Aug 14, 2016 I came across this article by writer Raquel Willis, and in it she talks about the role black women play in the narrative of TPAB. "In the “For Free?” interlude, Lamar repeats through a rapid-fire explanation of his anger at white, capitalist America and the black woman, “This d-ck ain’t free.” This serves as subversion — a penetration and domination of White America, the antagonist. But this unwieldy concept spills over into the consciousness of black men, one that often covets the position of white men without grasping for respect and power on behalf of black women, as well." - Raquel Willis Now overall I feel like the album, while it doesn't praise the black woman, I don't think it necessarily needed to. Its more than enough for Kendrick Lamar to speak on the perspective that he understands and can relate with the most which is the male perspective. I also thought about the fact the Kendrick's lyrics for storytelling are based on the understanding he has of people. So I have to assume the way he represents black women in this album is a reflection of his past and present experiences with black women. Also her point about the for free video doesn't apply when you just listen to the lyrics, because the race of the female is sort of ambiguous. (She mentions needing braziliian wavy hair, which isn't a typical weave type for black women and also calling up her uncle sam who would indeed be a white man). She didn't mention "Complexion", which features a black female artist and in that song in particular he most certainly is speaking to a woman of color. and describing the love that he has for her: "Sneak me through the back window, I’m a good field n----- I made a flower for you outta cotton just to chill with you You know I'd go the distance, you know I'm ten toes down.... So I'mma say somethin' that's vital and critical for survival Of mankind, if he lyin', color should never rival" she definitely wasn't ready for the heavy emasculation of this album and that sounds like a personal problem. (imo), but she does ask why Kendrick didn't just use a white man to represent the Uncle Sam and America references? I guess we'll need Kendrick to explain why he wanted to use the relationship between man and woman to represent his relationship with white America. "I don’t expect Lamar to speak from the black woman’s experience, but I do expect him and our community to actively engage in discussions about the myriad black experiences out there, and that can’t adequately be done when we tie black identity narrowly to heterosexual, cisgender, black men. When you talk about black liberation, you must mean the liberation for all black folks — not just black men. As has been said before, #BlacksLivesMatter means all black lives. If we are to effectively deconstruct a white supremacist American Dream, we must tackle misogyny and the erasure of black women from the portrait, as well. Expanding the ideological media we create and consume would be a great place start." you can read her full excerpt here: Spoiler: To p---- the Black Woman -Raquel Willis
Aug 14, 2016 First off black women are beautiful... and it's no secret that black woman have an overall reputation for being the responsible and reliable gender in the black community... I don't think anyone would argue against that. That being said I have personally been in a few long term relationships with black women... and the ones I have dated all have had a distinct personality disorder.
Aug 14, 2016 Many leaders of the BLM movement (who happen to be women too) wouldn't have supported it if that was true. Not to mention the For Free example is not a good example... the music video was a metaphor. And even if it wasn't a metaphor, it was his own perspective, his experience as a man in Compton.
Aug 14, 2016 It's an old article and I'm pretty sure she apologized on twitter for this. From what I can remember, she admitted the album wasn't about black opression. The album is extremely personal and almost therapeutic to Kendrick as it is about deep depression.
Aug 14, 2016 If there ever was somebody who could throw criticism towards black women it would be Kendrick. In my experience with them tbh I get along with black women. As @reservoirGod said they do tend to have some issues though. You can see why, lots of family issues within the black community can do that to a young woman. BLM kinda focuses on the black male too...black women don't get their issues covered as much.
Aug 14, 2016 Not to mention there's a son about all the complexions a black woman can have, and it also features a female a rapper.
Aug 14, 2016 Such a great comment "I feel Kendrick has done amazing thus far when it comes to empowering all people through his art. From the start, the album cover has several black women on it. I noticed 4 right away. Outside of the only true rap feature on the album being Rapsody, he managed to embrace black woman by ultimately looking at his own shortcomings in a way that shows the importance of woman. If these walls could talk is a man that doesn’t value woman at all. He uses them, makes them want him, and has no love for them. Them the next song, in all his glory, realizes that he doesn’t love himself. Therefore finds himself in a room suicidal. Great juxtaposition redefining his treatment of women and others as a reflection of his own pain. Talk about equlity. Also mentioned in that song is little sister being pregnant. Once again looking at all he has done speaking to 100,000 people but failing to reach a woman dear to him. This project is flawless for what it’s worth. Not in a sense of every second of music being perfect, even though it is up there, but in the sense of marking a point in time in our history as a people of this country. 20 years from now when I play this, I will reflect on todays movement and issues for what it’s worth and be able to provide a bit of a soundtrack to anybody curious about what was going on in America today."
Aug 14, 2016 this literally explains the growth Kendrick went through in understanding self love and overcoming being institutionalized by his environment
Aug 14, 2016 I don't really get it... She admits this album has a lot less hyper-masculinity displayed through it than most rap albums, so why making an article about that one in particular? And like some people have already said, her argument is almost completely based on the use of female figures in the For Free video. That point doesn't apply to the song since the lyrics alone leave room for interpretation.
Aug 14, 2016 She started with a false premise tbh. There's only 2 or 3 BlackLivesMatter songs on the entire album.
Aug 14, 2016 For Free was a metaphor. Listen to Complexion and you'll find the answer. The real question is does TPAB hate the white man
Aug 14, 2016 Also Complexion is probably the most uplifting hip hop song for females this decade besides the Wale cuts
Aug 14, 2016 what kills me is how many people who listened to TPAB but think she is making a lot of sense
Aug 14, 2016 this album triggered so many overreactions from d--- near everybody, whether it be race baiters on fox news, or just ordinary black folk looking for something that isn't there. such a polarizing album. I think that Raquel is completely wrong in her thesis. It just seems like a huge reach to me. Very strange. He's speaking from the perspective of a man. So she should understand that. and TPAB was not solely about black lives matter.
