The Kendrick m.A.A.dness Championship
Welcome back to Kendrick m.A.A.dness! This is it. The final round. The biggest stage. The most important decision that has ever been necessary to make about anything, ever.
That's right -- we're down to our Championship matchups in our respective Kendrick brackets.
Before we reveal them, just one final reminder that yes, Daniel did accidentally delete our initial post explaining the songs in and seeds of the bracket. And did so in a way the entire post is non-recoverable. Here’s a SparkNotes version:
The two of us, along with Housemate Clint, populated the bracket
36 songs made the bracket, with the last 8 ‘at-large’ songs in the play-in games
The top seeds were the top-selling single from each of the respective solo studio albums
Seeding was based on commercial performance, though there was a 2-per-album limit on each seed line, so as to avoid DAMN. and Black Panther getting ALL of the top seeds
Also, if you've missed all the previous installments, here's our analysis of the play-in matchups, the First Round, the Sweet 16, the Elite 8. and of course, the Final 4.
One more very important disclaimer: Micah was sadly unavailable to contribute new thoughts on the final matchup. He has departed for a business trip (and possible CIA covert mission? You never know with that guy) to China, and as he is without the Googles and much of the good Internets, couldn't wire me anything other than letting me know beforehand which song won his bracket. So, in order to fill the void, I've made like a mad Artificial Intelligence scientist and pieced together what I think Micah would say about his championship, based 100% on previous statements he's made about the two songs in previous writings.
We'll start with Simulated Micah's breakdown:
MICAH
Championship: (2) ‘The Heart Part IV’ vs. (6) ‘How Much A Dollar Cost’
This is hard. Like really really hard. If you’ve followed along with us in previous rounds, you’ll know I am a huge fan of both of these tracks.
‘IV’ is a masterpiece. The number of easter eggs packed into the verses are mind-boggling (the most obvious of them being the album promo line “y’all got til April the 7th to get y’all shit together”). But I want to take this opportunity to shout-out the producers, Axl Folie, The Alchemist, Syk Sense & DJ Dahi, for flawlessly threading together four seemingly-mismatched beats into a beautiful organized chaos. Bonus points for the Khalid sample.
I’d be a little torn about giving a loosie (loosie: noun. A released single not included on any larger album or project) the title. But this is no ordinary loosie. After Kendrick starved us for over a year between official releases, ’The Heart Part IV’ immediately reminded all of us who exactly we were doubting. Namely, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I am the greatest rapper alive!”
Of course, the most striking aspect of the song is the four distinct beats. As I wrote about earlier, the producers deserve a ton of credit. But for as great as the production is, Kendrick makes sure that everything comes back to lyricism. After all, he is the “hip-hop rhyme savior”. He asserts his dominance over and over and over again in this song. “Oh yeah, oh yeah, more cars, more lears/more bars, no peers, no scar, no fears, -- f**k y’all, sincere”; “I said it’s like that, dropped one classic, came right back/’nother classic, right back/my next album, the whole industry on a ice pack”; and of course, “You know what time it is, ante up, this is in forever/y’all got til April the 7th to get y’all shit together”.
Then, we have ‘How Much A Dollar Cost.’ For the majority of the seeds, I personally believe the selection committee did a great job. But there are a few songs that got the short end of the stick. In my mind, ‘How Much A Dollar Cost’ is one of those. While its beat is sparse -- just plucked strings and subtle brass -- Kendrick showcases why he is the greatest rapper of our generation. His lyricism, narration, and delivery are unmatched and on full display in ‘Dollar’. The song was a lower seed and didn’t get the automatic bid, but that sure as heck doesn’t mean it didn’t belong in the tourney. The flushed piano chords and lazy horns entrance the listener from the beginning. Kendrick’s subdued, drawling delivery expands on this feeling of vulnerability, only to deliver a gut-punch that’s among the best in his discography.
I was torn up about the winner of this matchup, but what it came to was that ‘Part IV’ showed the same ‘weakness’ (if you can call it that) that many of ‘Dollar’s other opponents did: there’s no rawness. No “Oh, Kenny is human after all”. There’s something just barely missing. Something that ‘How Much A Dollar Cost’ has.
For that reason, it’s my winner. As they say in my new home of Shanghai, dào mùqián wéizhǐ, kěn délǐ kè de zuì jiā gēqǔ huāfèi duōshǎo měiyuán!
