A Good Kid from a m.A.A.d. City
As one of the most prolic and inuential music artists in the world, Kendrick Lamar is an
enigma. Simultaneously beloved and highly controversial, his art and life continue to inuence
us, whether we realize it or not.
Despite his commercial success—his last four albums not only topped the Billboard charts, but
also earned him seven Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize (the rst ever awarded to a rap artist), and
acclaim amongst hip-hop legends like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre—his work continues to both
entice and confuse Christian listeners. On the one hand, his social criticism, political awareness,
cultural inuence, and self-examination encapsulate reality so well, it’s caused young people,
especially urban youth, to claim him as the voice of their generation. But on the other, the self-
proclaimed Christian’s lyrics are rife with sex, violence, drugs, vulgarities, and profanities.
So who really is Kendrick Lamar? Why is his voice and music so relevant to the current
generation? And is it something we should be concerned about? How can parents engage in
loving and biblical conversation with their Kendrick fans in a way that helps them to think
deeper about what they listen to and whom they follow?
Who is Kendrick Lamar? What’s his story?
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born in 1987 in an area of Los Angeles populated by gangs. He
grew up in the Compton area, which is Blood territory and notoriously known as “Bompton”
(for words that begin with “C,” Bloods change it to a “B” to distinguish themselves from the
Crips). His parents originated from Chicago, where his father was a member of the Gangsta
Disciples, a gang that conquered the Southside of Chicago. They decided to move to Compton
with only $500 in their pockets in hopes of a better life. Unfortunately, they only traded gangs
for poverty. The Duckworths lived in Section 8 housing, and with no education, the only jobs
accessible to them were fast food joints or, in desperate moments, hustling on the streets.
In spite of all this, Kendrick was a straight-A student and had hopes of playing college hoops.
Though he wasn’t a gang member himself, most of his close friends in high school were Bloods,
and through his aliation with them, he was often confronted by rival gangs and lived in a
neighborhood where gunshots were the norm. He eventually converted to Christianity after a
close friend was killed during a tragic altercation.
How did he become a rapper?
In elementary school, Kendrick started writing poetry at the encouragement of one of his
teachers. Eventually, his words were tested among rap enthusiasts in the high school yard,
where students would form a circle and take turns spitting their rhymes for crowd approval.
Through those rap battles, Kendrick was given the name K-Dot. K-Dot eventually signed with
an independent record label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), as a new artist and released
several mixtapes that circulated throughout LA. The two albums under TDE that placed him on
the map and catapulted him to mainstream fame were Overly Dedicated and Section.80, both of
which captured the attention of music producer Dr. Dre, who signed him with Aftermath and
Interscope Records. Under this label, Kendrick has released 3 albums from 2012 to now, as well
as co-produced the soundtrack to the 2018 Marvel blockbuster, Black Panther.
What influences him, his music, and his style?
The trials and tribulations of his upbringing saturate his music, providing inspiration for
his albums, but he was also inuenced by West Coast hip hop. (One of the rst West Coast
rappers came “Straight Outta Compton”[warning: strong language].) N.W.A. helped birth the
controversial “gangsta rap” and was the rst West Coast group to have a political voice.
Kendrick was born shortly after their song “Boyz-n-the-Hood” was released. In addition,
Kendrick says that the rapper who had the greatest inuence on his music is Tupac. Lamar was
eight years old and sitting on his father’s shoulders when he watched Tupac lm the video for
“California Love” in his neighborhood.
So what does he rap about?
His three main albums are a collective dialogue with himself wrestling with faith, the realities
he faced in Compton, the temptations and joys of fame, and his survivor’s guilt of escaping the
hood while leaving his friends and family behind. Each album builds on these experiences. We’ll
break down them.
good kid, m.A.A.d city
This album released in 2012 and is the real-life tale of a “good kid” (Kendrick) adapting to the
hostile environment of gangs, drug abuse, crime, and poverty in a “m.A.A.d city” (Compton).
The rst six tracks deal with this “good kid” getting sucked into criminal activities and
destructive behavior with his friends, which eventually leads to committing robbery, run-ins
with the Crips, sex, and the death of a friend. But the album doesn’t glamorize the street life;
rather, it illustrates its chaos and depression. Also, the album begins and ends with the prayer
of salvation, rst recited by a group of teenagers and later recited both by the teenagers and an
older woman from the neighborhood. The album ultimately reminisces his conversion. Kendrick
revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair that he was baptized twice, once when he was 16 (the
age of the good kid in his album) and later in adulthood.
