the Hang Over 2. That's writing!!
@@gintoki_sakata__ It's almost as if music is highly subjective, and them saying it is top 5 ever is just as relevant as you saying it isn't. Just appreciate different perspectives rather than defaulting into attacking them.
Dodger blue is one of my favorite tracks and I love it even more that he placed it 8th on the album. Dodgers 8th chip this year! Maybe just a happy coincidence but absolutely love that.
That’s the first song I played off the album and yeah it’s my favorite so far 😂 it’ll probably change in a couple of days bc the album is still so new, but it’s the one rn 🌊🩵
The dangerous thing about this album is this is the first time you hear Kendrick Lamar truly enjoying the fullness of his creative potential. Literally having fun tapping into a variety of untouched aspects of black life, correction, American Life. The power of this album won't be completely realized until people try to go from this project back to the parallel music of this season. It's going to be like shifting between a home cooks soul food dinner and McDonald's. McDonald's is good but not after you just had mac and cheese and yams. By the time the super bowl performance comes he actually may be able to change the appetite of those who consume rap music. This was officially between Kendrick and the recotd industry at this point. It's up to us, the listener, the underground writers, and the connoisseurs of urban soundscape to help him push the new narrative. You can't watch the party die but you can change the way we party, in the words of flavor Flav party for the right to fight versus Beastie boys fight for the right to party. This Kendrick Lamar season is the most powerful thing that happened since Kanye West college dropout
Nope! We gon' let the party DIE. Burn to the ground and from the ashes. . . . BEAUTY shall arise. Shout-out to the Yay-area, Dirty water, Cool-E, and my folks off Western/Adams, and the not so famous anymore, Roscoe's C&W hole in the wall but it's still all good!
Expecting high praise... this is a masterpiece on many levels. This album has the vibe of the greatest hits from each decade for the last 60 years, while being fun, deep, honest, and inspiring. Kendrick if you see this - message received big bro, I got you.
@@huealexg3068 That's okay, different things have different meaning to different people. I can only speak for myself, as a black american (half white too) , The culture is important to me, Hip hop is important to me, Black Excellence is important to me, Knowledge is important to me. Calling out BS and Propaganda is important to me. You don't have to like it, it may not be for you.
To me the GNX is symbolic for Kendrick reaching the point of his career he wanted to get to. He talks about him being cautious about buying expensive cars on Damn. Then it was a lexus. But all he ever wanted was a GNX, and evidently he got it. He won against drake, got the superbowl, he won.
I think the Latin influences are in a way fully defining the "Us" in "Not Like Us". Sort of like Kendrick is saying this is for the people who get it and everyone else can catch up at their own pace.
This is the first video I’ve seen that actually explained anything about the GNX and the significance to the title. I made a comment about this on several videos and even dropped a post on FB… Its crazy how so many people missed this…
#AVAA Professor! When I heard the "crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious" my mind went to the Drake beef (I know, not everything is about the beef, sorry). Crazy = Euphoria (hidden meanings, openner), Scary = 6:16 (there's a mole inside, be careful), Spooky = Meet the Grahams (haunting) and Hilarious = Not Like Us (we're boopping to PDF file allegations). It's like he created the "four stages of beef" haha I loved the album, he takes his craft less seriously and it feels like he is more comfortable in his own skin and place in this industry. Very fun to listen to -- and as you said, it is this good and it might not even crack the top five of the year. What a great reset 2024 has been for this art form, looking foward to Hip Hop in 2025 and beyond!
NOPE. . . .that's not it. . . . . . . .go back and listen to what he said and what he's saying. . . .it's so simple if you from the WEST Coast. . . . ..MUSTAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD.
AVAA! I'd like to share some context for the album title (Buick Grand National X) from the 1986 Grand National review done by RUclips legends Regular Car Reviews. The channel is run by two English Master's holders and tends to place more emphasis on placing cars into cultural and historical context rather than focusing on numbers, often delving into literary analysis techniques to pull meaning from the machines they cover, and their discussion of the Grand National perfectly mirrors some of the themes Kendrick approaches on this record. "The Buick Grand National is a tangible example of when all pretenses, worries, fears, and doubts are shaken off and we unleash the grand power of our national optimism." America NEEDED the Grand National in the mid-80s when national pride was at an all-time low, and Buick delivered a Batman-esque hero clad in black. The Grand National X also adds some additional flavor with it being the final model year and final year of production from the factory in which it was born. Would highly recommend anyone interested in this album to also give that video a watch, it's some of their best work (and you don't have to be a "car guy" to enjoy their content whatsoever).
Killer Mike is a Car Guy. Took a Grand National to the Grammes just this year. Road And Track ran an article on his cars where he said, "The Grand National is an outlaw’s car. All black, looks mean, like a movie outlaw, a movie villain. We always cheer for them, and they always have a cool car."
It does feel a lot like Kendrick is (continuing) to say to Mike (and RTJ), as El-P said in "Stay Gold": "You gonna love how we ride to the gates on a lion, high and smiling/Me and Mike we just think alike, we can't stop high fiving"
There’s been speculation that we’re getting another album bc the promo vid has a snippet that’s not on this album. Also sounds like it could’ve been produced by EL-P (praying for an RTJ feature)
I'm born and raised in Detroit, a music enthusiast, and let me tell you Prof., we LOOOOOOVE Luther, but generally the music you showed on the side with Anita, Teddy, etc. is/has been what our 3 major radio stations play....ALL day. While you're at work. While in the store. As long as i can remember, and I'm no spring-chicken. We call these heavily rotated soul/R and B classics, the "jams" and many of us also view these artists a lil' differently than those respected legends on the other side of your graph (except maybe Marvin and Aretha on certain 'jams' such as "Got To Give It Up" and "Jump to It"). The 'jams' are songs we play at cookouts and when playing cards (Frankie Beverly and Maze, The O'Jays, Chaka, Teena Marie, Stephanie Mills). Sam Cooke we respect but seldom actually listen to in these settings. The production/instrumentation is probably a big factor...Aretha's "Jump To It" is a 'jam' though not as known to White folks, due to the style of production, probably. Hope that helps...oh, and the Luther record that always get's invited to the soulful barbecue is Never Too Much. GENERALLY speaking, we refer to the best Luther as 'big Luther', rather than 'skinny Luther' lol. Great video as usual
AVAA, I love this Kendrick Lamar album becuase feels cozy and comfortable in its own space. Recently there's new raise and discussion of 'Cozy Fiction', basically stories, films, TV series and comics that don't necessarily push the boundary of art but refines its well established norms to tell a story that readers can read with ease. GNX is an album that doesn't attempt to challenge but feels like a warm hug or a greeting from a past era that leaves feeling bittersweet. Love this vid, and keep pushing Prof.
I agree with this but i think he’s right with the vandrotis scale that it will feel comfortable for the people who like it and to those who it is weird and not normal it will feel unorthodox and uncomfortable.
Luther has my heart. To me, it sounds like a love song but a love song about hip hop and his love of black music, people, and culture. (Take your enemies in front god introduce `em to that light, in this world concrete flowers grow, I wouldn't give these nobodies no sympathy I'd take the pain away, I just wanna see you win.) And even when he's on about "'Rari, crown, wrist, froze," these are common symbols appearing in rap music and hip hop culture. And one of the cheekiest: "pound, on the way home," sounds like speakers to me. This one brings a tear to my eye. It's very endearing to me, his earnest desire for the hip hop community to see and value itself and their creations the way he sees and values them.