Champion: 'How Much A Dollar Cost'
DANIEL
Championship: (4) ‘King Kunta' vs. (8) 'Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst'
I know the whole "gosh, this is so HARD, I love both of these!" trope is played out by now. But I can't reiterate enough how much both of these tracks mean to me in my fandom and appreciation of Kendrick, but more importantly, in my discovery of my love for Rap. Among a field that included at least 15 songs I would count among my current 'Daniel's Top 100 faves' from any genre-- no small feat given the nonstop jukebox of all the music I've come to love that plays in my head --these two stand out, and have made it to the final matchup of them all.
This isn't necessarily ruining the final decision, because as of this sentence, I still don't know who is going to win my bracket. But the truth is that, objectively, seed-be-damned, 'Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst' is Kendrick Lamar's magnum opus. I don't think this would be disputed by most of his fans, nor even the man himself. I'm not sure if you even could dispute it. It's a 12-minute work of art, broken into two parts, parts related in theme but centering in tone and refrain. It’s important to understand the context of the song within the album. good kid, m.A.A.d city is a concept album, all centering around one night that changed Kendrick’s life forever. The message of the first half of the song is that K-dot has matured and recognized that there are many voices begging him to be a voice for those that don’t have one; the politically and culturally voiceless, the young men caught in an angry cycle of violence and death, the young women forced into a life of prostitution and assault. A crucial and gut-wrenching mini-skit intercedes, and segues right into the second half of track, which sets the stage for the next major event: discovering faith in Jesus. The format of this half is noticeably more straightforward. Kendrick is the sole voice, for one, and the backing is nothing more than an almost ethereal vocal throughout. What’s more, there’s no chorus or refrain, simply K-dot’s thoughts, questions and grief unfolding steadily. He repeats “dying of thirst” to indicate his and his peers’ dried-up well of belief and faith. The second skit consists of the rapper and his friends being Saved by an elderly woman, who leads them in a rendition of the Sinner's Prayer. It's some of the most convicting, powerful material Kendrick has in his already impressive discography.
On the other hand, there's 'King Kunta', which punches differently, but not any less forcefully. The beat pays equal parts homage to James Brown, the godfather of soul, and the late Mausberg, a great Compton rapper, and it's an impactful, addicting blend. The title of course draws inspiration from Kunta Kinte, the main character of Roots, and the fictional King Kunta, who stayed true to his heritage, and fought to get to the top despite the 'low society' he came from, provides an inspiration for our rapper. Kendrick lyrically creates a dichotomy wherein he recognizes the odds stacked again himself and his peers from Compton, but also declares his place at the top. He also introduces the "yam" as a literary figure that represents authenticity, power, and prestige, which will make you see Thanksgiving dinner in a whole new way. Lamar himself explains its thesis as “the story of struggle and standing up for what you believe in. No matter how many barriers you gotta break down, no matter how many escape routes you gotta run to tell the truth. That’s what I think we all can relate to.”
'King Kunta', in many ways, is Kendrick in a nutshell. It's empowering, it's cognizant of his context, it's upbeat, it's unabashedly posturing, it's a call to his peers to better themselves, and quite simply, it's lyrically and musically terrific. I remember the first time I heard this song, it was an awakening of sorts; it was the first experience I'd had with a song in a very long time-- perhaps ever-- where I didn't know if I loved it or disliked it, but I knew it was something different that I wanted to listen to again and again.
One thing I consulted when I was having trouble making decisions was the precedent I set (or didn't set) with my selections in our recent Kanye Bracket selections. Ultimately, that nudged me towards my pick in this Championship game. In that instance, I also had a "best work" vs. "personal favorite" matchup, and I went with the objectively better work (though to be fair, 'Jesus Walks' is among my personal favorites, too). This time around, I'm going to be selfish and say instead of the pure objective choice, I'm going to pick the song that's just my favorite, plain and simple. Isn't that what these pop-culture brackets are about anyway? A chance to substitute the reality of 'Bests' with the alternative, 'Favorites'?
My favorite song by Kendrick Lamar, and indeed, likely my favorite song by ANYONE in the last 5 years (though Beyoncé, Sufjan Stevens, and Florence + The Machine have written tracks that have come close), is 'King Kunta.' There was almost an inevitability that I would one day write a blog dedicating my love to it.
Champion: 'King Kunta'