To Pimp a Buttery
Due to the success of his rst album, this second album (released in 2015) was highly
anticipated. It deals with his survivor’s guilt, what it means to be a leader, and his frustration
with becoming an urban hero while simultaneously feeling powerless to save his hometown.
The sixth track, “u,” unveils Kendrick’s battle with depression after hearing that three of
his childhood friends were murdered, all in one summer. His frustration with being on tour
performing while his friends were being buried, discovering his teen sister was pregnant, and
reports concerning the Michael Brown trial and Ferguson put him in a very dark place.
But despair would turn to hope in the latter part of the album. He explores his leadership on
the track “i,” attempting to break up a gang ght and doing a freestyle to bring peace. The
album’s title song is really asking the question, “How can I turn my success into something
positive for my community—the urban community—to embrace?” In other words, how can he
“pimp” this situation for good? (By “pimp” he means, that in the same way that street pimps
manipulate and use women’s bodies for prot, how can he maneuver and utilize his celebrity
status for something actually good?) On the nal track, “Mortal Man,” Kendrick recites a poem
to his idol, Tupac, after having a ctional conversation with the deceased rapper. The poem
[warning: strong language] talks about the relationship between the caterpillar and buttery,
which illuminates the album title further:
The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it. Its only job is to eat or consume
everything around it, in order to protect itself from this mad city. While consuming its environment
the caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive. One thing it noticed is how much the world shuns
him, but praises the buttery. The buttery represents the talent, the thoughtfulness, and the
beauty within the caterpillar. But having a harsh outlook on life, the caterpillar sees the buttery
as weak. And gures out a way to pimp it to his own benets. Already surrounded by this mad city,
the caterpillar goes to work on the cocoon which institutionalizes him. He can no longer see past his
own thoughts. He’s trapped. When trapped inside these walls, certain ideas start to take root, such
as going home and bringing back new concepts to this mad city. The result? Wings begin to emerge,
breaking the cycle of feeling stagnant. Finally free, the buttery sheds light on situations that the
caterpillar never considered, ending the eternal struggle. Although the buttery and caterpillar are
completely dierent, they are one and the same.
Despite all its vulgarities, this nal track asks some tough questions and encapsulates a
struggle that so many feel but never articulate.
DAMN.
All of this led to DAMN. (2017), which reaches deeper into the person of Kendrick, exploring the
complexity of his inner struggles with faith, the evils from his upbringing that have latched
onto his soul, and the current temptations of fame. As one writer puts it:
We tend to cast our favorite artists in our own image. We were thrilled to nd a rapper as
principled, as wise, as honest, and as spiritually resonant as Kendrick Lamar, and we were quick
to ascribe to him all of our own best ideas about life in these United States. For a while, Kendrick
seemed to be playing along. He gave us albums that challenged and amazed us, but that still t
more or less comfortably into our neat fall/repentance/redemption narrative. But then he gave us
DAMN.
Each track on the album deals with various aspects of who he is, both the good and bad, and
their titles deal with dierent emotions and personal attributes, highlighting the tension
within Kendrick himself (e.g. “HUMILITY.,” “LOYALTY.,” “PRIDE.,” “LUST.”). The nal
track, “DUCKWORTH.,” details the true story of how TDE’s CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tith
contemplated robbing and potentially murdering Kendrick’s father Kenny “Ducky” Duckworth
at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in their neighborhood. His plan was thwarted by Ducky’s
generosity, and Kendrick views this story as divine providence, since Anthony would start the
record label that eventually signed Ducky’s eldest son and led him to music superstar success.
He concludes the song [warning: strong language] with:
Twenty years later them same strangers, you make ‘em meet again / Inside recording studios
where they reaping their benets / Then you start reminding them ‘bout that chicken incident /
Whoever thought the greatest rapper would be from coincidence? / Because if Anthony killed Ducky,
Top Dawg could be servin’ life / While I grew up without a father and die in a gunght.
All of this is really deep. Why is he so open and
vulnerable in his music?
There are probably many dierent motivations, some of which we’ll never know, but it seems
that it’s because he recognizes the impact of his music among urban millennials: During an
interview, Kendrick tells the story of three young girls who ran up to him after his concert
in tears because they were so inspired by his music. Section.80 and good kid, m.A.A.d city spoke
to the realities of their struggles. He’s also said that as he accepts his call as a leader for the
younger generation, he must examine himself before challenging others. DAMN. is his (very
public) confession of his sins and hope of salvation. Rather than simply singing about his
coolness, riches, and fame, he has chosen to use his platform to make a dierence.