It’s also called Gloria because the pen he uses is named Gloria. On the commercial for the Dr Dre Super Bowl Ken is using the Gloria model pen as he writes.
I am convinced that this video was better than ANY lecture a professor of a university could give. Thank you, thank you so much for your explanation and wealth of knowledge. Hopefully you will do this many more years! All the best to you and your family! I will go and buy some mustard now
Hey man. You’re brilliant. And as a fellow passionate white hip hop fan. I appreciate your willingness to get with our own responsibilities and proper place as being part of the culture, but not OF the culture. It’s nuance I have struggled to convey and you do it so well.
I'm a 40 something white person who loves me some Teddy, Luther and Anita. Actually, I love everyone on that VandrOtis scale. I think you'll find that it's getting more common for us whities to appreciate these artists because of the advent of Tik Tok. Us Gen Xers already knew, but the younger generations are starting to expand their music knowledge through this medium. Just my opinion, and I'm sure it's not the only reason, but it's one of the big ones. Top class Prof! An appreciative student from Australia 🙏🏻 P.S Never Too Much (1981) ~ Luther Vandross is an absolute must have and also his unbelievably amazing debut album. Start there and you can't go wrong.
Great reaction and breakdown, Kendrick is unapologetic. I love that he brings the old back. Cars, music, people, cadences. This album has been on rotation in my home and car. HipHopppp. 🔥
Who needs to spend hours creating graphics and editing etc.. when the good ol’ sharpie and paper and a few print outs are just as effective! I fucking love it!!!
AVAA, the thing about this album is that people say it’s not as complex as the rest of his catalog. I beg to differ. Kendrick is so deep that he made it simple. GNX is riding music.
Oh wow. Even as a Spanish speaker I didn’t catch the callback to Anita baker in Gloria, great connection there. Also loved learning about pacs producer being Mexican! I had no idea. Like you mentioned with low rider culture/ free style music- Historically we definitely have a lot of shared culture here in cali so it’s been a real joy to see that connectedness showcased in this album
im so excited to hear your takes and picking this apart. i expect an insane analysis of the gnx car and a whole contextualization of the buick lol edit: also, i wanna start a petition with the goal that you should upload all these reviews as a podcast on spotify.
About the song "Reincarnated" my initial thought was that when the story of Michigan 1947 is mentioned, that Kendrick is referencing the legend/myth of a guitarist encountering the devil at a crossroads to get their guitar tuned by the devil, in order to become the greatest guitarist alive and at the same time selling their soul while acquiring the chords that entices human beings to further entice other souls.
@jamila9416 Exactly! the devil being a spirit that possesses the ability to overtake the souls of men, gets the human experience hence the different emotions that affects our nature being mentioned etc etc. One concern tho' regarding this theory .. Kendrick later mentions himself by name on the track .. Did he parlay with the devil or not?
He was talking about Chuck Berry and Billie Holiday (and Tupac obviously). The Robert Johnson stuff was a lot earlier actually, I'm pretty sure he was dead by the time chuck berry even got famous, but the Deal with the Devil or "Lucy" has been atheme on many albums
@@evaircostasantos7401 that’s definitely good for thought and something to consider bc he’s always trying to balance the scales with righteous deeds. Could the motivation be bc he did the devils bidding and is asking for mercy, Grace, and forgiveness 🤔
@ nah he was talking about his past life regression experience and how it fucked his head up nd to have a better understanding look up what past life regression is all abt
AVAA 20:40 this is one reason why you're so great and valuable as a RUclipsr and commentator! Every time a new rap album comes out I can't wait to get in-depth, unique, and valuable analysis literally a couple days after it comes out... KEEP ON COOKIN’!
1:12:15 AVAA but one correction: as someone from the Bay, we don't prepend highway names with 'Route'. We'll call the 5 'the 5' and the 10 'the 10' but for with any free/highways with multiple syllables, we will refer to it only by its number (i.e 680 or 101)
Don’t think we didn’t notice the image of Kendrick next to the one of Darth Vader in the background, the Anakin parallels: whacked out murals with him drawing a line in the sand, GNX=the darth vader, imperial march vibes with MUSTARDDDDDDD
Bro i love your content. I'm an African and I was skeptical of your stuff in the beginning coz it sounded like you were making fun of black culture until you did watch the party die and I got to appreciate the way you comment,its exactly your outside view that makes your stuff interesting and funny at the same time. Keep it up👍🏽
You are the Scott Van Pelt of reviewers. Always invited to the barbecue, always yourself when you come. I appreciate your commentary and analysis. Far better explanations in your interpretation of the situation than 90% of these content creators shoving content out based on nonsense and guesstimating. I look forward to your prospective, although not always right you are always honest. #AAVA keep up the awesome work and thanks for taking the time to invest in a culture that is misunderstood and mishandled far to often. Great job Sir. 🙏🏿 #AVAA
@ 🤔hmmmmmmm….. I like it. Definitely could be but Nardwar knows all, and I do mean all you business like nobody else. “Might be the Feds” 😂 level of information lol. So I’ll give you a close but no cigar on that one. 👍🏿
Great point about Kendrick incorporating latin artists/sounds into the album. If we agree that Kendrick is on a mission to revive hiphop, it's worth noting that a lot of the more interesting stuff happening in the genre these days is from Spanish language artists.
I have yet to watch the whole video, but this album feels like a statement from Kendrick. I think this album is like a press conference after an event, a football game or a fight, where the player talks about what they just did or what they're gonna do moving forward; talk about their thoughts post event. So, no, I don't think this is a typical Kendrick epic (GKMC, TPAB, DAMN, Mr. Morale), this album feels more like his press conference moment. A great one, but not a typical Kendrick release.
#AVAA Maybe somebody else has already brought it up but another more subtle aspect about the GNX is that there is a robust pseudo-community and market dedicated to replicating the look and sometimes performance of the GNX using standard Grand Nationals and even regular Regals. Maybe certain artists have to spend money and resources on parts to attempt to mimic the greatness that he represents?
AVAA, MAD FOR, JACK DORsey. It’s not an end rhyme but it fits the rhyme scheme and pocket he’s rapping in. It’s a fun way to maneuver over a beat to have rhymes that target a word’s syllables imo, great video, skye da goat!
#AVAA Have not started the vid but I understand that the idea that he was mainly playing to his two sides. With him mentioning he's a Gemini all the time it isn't a reach. I also think there's another album coming. Furthermore, this might be the birth of a new persona, a la MF DOOM or countless other rappers with other personas. Love your channel prof!
I have been a big fan of your work for like 2 years now and have gotten many friends to join me along the way. This is why. Out of all the people trying to jump in and get the bag for being the first to give a breakdown of these albums and tracks it is hard to find a single interesting angle between the lot, just tired takes, clickbait nonsense, and surface level analysis they got off lyric genius. And then in your first 10 minutes you give a beautiful and complex interpretation of the album title that shows research, dedication, empathy, knowledge, and a unique personal relationship to this culture. You are the best at this specific thing you do. Much love.
#AVAA You comparing Kendrick to Isaiah is the kind of analysis I live for! I’ve been trying to process my feelings about Kendrick and Drake tying to a larger mythology this whole year and you calling it. A holy is exactly what I’ve been trying to put my finger on. PS what’s your other channel? I would love to see your Katt Williams video.
