Lyric Analysis 1

Lyric Analysis 1

These are the lyrics from a song by Kendrick Lamar featuring Drake called "Poetic Justice"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyr2gEouEMM

(Intro)

Every seconds, every minute, man i swear that she can get it

Say if you a bad bitch put your hands up high, hands up high, hands up high

Tell'em dim the lights down right now, put me in the mood
I'm talking 'bout dark room, perfume, go, go

(Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar)

I recognize your fragrance, hold up, you ain't ever gotta say s**t, uh

And i know your taste is, a little bit hmm, high maintenance, uh

Everybody else basic, you live life on an every day basis

With poetic justice, poetic justice

If i told you a flower bloomed in a dark room would you trust it?

I mean I write poems in these songs dedicated to you when

Your'e in a mood for empathy, there's blood in my pen

Better yet, where your friend and 'em? I really wanna know you all

I really wanna show you off, f**k that

Pour up plenty of champagne, cold nights when you curse this name

You called up your girlfriends and y'all curled in that little bitty range I heard that

She wanna go and party, she wanna go and party

N****a don't approach her with that Atari, n****a, that ain't good game, homie, sorry

They say conversation rule a nation, I can tell

But i could never right my wrongs 'less I write it down for real, P.S

(Hook)x2

You can get it, you can get it

You can get it, you can get it

And i know just, know just, know, know just, know juts what you want

Poetic justice, put it in a song

(Verse 2: Drake)

I really hope you play this, cause ol' girl you test my patience

With all these seductive photographs and all these on off vacations

You've been taking clearly a lot for e to take in, it don't make sense

Young East African Girl, you too busy f*****g with your other man

I was tryna put on game, but you on a plane

Take you and your momma to the motherland, I could do it

Maybe one day when you figure out you're gonna need someone

When you figure out it's all right here in the city and you don't run where we come from

That sounds like poetic justice, poetic justice

You were so new to this life but Goddamn you adjusted

I mean i write poems in these songs, dedicated to the fun sex

Your natural hair and your soft skin, and your big a*s in that sundress, ooh

Good God, what you doing that walk for?

When I see that thing move, I just wish we would fight less and we would talk more

And they say communication save relations, I can tell

But I can never write my wrongs unless I write 'em down for real, P.S

(Hook)

(Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar)

Every time I write these words, they become a taboo

Making sure my punctuation curve, every letter here's true

Living my life in the margin and that metaphor was proof

I'm talking poetic justice, poetic justice

If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room would you trust it?

I mean you hear this, love is not is not a verb

It's you looking in the mirror, love in not just a verb

It's you looking for it, maybe, call me crazy, we can both be insane

A fatal attraction is common and what we have in common is pain

I mean you need to hear this, love is not just a verb

And I can see power steering, sex drive when you serve

I want that interference, it's coherent, I can hear it, uh-huh

That's your heartbeat, it either caught me or it called me, uh-huh

Read slow and you'll find gold mines in these lines

Sincerely, yours truly and right before you go blind, P.S

(Hook)

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Before analysing these lyrics, I did some research about the song and the album it comes from. This way I could get a new look into the meaning of the lyrics and understand the actual story of the song, therefore I will get a more accurate analysis.

"If i told you a flower bloomed in a dark room would you trust it?" 

He is refers to himself as the flower (good kid) who bloomed in a dark room (Compton).It's almost impossible for a flower to bloom without light, though there are exceptions, leaving hope. However the flower can also represent Sherane herself as it's unlikely that their love can bloom in such dismal circumstances, especially the gang tensions from her cousins.

"Your in the mood for empathy, there's blood in my pen"

A metaphor for the pain and heart he puts into his music. He is also telling us the blood in his pen is all truth and he wants to show both sides of Sherane and not just the bad side.

"I really wanna show you off, f**k that,, Pour up plenty of champagne"

It's uncommon for people in burgeoning relationships to want to showcase their significant other to friends or the public. There is a sense or pride and commitment associated with this interaction. Also the way he says "f**k that" is a referral to his other song A.D.H.D and can also sound like f**k though. This implies living in the moment and not thinking or worrying about anything else. 

                        "But i could never right my wrongs 'less I write it down for real, P.S"
This shows the irony of him being unable to right his wrongdoings and negative experiences of his youth unles he writes them down for real. Everything that he raps in real or has happened and the only way to right his wrong is by writing them. Also the usage of this post script (P.S) is to segue into the chorus by extending the play on the words write/right.

You can get it, you can get it, You can get it, you can get it, And i know just, know just, know, know just, know juts what you want, Poetic justice, put it in a song

Within the context of the short film, "poetic justice" is possibly following him going to see Sherane to get down, but instead he ends up getting jumped by two men in hoodies (see skit). However this also relates the the video when the lyrics are juxtaposed with images of a drive by shooting, implying the meaning of "you can get it", as being exactly that, in the hood, you can become a victim of senseless violence and anytime. 

"Every time I write these words, they become a taboo"

Kendrick's beliefs are considered taboo to mainstream society. Song he has created such as Keisha's song, m.A.A.d City, and P&P contain controversial themes. Also, Kendrick telling these stories and due to the fact that his lyrics contain meaning is taboo to today's rapper as they tend to just rap about money, woman, cars and other materialistic things. 

"Making sure my punctuation curve, every letter here's true, Living my life in the margin and that metaphor was proof"

Kendrick poetically justifies why is writing is vital to hip-hop. To explain this, he sneaks 4 literary mechanisms into the inner-workings of his rhymes (punctuation, letter, margin, metaphor):

- "Make sure my punctuation is curved", i.e. a comma, which is curved, instead of a period, which would signify a full stop. i.e. Kendrick doesn't stop!
- His use of "letter" not only emphasises that each and every character that he writes is truthful, but it also refers yo the fact that each verse of the song is structured as a letter, as evidenced by his sign-off and the postscripts.
- Kendrick "lives his life in the margin", which is literally the small blank space at the end of the lines he writes. Metaphorically he lives his life in the periphery outiside the masses.
- "Proof", as in proofread. One often writes the margin of the page when he is proofreading. But also, a mathematical proof to show the answer and conclusion to your equation. Looks like Kendrick's equation here is sound.

This song goes against the typical hip-hop way of rapping. They are usually more boastful and flashy. Their lyrics are normally about the crimes they are committing, how they are the man and being derogatory towards many woman. However in this song, Kendrick is more poetic and there is a lot more meaning behind the lyrics. He also intelligently links his songs together by either telling a story or hinting certain sayings from other songs. It's also very in contrast to contemporary hip-hop, as early hip-hop was mainly political and poet like. Much like Kendrick's song above.