I’ve now listened to TPAB. It’s very good, probably excellent. But, as a dumb white guy, I feel somewhat of a fraud for saying this, or as though I’m crashing a party. Perhaps if I stay I’ll feel more comfortable in time.
I felt the same, though I came to the conclusion it is better to view it along with other challenging art as being something that just expects some effort on behalf of the end-user. I do like a lot of challenging music, late-period Coltrane, ‘2nd Viennese School’ serialism, minimalism etc and they all require a little effort to get to grips with. This stuff is obviously about interpreting the lyrical content, the music, though vastly more complex than some give credit for, was what attracted me to To Pimp A Butterfly in the first place as it showcases Kamasi Washington, Thundercat etc and has some amazing riffs and crazy clever timing to it.
The lyrics have a depth, layering and complexity I have seen nowhere else. It was totally new to me. I’ve never disliked rap. I still have the Grandmaster Flash 12” singles I bought in the early ‘80s (Wheels Of Steel, Message, White Lines), so I was in fairly early back when I was still a new-wave teenager. I also rate Gil Scott Heron as one of my favourite artists of any genre. This is all really accessible and unambiguous music to my mind. I did however lose touch with rap when it went more underground aside from a couple of things like NWA, Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy etc. As such when the music aspect sucked me back in with Kendrick Lamar I was more than a bit surprised that I had no real idea what he was on about and I even made the mistake of taking some lyrics at face value, being put off by the swearing (i.e. not understanding the context, the reappropriating of abuse terms etc).
I also had no knowledge of the history. If a jazz band refers musically to Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Mingus, Coltrane, Ayler etc, or a rock band to Can, Neu!, MC5, Stooges, Wire or whatever there is a good chance I’ll get the nod. If someone refers lyrically to Tupac or Snoop Dog I’ve got no chance. I’ve got a massive gap here to the point I need an instruction manual! I’m also really not good lyrically. I’m not the sort of person who can remember song words at all, e.g. I could probably burp-up a sentence or two of T. Rex or Joy Division, but even there not a full song. Just not how my brain works. I’d actually stand a far better chance of telling you the catalogue/matrix number of the record! As such this may well be more of a challenge for me than for many others.
I’ve found it fascinating and rewarding anyway. This is cutting-edge/next-level protest music. It is exceptionally clever and powerful stuff, and that alone means I want ‘in’. The thing I will avoid at all costs is any attempt to ‘whitesplain’ it to anyone else, and I hope nothing I have written on this thread has been anything other than suggesting it is great art and deserves some effort by the end-user. It is certainly not for me to try and explain what it is about.
PS I really enjoyed Megan Thee Stallion this week too. She was great fun! Who’d have thought a couple of rap acts without live bands could end up my top/most memorable performers of the whole festival?!