#AVAA Excellent analysis, I enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed your analysis of Reincarnated. I believe reincarnation is both a gift and a curse. It's a gift because it's another chance, while a curse because it's the result of failure, in a past life. I believe Kendrick grapples constantly with his potential for failing to adequately learn the lessons of each lifetime, failing to balance his duality. This is one of the reasons I love his art, as he grapples with pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, to different degrees. 7 deadly sins common within the music industry. Many of his songs on this album represent those sins, which leads me to believe that there's more to come. Perhaps another side that balances these themes, not that I'm dissatisfied, it just seems likely.
Exactly. I "glaze" Nas since i was a tiny little 7 yr old girl and I "glaze" him now. I "glaze" Elton John & Billy Joel**, The Beatles, The Mars Volta because the greats are deserving. Kendrick, i glaze this artist. We are blessed to live in the same timeline really
@@LisaLee__ I'll never forget the very first time I listened to Deloused. My very first job, working in a record store (!!!), and my boss was listening to that record on the day it got released. "Ohh you NEED to listen to this" ... Dude. I know, I know that you know.. That feeling of this is how a kid in the 70s must've felt like listening to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd for the very first time. I love many many artists and bands now, but The Mars Volta? Cedric and Omar? ... They made me fall in love with music. I don't know you, okay? But.. Yeah *brofist*
@@LisaLee__ Oh and dude, I don't know if you fell into the rabbit hole that is Omar's Discography, but I just have to recommend a fellow TMV fan to listen to "Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group Live Los Angeles (WIP) II" It's just.. UGGGHHHHHH
@typischer_typ the chills that I KNOW you got even remembering listening to Deloused the first time... bro I was 16 and moving yo Florida with my cousin. We're driving and she puts on Frances The Mute and my brain exploded. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was magical and tremendous and unique, unexpected and it changed my life. I came back to NYC after a few months, and went to quite a few shows up and down the coast and met some of my favorite people ever at them. Being a black Dominican girl from Queens, definitely made me stand out in other shows like Deftones or a few other bands shows but it never mattered. TMV fans are always all love, shouts to you friend. Very cool memory, and you unlocked a few of mine 🫶🏽
Notice the progression: "Wacced out murals" uses the Whoudini, "Friends;" sample, as does 2Pac in "Troublesome." Moving on to Nas... "if this world were mine;" Nas- "If I ruled the world," just before, "man at the garden." Anybody else see a connection? Oh, yeah, Nas also sampled Whoudini, "Friends," in, "If I ruled the world." Nice work KDot!
Personally, I think we are reading this as an album, but it is actually a mixtape. I believe it is DJ Hed that says he wished he could just be an underground rapper and make mixtapes. Listen to the samples and I think this is a mixtape. It just happens to be a very good mixtape. Also, I think this is a mixtape for California and no one else. It just happens to be released to everyone.
I think the same thing. On top of what you said, the promo for the project wasn't even on the album (like squabble up//not like us music video), and also he drops the heart pt x before album releases, just what I think, I an open to being told I'm overthinking as well.
Mid premiere AVAA, but just to address what you said, another "cars as metaphors" that comes to mind is when Kanye said: "1985 white Lamborghini Countach, two of 'em" on Watch the Throne. I think a pair of Countachs is a strong metonymy for the early 2010s Ye and Hov era.
Hey professor Skye, AVAA, just one thing that'll make your life more difficult. I'm a hispanic but I don't speak Spanish, "people that speak spanish" is not as inclusive as you think, Hispanic or Latino is fine and nearly all encompassing of our different ethnicities. Just throwing that out there I'm not actually upset about that or anything but there is no tone over text, so. Love what you do and your videos. You got me thinking about being a professor one day.
Hey Prof, Power of Love and Never Too Much are the main Vandross albums I grew up with. I hear a Vandross song and I feel my mom's love. There's no difference in my mind. Pure warmth and comfort. Black love and black excellence. Iykyk. When I heard Kendrick sampling vandross in the first seconds of that track I paused and gasped-- it's so bold sampling Vandross. He means so much to us. But of course Kendrick did it with grace.
we absolutely love the fact you make such detailed analyses so quickly after an album drops, no need to have it all figured out to get your initial thoughts out, especially when you’re onto something !!!
AVAA! Its crazy how much time and effort you put into youtube with everything else going on in your life and its much appreciated! I have been listening to the second part of tv off on repeat for the past hour and one thing I noticed is that the mustard scream doesnt really have an audible D at the end (unless im just mishearing lol). Kendrick is yelling MUSTER, and the trumpets are calling for war as Kendrick says there is only one king, him, and he is coming to conquer New Orleans for the superbowl or will be rallying people/the troops at the superbowl for the revolution (tv off, the revolution will not be televised). EDIT: Saw you live comment on almost not doing the mustard and peekaboo stuff and let me say that I absolutely love those sort of tangents and slice of life things in your videos, it really adds a lot to the vibe of your channel. Definitely keep being you!
Breaking down Kendrick Lamar - reincarnated Kendrick starts with a sample of Tupac and uses his cadence to deliver this song. But this song isn't from Tupacs perspective... Kendrick mentions "past life regressions". This is a practice that uses hypnosis to recover memories from past lives... Kendrick throughout the song lives through 3 different lives. First he is a blues guitar test that dies rich and happy but didn't really give anything back to the world. Second he is a female vocalist with heavy drug addictions (some say Billy holiday, some say Whitney but that's not the point) Last he is himself Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick then references the Bible verse Isiah 14 "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations" Morning star = Lucifer This can all be up to interpretation but... Kendricks music discography he references many times 1. Playing God 2. The evils of Lucy/possession/influence Kendrick feels that artists (himself mainly) are all Lucy or fallin angels in a way. Large influential figures who "missuse their influence" He ends the track talking with God... They go back on fourth on how he uses his influence and how he will do better with it. Then kendrick ends it with "And I’m ashamed that I ever created that enemy I rewrote the devil’s story just to take our power back, ‘carnated" Not a perfect breakdown but feel like the focus is only on Tupac.
Last comment: In reincarnated Kendrick starts off by saying he had a past life regression. A past life regression walks one into their subconscious and through the regression they have access to past lives they have lived. With that being said I believe that the first two verses are him speaking about his OWN past lives and who he was in them. That is why in the last verse he says in my present life as Kendrick Lamar. Just my take.
Same here. . .was thinking Chuck Berry (1947) and either Billie Holiday or Dinah Washington . . . . . .I hate that Kendrick Lamar Duckworth causes us to research and know that we know what we know when we know it.
“You need to stop being afraid of Glazing people when they’re great” 🗣️🔥🔥🔥🔥
YES!!
Except that "glazing" is a $exual reference, and used as a h-m-phobic insult.
@@davidday2373 Where did you get that one from, it's just used to bring people who like an artist too much, down. But certainly not homophobic.
Exactly. You can do that while also not worshipping idols and celebrities. Both can work.
@davidday2373 fxck your feelings.
The parallel between the black excellence of the GNX and the black excellence of Kendrick should receive some sort of RUclips award
you can see this man's a professor
when he mentioned that kendrick's birth year is the same as the gnx my mind blew
@ same same🔥🙏🏾
@@deathgobbler4774 incredible 🔥🔥🔥
no shade to professor but it really couldn't be more obvious in the record, it's really not subtle if you google the car for 2 minutes.
It's only Dijon if it's from the Dijon region, otherwise it's just MUSTAAAAAAAAAARD!!!!!!
jesus, now i need Mk.gee and Dijon to hop on a Dot track with Mustard.
fuckin....tangy ass sammich.
@@brandonburton5928lmfao
Very good! BUT only if this is your original comment. If you copied it from another video to receive undeserved likes and attention, you are everything wrong with the modern world and a virus to humanity.
@@jamesmccaul2945what other video could that have possibly been copied from dude?
@@jamesmccaul2945 who pooped in your fruit loops, Jimmy?
I asked my staff what all this Kendrick/Drake stuff was all about, and I have been down the rabbit hole since early June. I found Curtis King, Justin Hunte and Professor Skye, and I watch your content on a regular basis now. The intelligent points of view have me doing additional research on my own. Kendrick has revitalized my interest in the genre and led me to pay attention to many artists that I would not have given a 2nd look before the "beef". Now, me and my 58 year old classic rock junkie self, is the person who let my staff know that Kendrick dropped on Friday and they were gobsmacked! I have listened to GNX on repeat with no skips, along with everything I can find of Kendrick's from Black Hippy to Mr. Morale. Thank you gentlemen, for all of your insights and thank you Kendrick, for being the artist that you are. Come on Super Bowl, which I hope will have 2 Lamars as I am a diehard RAVENS fan.😂🎶💜🖤🏈
I LOVE THIS!!
Love it! And love that YOU told your staffers he dropped. 😂 Their mouths probably fell open with surprise. I have been playing it constantly as well.
I agree. These three are very insightful. I love hearing their perspectives.
Happy listening!
😈💜🖤
This was beautiful to hear, I appreciate you for sharing that. ❤
I wish all youtube comments were as well thought out, honest and brilliant like this. Love it!!!
CORRECTION: Kendrick said he thinks when Drake see himself (Drake) and sexy Red together (picture) he (Drake) see two bad b-words.
Kendrick does not see Drake that way. He said Drake sees himself that way.
Thank you exactly!
That's an interesting distinction. Linguistically, either works, but yours makes great sense.
its been like 5+ months and i still dont understand what the hell that means
@@PenziPitlergaminglook up the picture of Drake and Sexxxy Red. it speaks for itself.
@@ian_dot_com ima be real, i dont have enough rap iq to understand, enlighten me pls
As a Mexican. Hearing how Spanish this album was is incredible, I haven’t heard religious music sampled in hip hop ever like this. This entire album stands 10 toes for the west, there are no sneak diss’s. This is 2 of 🖕🏾🖕🏾 also “squabble up “ as a nor cal kid was exactly what we needed with a Bay Area beat. That shit thumps hard because we birthed funk and rappers like E40 and Mac Dre. You can smell the entire party when it comes on
I feel like Dot heard the complaints that there wasn’t enough Latino representation at the Pop Out and addressed it on GNX
Funk is from Ohio nice try
@@ronaldtuckercvaHe is talking about as far as rap music, we know Ohio birth the era of funk. But it was Too short and other Bay Area artists in the late 80s early 90s who incorporated the sound of funk in their rap music. This is facts.
@ that would be EPMD sweetie
@ you mean DMX 😂😂
In a 2012 interview with Complex, K Dot revealed his father drove him home from the hospital in the parent model of the GNX, a Buick Regal. Lamar was also born in 1987, when Buick released the Regal and the GNX.
"When I was born, I came home from the hospital in an '87 Buick Regal while my pops was bumping Big Daddy Kane," said
@@TheDrWillybeast this is interesting because it looks like the second car in the GNX video snippet is a regular 87 Regal, which is exciting thematically if the second album hypothesis comes true.
Love that story. I remember too, he said his moms telling Dad to turn the music down and Dad says “no he needs to hear this”
@@robonick3607nardwuar!
Right as you were talking about the corporate appropriation of hip-hop (at 16ish minutes in) RUclips cut in with an ad for Fortnite that zoomed in on a digital Snoop Dogg. Couldn’t have been a better/worse time for that ad to appear.
Hilarious!
@@slymcbeans crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious #avaa
@@professorskyeI’d be mortified if I knew the people watching the content I put my heart and soul into were being interrupted by a video game version of Snoop Dogg (or god knows what other of the multitude of scam products you see on RUclips ads, normal companies seem to avoid associating their name with random RUclips creators).
#AVAA
The connection between Tupac Shakur and Kendrick Lamar is deeply poetic, almost fateful, and radiates a melancholic beauty. Tupac, who never lived past the age of 25, died before he could realize the full extent of his potential. And yet in that short time he burned like a beacon, a restless spirit who thought deeply about social justice, life and humanity. He fought with all the passion of a man who knew he had little time left, and his music was a mixture of anger, pain and unconditional love for his community.
Kendrick Lamar, born into a world that still carries Tupac's spirit, has grown older than Tupac was ever allowed to. This paradox - that Kendrick is more successful today and carries on Tupac's legacy - is both beautiful and tragic. While Tupac took on the role of a martyr who couldn't fulfill his dreams in death, Kendrick has the privilege and burden of carrying those dreams forward.
Both are on a journey together, but with different fates. Kendrick was inspired by Tupac's work, he grew up listening to his songs, absorbing the energy, pain and hope that Tupac put into his lyrics. In Kendrick's music you can hear the echo of Tupac's voice, the urge to think beyond individual destiny and address the deep wounds of an oppressed community. Songs like "Mortal Man" reflect this connection - they're almost like conversations between two spirits living in different times but fighting the same battles.
It's bittersweet that Kendrick walks in the path of his hero, yet experiences a kind of success that Tupac never could. Every step Kendrick takes on his musical journey seems to pay homage to Tupac - not only in the topics he covers, but also in the spiritual connection he feels to him. It's as if Tupac paved the way, and Kendrick is now walking on it, into a future that Tupac wished for but never saw.
There is something beautiful in this tragedy: Kendrick lives not only for himself, but also for Tupac. While Tupac became a myth, a figure who could never age, Kendrick has the responsibility to keep his hero's legacy alive, but also to outgrow it. The thought that Kendrick is now older than Tupac ever was is a painful one, because it reminds us of how much was taken from us by Tupac's untimely death. And yet, in every new Kendrick song, in every further stage of his success, Tupac lives on, not as a lost soul, but as an eternal inspiration.
This contrast - Tupac's tragic end and Kendrick's ongoing journey - is the essence of a story that is both sad and beautiful. It is the story of two souls who have never met, but are forever connected through art.
Beautiful... and so tragic. Pac was the first artist I loved who died - I was 14. It was devastating. I feel he's missed even more today than ever - he is *so* badly needed in the US right now. Just coincidentally (or not) I rewatched the Dear Mama docuseries the two nights before this album dropped, and had just finished listening to Dot's tracks from Like That to Watch The Party Die, and GNX came out right as the last song finished lol
Stylistically, Dot always reminded me more of another top 5 of mine, Andre3000, and I always felt that he was inspired by Pac more on a spiritual level. But listening to this album, you _definitely_ hear it.
@@Jimmy1982Playlists oh wow, that must have been some intense feelings to listen to his tracks from this year and then immediately get hit with that
beautiful perspective @ComptonFunk
It's a weird obsession with Tupac
I love K Dot but honestly Pac was more than introspective. Pac put his life on the line. Kendrick has not, he’s only alluded to the corrupt power structure. Pac had Killuminati, and was actually about to dismantle the power structure with his voice of the people. To me Kendrick has yet to speak on the government/politics. Is Kendrick willing to die to put it on the line. I don’t think so because Pac is the example.
This, by far, was THE most interesting roller coaster of a music review I have ever seen.
The car stuff got me.
Skye is an enigma haha
Facts ❤
And I love a good roller coaster ride! 💜
Peeka- you!
“Babylon is Jack Harlow’s A&R” quite possibly one of the hardest Professor Skye quotes ever AVAA
Idgi
@@RaymondRAYCE🤷🏾♀️it’s provocative gets the people going
But look up the Jamaican saying: Babylon fi dead 👀👀
i missed the reference, what’s the deal with Jack’s A&R?
shout out Nemo
@@odd_double0I think its just saying whoever at the label pushed him into that more stale industry/pop sound
Luther Vandross passed away (to me, unexpectedly), and I was so heartbroken it took me @ 10 years to listen to him again. "Lutha" was sewn into the fabric of Black Folk. #AVAA
Never will forget his humble beginnings with the group, Change, him sanging his Medium-Size Lutha off in In The Glow Of Love!
I can not lie, I was skeptical about watching a GNX breakdown from a white man (respectfully) but the way you correlated Kendrick to the car was almost poetic. The explanation about Isaiah- chefs kiss. You did ya big one with this my boy
I keep having this little feeling of doubt with Skye. And he keeps proving himself to me.
GNX AND BLACK AIR FORCES. Some Dangerous work there 😅
Man at the Garden is a top 5 rap song ever. He writes from the perspective of Adam in the Garden of Eden, then Jesus in the Garden of Gethsamane, then Jesus from the cross. Listen again! Then he one ups the One Mic escalating cadence, with that Phil Collins vibe before he crashes out lyrically, ala Mike Tyson in the Hang Over 2. That's writing!!
OMG I was wondering if Gathsemene but hadn’t considered Adam and then the Cross….. thank you!
This comment has made me cry 🥹 now I’m going to listen again…..
Thanks for sharing this so I can be mindful of it next time I listen
Ever? 😂😂
Nah man
@@gintoki_sakata__ It's almost as if music is highly subjective, and them saying it is top 5 ever is just as relevant as you saying it isn't. Just appreciate different perspectives rather than defaulting into attacking them.
The way I shouted “CRUISIN DOWN THE STREET IN MY 64”
on the money. Born 1982. We know exactly what time it is.
You know I did exactly the same thing hahahah
Dre’s Let me ride came to mind. 😅
Born in 01 and did the same damn thing. It’s crazy how some lyrics transcend generations
90s bb and I immediately wanted to shed a tear bc he knew the assignment
I screamed when he said it!😂😂😂😂
An hour til premiere? Just enough time to listen to GNX 1.5 times.
Edit: OK fine, 1.333333333333 more times
#AVAA
enough times to listen 1 and 1/3 of the album
🤓@@rakeemkoroma2398
😂😂
1.25 hrs to listen, not 1.5.
@@nakho3550 lmfao.
Dodger blue is one of my favorite tracks and I love it even more that he placed it 8th on the album. Dodgers 8th chip this year! Maybe just a happy coincidence but absolutely love that.
It might be fav Kendrick song
That’s the first song I played off the album and yeah it’s my favorite so far 😂 it’ll probably change in a couple of days bc the album is still so new, but it’s the one rn 🌊🩵
🫡‼️‼️‼️
✊🏾
Ha, nice catch! It’s Kendrick so I’m choosing to believe it’s not coincidence
Thanks!
Wow, thank you! Seriously amazing support.
@@professorskye no problem you do an amazing job
The dangerous thing about this album is this is the first time you hear Kendrick Lamar truly enjoying the fullness of his creative potential. Literally having fun tapping into a variety of untouched aspects of black life, correction, American Life. The power of this album won't be completely realized until people try to go from this project back to the parallel music of this season. It's going to be like shifting between a home cooks soul food dinner and McDonald's. McDonald's is good but not after you just had mac and cheese and yams. By the time the super bowl performance comes he actually may be able to change the appetite of those who consume rap music. This was officially between Kendrick and the recotd industry at this point. It's up to us, the listener, the underground writers, and the connoisseurs of urban soundscape to help him push the new narrative. You can't watch the party die but you can change the way we party, in the words of flavor Flav party for the right to fight versus Beastie boys fight for the right to party. This Kendrick Lamar season is the most powerful thing that happened since Kanye West college dropout
100 Amens to that! Thank you!!!
Nope! We gon' let the party DIE. Burn to the ground and from the ashes. . . . BEAUTY shall arise. Shout-out to the Yay-area, Dirty water, Cool-E, and my folks off Western/Adams, and the not so famous anymore, Roscoe's C&W hole in the wall but it's still all good!
Expecting high praise... this is a masterpiece on many levels. This album has the vibe of the greatest hits from each decade for the last 60 years, while being fun, deep, honest, and inspiring. Kendrick if you see this - message received big bro, I got you.
I really seem to be the only person eho didnt like it
@@huealexg3068I'm here to say you're not.. I'm with you
@@gintoki_sakata__ finally man youre literally the first person to agree with me
@@huealexg3068 That's okay, different things have different meaning to different people. I can only speak for myself, as a black american (half white too) , The culture is important to me, Hip hop is important to me, Black Excellence is important to me, Knowledge is important to me. Calling out BS and Propaganda is important to me.
You don't have to like it, it may not be for you.
I loved this album!!! My favorite songs are wacced out mural and man in the garden!!
To me the GNX is symbolic for Kendrick reaching the point of his career he wanted to get to. He talks about him being cautious about buying expensive cars on Damn. Then it was a lexus. But all he ever wanted was a GNX, and evidently he got it. He won against drake, got the superbowl, he won.
Cruising down the street in my ‘64 is absolutely the defining lyric of west coast rap. Also my family owns one so that’s sick
#AVAA ... at this point, Kendrick Lamar is not even trying. He is in his ELEMENT...!!!
real’.!!
I think the Latin influences are in a way fully defining the "Us" in "Not Like Us". Sort of like Kendrick is saying this is for the people who get it and everyone else can catch up at their own pace.
This is the first video I’ve seen that actually explained anything about the GNX and the significance to the title. I made a comment about this on several videos and even dropped a post on FB… Its crazy how so many people missed this…
It's already a classic video
#AVAA Professor!
When I heard the "crazy, scary, spooky, hilarious" my mind went to the Drake beef (I know, not everything is about the beef, sorry). Crazy = Euphoria (hidden meanings, openner), Scary = 6:16 (there's a mole inside, be careful), Spooky = Meet the Grahams (haunting) and Hilarious = Not Like Us (we're boopping to PDF file allegations).
It's like he created the "four stages of beef" haha
I loved the album, he takes his craft less seriously and it feels like he is more comfortable in his own skin and place in this industry. Very fun to listen to -- and as you said, it is this good and it might not even crack the top five of the year. What a great reset 2024 has been for this art form, looking foward to Hip Hop in 2025 and beyond!
Kendrick is top 5 every time he drops
I think you might be onto something there.
Awesome take!
NOPE. . . .that's not it. . . . . . . .go back and listen to what he said and what he's saying. . . .it's so simple if you from the WEST Coast. . . . ..MUSTAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD.
the captain crunch in the background was a nice touch
Along with some mustard!
*LARGE
AVAA! I'd like to share some context for the album title (Buick Grand National X) from the 1986 Grand National review done by RUclips legends Regular Car Reviews. The channel is run by two English Master's holders and tends to place more emphasis on placing cars into cultural and historical context rather than focusing on numbers, often delving into literary analysis techniques to pull meaning from the machines they cover, and their discussion of the Grand National perfectly mirrors some of the themes Kendrick approaches on this record.
"The Buick Grand National is a tangible example of when all pretenses, worries, fears, and doubts are shaken off and we unleash the grand power of our national optimism."
America NEEDED the Grand National in the mid-80s when national pride was at an all-time low, and Buick delivered a Batman-esque hero clad in black. The Grand National X also adds some additional flavor with it being the final model year and final year of production from the factory in which it was born. Would highly recommend anyone interested in this album to also give that video a watch, it's some of their best work (and you don't have to be a "car guy" to enjoy their content whatsoever).
Thank you for the recommendation.
Thank u 2
Killer Mike is a Car Guy. Took a Grand National to the Grammes just this year. Road And Track ran an article on his cars where he said, "The Grand National is an outlaw’s car. All black, looks mean, like a movie outlaw, a movie villain. We always cheer for them, and they always have a cool car."
It does feel a lot like Kendrick is (continuing) to say to Mike (and RTJ), as El-P said in "Stay Gold": "You gonna love how we ride to the gates on a lion, high and smiling/Me and Mike we just think alike, we can't stop high fiving"
There’s been speculation that we’re getting another album bc the promo vid has a snippet that’s not on this album. Also sounds like it could’ve been produced by EL-P (praying for an RTJ feature)
@@yuhmuhfuhkuh I would give anything for you to be proven correct. But I am keeping my expectations low lol
@@joshuascott3894 I'm in the same boat. I would kill for an EL-P produced Kendrick album.
Serves the same function as the black forces
I'm born and raised in Detroit, a music enthusiast, and let me tell you Prof., we LOOOOOOVE Luther, but generally the music you showed on the side with Anita, Teddy, etc. is/has been what our 3 major radio stations play....ALL day. While you're at work. While in the store. As long as i can remember, and I'm no spring-chicken. We call these heavily rotated soul/R and B classics, the "jams" and many of us also view these artists a lil' differently than those respected legends on the other side of your graph (except maybe Marvin and Aretha on certain 'jams' such as "Got To Give It Up" and "Jump to It"). The 'jams' are songs we play at cookouts and when playing cards (Frankie Beverly and Maze, The O'Jays, Chaka, Teena Marie, Stephanie Mills). Sam Cooke we respect but seldom actually listen to in these settings. The production/instrumentation is probably a big factor...Aretha's "Jump To It" is a 'jam' though not as known to White folks, due to the style of production, probably. Hope that helps...oh, and the Luther record that always get's invited to the soulful barbecue is Never Too Much. GENERALLY speaking, we refer to the best Luther as 'big Luther', rather than 'skinny Luther' lol. Great video as usual
Detroit in the houuusseeeee!!! I love Luther DOOWWNNNN and I’m 27. He was the fabric of our hearts and lives frfr. May he rest peacefully.
AVAA, I love this Kendrick Lamar album becuase feels cozy and comfortable in its own space. Recently there's new raise and discussion of 'Cozy Fiction', basically stories, films, TV series and comics that don't necessarily push the boundary of art but refines its well established norms to tell a story that readers can read with ease. GNX is an album that doesn't attempt to challenge but feels like a warm hug or a greeting from a past era that leaves feeling bittersweet. Love this vid, and keep pushing Prof.
This comment is exactly how I feel
This is exactly why i love this album
I agree with this but i think he’s right with the vandrotis scale that it will feel comfortable for the people who like it and to those who it is weird and not normal it will feel unorthodox and uncomfortable.
Totally agree with this, it has a real warmth and sweetness and didn't even give oxygen to any of the drama going on in the world for the most part
the vandrotis scale killed me lol 😂
my FAVORITE part of the video
thank u professor skye’s family!!!!!!
Luther has my heart. To me, it sounds like a love song but a love song about hip hop and his love of black music, people, and culture. (Take your enemies in front god introduce `em to that light, in this world concrete flowers grow, I wouldn't give these nobodies no sympathy I'd take the pain away, I just wanna see you win.) And even when he's on about "'Rari, crown, wrist, froze," these are common symbols appearing in rap music and hip hop culture. And one of the cheekiest: "pound, on the way home," sounds like speakers to me.
This one brings a tear to my eye. It's very endearing to me, his earnest desire for the hip hop community to see and value itself and their creations the way he sees and values them.
Similar to Poetic Justice, actually.
It’s also called Gloria because the pen he uses is named Gloria. On the commercial for the Dr Dre Super Bowl Ken is using the Gloria model pen as he writes.
Yes. He's in love with hip hop (Gloria) just like in Brown Sugar, they ask the question, "When did you fall in love?. . . .with Hip Hop."
I am convinced that this video was better than ANY lecture a professor of a university could give. Thank you, thank you so much for your explanation and wealth of knowledge. Hopefully you will do this many more years! All the best to you and your family!
I will go and buy some mustard now
Hey man. You’re brilliant. And as a fellow passionate white hip hop fan. I appreciate your willingness to get with our own responsibilities and proper place as being part of the culture, but not OF the culture. It’s nuance I have struggled to convey and you do it so well.
The fact you admit you're not a real one when it comes to being a West Coast Rap fan makes you a certified real one just for your honesty in my books
8:26 Prof just called K dot 'disrespectful'. Sounds like he wants his own dis track. AVAA
lol be warned
I'm a 40 something white person who loves me some Teddy, Luther and Anita. Actually, I love everyone on that VandrOtis scale.
I think you'll find that it's getting more common for us whities to appreciate these artists because of the advent of Tik Tok.
Us Gen Xers already knew, but the younger generations are starting to expand their music knowledge through this medium. Just my opinion, and I'm sure it's not the only reason, but it's one of the big ones.
Top class Prof! An appreciative student from Australia 🙏🏻
P.S Never Too Much (1981) ~ Luther Vandross is an absolute must have and also his unbelievably amazing debut album. Start there and you can't go wrong.
Thank you prof’s family for putting up with him.
Great reaction and breakdown, Kendrick is unapologetic. I love that he brings the old back. Cars, music, people, cadences. This album has been on rotation in my home and car. HipHopppp. 🔥
Thank you family skye for putting up with the professor
this the one
Was scrolling for this. AFAA! (Awesome Family As Always)
Who needs to spend hours creating graphics and editing etc.. when the good ol’ sharpie and paper and a few print outs are just as effective! I fucking love it!!!
Its been such a blessing and learning experience to witness this year of hip hop. I feel bad for anyone who wasn't paying attention.
“We gon be alright!” Is the essence of hip hop in one line to me.
This breakdown is unbelievable!! 😮
*NEW SUB
Welcome! Grab a drink and have a seat 💺 ❤😂
AVAA, the thing about this album is that people say it’s not as complex as the rest of his catalog. I beg to differ. Kendrick is so deep that he made it simple. GNX is riding music.
EL PROFE HABLANDO ESPAÑOL? IVCS (INCREÍBLE VÍDEO COMO SIEMPRE)
un capo
Professor Skye, I learn a lot about qualitative research methods with your analyses, you’re helping me with my PhD 🎉
Thank you professor Skye's family for putting up with this on a Sunday morning!
I feel like every time i listen to you my brain grows 10 times thanks sky. Also Luther grew on me and is my top 3 songs of the album too. #AVAA
Oh wow. Even as a Spanish speaker I didn’t catch the callback to Anita baker in Gloria, great connection there. Also loved learning about pacs producer being Mexican! I had no idea. Like you mentioned with low rider culture/ free style music- Historically we definitely have a lot of shared culture here in cali so it’s been a real joy to see that connectedness showcased in this album
#AVAA 😂 The "Vandrotis" scale is taking me OUT 😂😂 But I fully understood the graph and what you were getting at.
AVAA I'm not even done but Professor this is your funniest episode yet
First the glazing rant and then the privately practicing crip walk 😂
The Vandrotis scale was an incredible visual lol, thank you
im so excited to hear your takes and picking this apart. i expect an insane analysis of the gnx car and a whole contextualization of the buick lol
edit: also, i wanna start a petition with the goal that you should upload all these reviews as a podcast on spotify.
About the song "Reincarnated" my initial thought was that when the story of Michigan 1947 is mentioned, that Kendrick is referencing the legend/myth of a guitarist encountering the devil at a crossroads to get their guitar tuned by the devil, in order to become the greatest guitarist alive and at the same time selling their soul while acquiring the chords that entices human beings to further entice other souls.
I thought he was speaking on his pass life regression nd it messed him up I’d assume that’s what he seen when he traveled
@jamila9416 Exactly! the devil being a spirit that possesses the ability to overtake the souls of men, gets the human experience hence the different emotions that affects our nature being mentioned etc etc. One concern tho' regarding this theory .. Kendrick later mentions himself by name on the track .. Did he parlay with the devil or not?
He was talking about Chuck Berry and Billie Holiday (and Tupac obviously). The Robert Johnson stuff was a lot earlier actually, I'm pretty sure he was dead by the time chuck berry even got famous, but the Deal with the Devil or "Lucy" has been atheme on many albums
@@evaircostasantos7401 that’s definitely good for thought and something to consider bc he’s always trying to balance the scales with righteous deeds. Could the motivation be bc he did the devils bidding and is asking for mercy, Grace, and forgiveness 🤔
@ nah he was talking about his past life regression experience and how it fucked his head up nd to have a better understanding look up what past life regression is all abt
AVAA 20:40 this is one reason why you're so great and valuable as a RUclipsr and commentator! Every time a new rap album comes out I can't wait to get in-depth, unique, and valuable analysis literally a couple days after it comes out... KEEP ON COOKIN’!
95.5% of Black Folk in America knew why he name dropped Pepsi and not Coke. #AVAA
Yep. Like red kool-aid not being "cherry"!!!
Pepsi.....
Not racist
1:12:15 AVAA but one correction: as someone from the Bay, we don't prepend highway names with 'Route'. We'll call the 5 'the 5' and the 10 'the 10' but for with any free/highways with multiple syllables, we will refer to it only by its number (i.e 680 or 101)
Right. We, the Yay say, 880, 580, 80 . . . . . when we hit LA, it's 405 / the 10
And the Canadians got the 6 from the bay.
@@shawkattuffaha-hw3rw What's "the 6"?
Don’t think we didn’t notice the image of Kendrick next to the one of Darth Vader in the background, the Anakin parallels: whacked out murals with him drawing a line in the sand, GNX=the darth vader, imperial march vibes with MUSTARDDDDDDD
Bro, you saying you don't front was hilarious. That whole segment. Take this like and sub 😂
Bro i love your content. I'm an African and I was skeptical of your stuff in the beginning coz it sounded like you were making fun of black culture until you did watch the party die and I got to appreciate the way you comment,its exactly your outside view that makes your stuff interesting and funny at the same time. Keep it up👍🏽
You are the Scott Van Pelt of reviewers. Always invited to the barbecue, always yourself when you come. I appreciate your commentary and analysis. Far better explanations in your interpretation of the situation than 90% of these content creators shoving content out based on nonsense and guesstimating. I look forward to your prospective, although not always right you are always honest. #AAVA keep up the awesome work and thanks for taking the time to invest in a culture that is misunderstood and mishandled far to often. Great job Sir. 🙏🏿 #AVAA
But can he be the Nardwar?
@ 🤔hmmmmmmm….. I like it. Definitely could be but Nardwar knows all, and I do mean all you business like nobody else. “Might be the Feds” 😂 level of information lol. So I’ll give you a close but no cigar on that one. 👍🏿
Great point about Kendrick incorporating latin artists/sounds into the album. If we agree that Kendrick is on a mission to revive hiphop, it's worth noting that a lot of the more interesting stuff happening in the genre these days is from Spanish language artists.
I have yet to watch the whole video, but this album feels like a statement from Kendrick. I think this album is like a press conference after an event, a football game or a fight, where the player talks about what they just did or what they're gonna do moving forward; talk about their thoughts post event. So, no, I don't think this is a typical Kendrick epic (GKMC, TPAB, DAMN, Mr. Morale), this album feels more like his press conference moment. A great one, but not a typical Kendrick release.
#AVAA
Maybe somebody else has already brought it up but another more subtle aspect about the GNX is that there is a robust pseudo-community and market dedicated to replicating the look and sometimes performance of the GNX using standard Grand Nationals and even regular Regals. Maybe certain artists have to spend money and resources on parts to attempt to mimic the greatness that he represents?
Update after the squabble up video released. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH
AVAA, MAD FOR, JACK DORsey. It’s not an end rhyme but it fits the rhyme scheme and pocket he’s rapping in. It’s a fun way to maneuver over a beat to have rhymes that target a word’s syllables imo, great video, skye da goat!
#AVAA Have not started the vid but I understand that the idea that he was mainly playing to his two sides. With him mentioning he's a Gemini all the time it isn't a reach. I also think there's another album coming. Furthermore, this might be the birth of a new persona, a la MF DOOM or countless other rappers with other personas.
Love your channel prof!
I have been a big fan of your work for like 2 years now and have gotten many friends to join me along the way. This is why. Out of all the people trying to jump in and get the bag for being the first to give a breakdown of these albums and tracks it is hard to find a single interesting angle between the lot, just tired takes, clickbait nonsense, and surface level analysis they got off lyric genius.
And then in your first 10 minutes you give a beautiful and complex interpretation of the album title that shows research, dedication, empathy, knowledge, and a unique personal relationship to this culture. You are the best at this specific thing you do. Much love.
I absolutely love listening to your breakdowns professor. Much love from Oslo, Norway! ❤️
#AVAA You comparing Kendrick to Isaiah is the kind of analysis I live for! I’ve been trying to process my feelings about Kendrick and Drake tying to a larger mythology this whole year and you calling it. A holy is exactly what I’ve been trying to put my finger on.
PS what’s your other channel? I would love to see your Katt Williams video.
Never would I have thought I’d be eagerly awaiting a hip hop album breakdown from a French professor but here we are. Big fan!!
Not me..waiting for prof skye's breakdown since Friday. Nope. Definitely not me😂😂❤.
Same😊. I'm too cool for school, lol❤❤❤❤❤😊 but I am present.
#AVAA
Excellent analysis, I enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed your analysis of Reincarnated. I believe reincarnation is both a gift and a curse. It's a gift because it's another chance, while a curse because it's the result of failure, in a past life. I believe Kendrick grapples constantly with his potential for failing to adequately learn the lessons of each lifetime, failing to balance his duality. This is one of the reasons I love his art, as he grapples with pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, to different degrees. 7 deadly sins common within the music industry. Many of his songs on this album represent those sins, which leads me to believe that there's more to come. Perhaps another side that balances these themes, not that I'm dissatisfied, it just seems likely.
I'm so ready
"You dont have to be BIG to be powerful" words to live by
This album is so good. Loving the analysis so far.
Professor, you have the most wonderful breakdowns in all of RUclips. Keep doing what you doing! And tell your family thank you for sharing with us!
Cap’n Crunch in the back!! 👏🏽 👏🏽 😂 ✊🏽
Exactly. I "glaze" Nas since i was a tiny little 7 yr old girl and I "glaze" him now. I "glaze" Elton John & Billy Joel**, The Beatles, The Mars Volta because the greats are deserving. Kendrick, i glaze this artist. We are blessed to live in the same timeline really
Thank you for mentioning The Mars Volta! ❤
@typischer_typ still so dope meeting other fans haha
@@LisaLee__ I'll never forget the very first time I listened to Deloused. My very first job, working in a record store (!!!), and my boss was listening to that record on the day it got released. "Ohh you NEED to listen to this" ...
Dude. I know, I know that you know.. That feeling of this is how a kid in the 70s must've felt like listening to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd for the very first time.
I love many many artists and bands now, but The Mars Volta? Cedric and Omar? ... They made me fall in love with music.
I don't know you, okay? But.. Yeah *brofist*
@@LisaLee__ Oh and dude, I don't know if you fell into the rabbit hole that is Omar's Discography, but I just have to recommend a fellow TMV fan to listen to "Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group Live Los Angeles (WIP) II"
It's just.. UGGGHHHHHH
@typischer_typ the chills that I KNOW you got even remembering listening to Deloused the first time... bro I was 16 and moving yo Florida with my cousin. We're driving and she puts on Frances The Mute and my brain exploded. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was magical and tremendous and unique, unexpected and it changed my life. I came back to NYC after a few months, and went to quite a few shows up and down the coast and met some of my favorite people ever at them. Being a black Dominican girl from Queens, definitely made me stand out in other shows like Deftones or a few other bands shows but it never mattered. TMV fans are always all love, shouts to you friend. Very cool memory, and you unlocked a few of mine 🫶🏽
Ciao from Italy. Love this masterpiece. The album too.
#AVAA
29:29 ...Those people are his Childhood Friends... Those people are his street family, hood family, west coast familia....
This the breakdown I’ve been awaiting!
💪🏾
Notice the progression: "Wacced out murals" uses the Whoudini, "Friends;" sample, as does 2Pac in "Troublesome." Moving on to Nas... "if this world were mine;" Nas- "If I ruled the world," just before, "man at the garden." Anybody else see a connection? Oh, yeah, Nas also sampled Whoudini, "Friends," in, "If I ruled the world." Nice work KDot!
This is an absolute masterpiece
Skye, I can’t stop thinking that you look like a mix of Qui-Gon Jinn in episode 1 and Obi-Wan Kenobi in episode 3
Personally, I think we are reading this as an album, but it is actually a mixtape. I believe it is DJ Hed that says he wished he could just be an underground rapper and make mixtapes. Listen to the samples and I think this is a mixtape. It just happens to be a very good mixtape. Also, I think this is a mixtape for California and no one else. It just happens to be released to everyone.
You're wrong
It's an album
@@gintoki_sakata__ I could be. That's the thing about having an opinion, you could be wrong.
I think if you ordered the songs differently, it would feel more like an album. It’s the jumping between styles that makes it feel like a mixtape, imo
I like niggas like you
I think the same thing. On top of what you said, the promo for the project wasn't even on the album (like squabble up//not like us music video), and also he drops the heart pt x before album releases, just what I think, I an open to being told I'm overthinking as well.
Definitely drake releasing the Heart prt 6 was waccing out kdots mural
woah great take
No the fuck it wasn’t lmfao
Mid premiere AVAA, but just to address what you said, another "cars as metaphors" that comes to mind is when Kanye said: "1985 white Lamborghini Countach, two of 'em" on Watch the Throne.
I think a pair of Countachs is a strong metonymy for the early 2010s Ye and Hov era.
Hey professor Skye, AVAA, just one thing that'll make your life more difficult. I'm a hispanic but I don't speak Spanish, "people that speak spanish" is not as inclusive as you think, Hispanic or Latino is fine and nearly all encompassing of our different ethnicities. Just throwing that out there I'm not actually upset about that or anything but there is no tone over text, so. Love what you do and your videos. You got me thinking about being a professor one day.
Hey Prof, Power of Love and Never Too Much are the main Vandross albums I grew up with. I hear a Vandross song and I feel my mom's love. There's no difference in my mind. Pure warmth and comfort. Black love and black excellence. Iykyk.
When I heard Kendrick sampling vandross in the first seconds of that track I paused and gasped-- it's so bold sampling Vandross. He means so much to us. But of course Kendrick did it with grace.
we absolutely love the fact you make such detailed analyses so quickly after an album drops, no need to have it all figured out to get your initial thoughts out, especially when you’re onto something !!!
This drops 4am Sydney time. How much do i hate myself?
*love
You get new Wiggles songs before we even wake up, tho
AVAA! Its crazy how much time and effort you put into youtube with everything else going on in your life and its much appreciated!
I have been listening to the second part of tv off on repeat for the past hour and one thing I noticed is that the mustard scream doesnt really have an audible D at the end (unless im just mishearing lol). Kendrick is yelling MUSTER, and the trumpets are calling for war as Kendrick says there is only one king, him, and he is coming to conquer New Orleans for the superbowl or will be rallying people/the troops at the superbowl for the revolution (tv off, the revolution will not be televised).
EDIT: Saw you live comment on almost not doing the mustard and peekaboo stuff and let me say that I absolutely love those sort of tangents and slice of life things in your videos, it really adds a lot to the vibe of your channel. Definitely keep being you!
Breaking down Kendrick Lamar - reincarnated
Kendrick starts with a sample of Tupac and uses his cadence to deliver this song.
But this song isn't from Tupacs perspective...
Kendrick mentions "past life regressions". This is a practice that uses hypnosis to recover memories from past lives...
Kendrick throughout the song lives through 3 different lives.
First he is a blues guitar test that dies rich and happy but didn't really give anything back to the world.
Second he is a female vocalist with heavy drug addictions (some say Billy holiday, some say Whitney but that's not the point)
Last he is himself Kendrick Lamar.
Kendrick then references the Bible verse Isiah 14
"How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations"
Morning star = Lucifer
This can all be up to interpretation but...
Kendricks music discography he references many times
1. Playing God
2. The evils of Lucy/possession/influence
Kendrick feels that artists (himself mainly) are all Lucy or fallin angels in a way. Large influential figures who "missuse their influence"
He ends the track talking with God...
They go back on fourth on how he uses his influence and how he will do better with it.
Then kendrick ends it with "And I’m ashamed that I ever created that enemy
I rewrote the devil’s story just to take our power back, ‘carnated"
Not a perfect breakdown but feel like the focus is only on Tupac.
Its Chuck Berry and Billie Holiday, Whitney Houston never played the Chitlin circuit
Last comment: In reincarnated Kendrick starts off by saying he had a past life regression. A past life regression walks one into their subconscious and through the regression they have access to past lives they have lived. With that being said I believe that the first two verses are him speaking about his OWN past lives and who he was in them. That is why in the last verse he says in my present life as Kendrick Lamar. Just my take.
Same here. . .was thinking Chuck Berry (1947) and either Billie Holiday or Dinah Washington . . . . . .I hate that Kendrick Lamar Duckworth causes us to research and know that we know what we know when we know it.
I thought I was the only one that got this he paints a picture all the time