All of this sheds even more light on our original question, “Who is Kendrick Lamar?” A
young black man, raised in the m.A.A.d city of Compton, whose honest critique of himself,
his community, the music industry, and even America as a whole speaks to the complexity
and confusion that plagues the postmodern generation. He also professes Christian faith and
believes his gift and inuence as an artist is a call from God. Kendrick remarked in an interview
on the popular New York radio show, The Breakfast Club, that he feels like he has become
“something like a preacher for young kids in the hood.” His music seeks hope in the midst of
despair, a pursuit that the majority of young urban youth search for through entertainment,
sports, luck, or, for very few, education.
Wait. Aren’t his lyrics explicit?
As we listen to Kendrick’s music, we may start wondering about the explicit content, especially
after reading the section above. How is he a “role model” or a “preacher” for younger
generations?! And how can it be appropriate for us as Christians to listen to such profane lyrics?
Before answering these questions, we must remember his intended audience and the context
from which his music emerges. For teenagers and young adults who grow up in places like
Compton, the content of the lyrics are narrations of their daily experiences. good kid, m.A.A.d.
city concerns the life of a teenage male in situations that may not be relatable to suburbanite
youth: “Kendrick tells his own story to inspire others, emerging from the prison of institutional
racism, pride, capitalism, survivor’s guilt, and depression to oer hope and redemption to his
neighbors back home.”
Therefore, for children growing up in these conditions, Lamar’s music could be socially
appropriate and even have a positive inuence. To them, his music artistically displays
the reality of the streets—the violence, drugs, alcoholism, and brutality that are everyday
occurrences in every major city in America. Anger, frustration, depression, trauma, and
hopelessness are all emotions contained in the soul of almost every urban youth.
Something we must consider: Is it possible that the profanity in Kendrick’s lyrics are just him
speaking the language of the community he wants to reach? Profanity is a normal part of life
for people in those settings, regardless of if they’re feeling hostile or calm, joyful or sad, high
or sober. Parents within these contexts may have a very dierent conversation with their youth
from those who live outside. For some parents, the appropriateness of the lyrics may be the
least of their concerns.
For parents outside this context who are concerned about the appropriateness of the music,
maybe the conversation starter could be: Why do you love his music? Perhaps they respect the
honesty in his lyrics. Maybe seeing a kid from Compton become successful and attempting
to utilize his inuence for good speaks to their aspirations for their future: “If a guy from
the street can become someone great, then maybe I can, too.” If our sons and daughters are
listening to Kendrick’s music, maybe the better approach is to understand why before having a
conversation about the content.
And while this doesn’t resolve the question of whether Christians should swear or not (our
upcoming Parent’s Guide to Swearing will address this!), one way to address this problem
would be to rst have a conversation with your kids about your position on swearing, then
purchase the “clean” version of his albums for them to listen to. (Note: We don’t think this is
a good solution for all artists who have profanities in their music because simply getting rid
of certain words doesn’t also eliminate all of the terrible ideas that are present. But Kendrick
addresses many real-world issues and wrestles openly with what many of us struggle with, all
while looking to Christ for his ultimate foundation—albeit imperfectly—which is needed in
Christendom today.)
Is he really a Christian then?
It might seem like a harsh question, but it’s a valid one. Doesn’t the continued use of profanity
in his lyrics reveal an unrepentant heart? As we talk about Kendrick and his music with our
teens, it’s important to look at the fruit he exhibits when attempting to understand him. Simply
calling oneself “Christian” doesn’t mean that one is, in fact, a Christ follower, nor does it
necessarily mean that one is glorifying Christ through his/her art. But it’s also important to
keep in mind that only God knows a person’s heart and whether one is saved. So we can debate
and discuss Kendrick’s career and even whether it appears that he is honoring God in order
to make better decisions about what we allow into our hearts and minds, but we can’t and
shouldn’t do it in order to judge the artist himself.
So let’s look at some of the facts. Although Kendrick claims that the Christian faith is the
religious inspiration behind his music, he never mentions being a member of a local church.
This doesn’t mean that Kendrick isn’t a member, but attending church is not central to his
dialogue with society. This may be because most of his audience doesn’t attend church. Neither
did his conversion moment happen at a church; it occurred on the street after a tragic incident
that has stuck with Kendrick ever since.
He has talked about his faith in God in several interviews, including one in which he discusses
his encounter at a gas station in Johannesburg with a homeless man who encouraged him
(also listen to his song on To Pimp A Buttery, “How Much A Dollar Cost”). Kendrick tells
the interviewer that he recognized that such situations go deeper than just giving someone
money and wondered if God was testing his integrity. This doesn’t sound like someone who
is toying with his faith, but honestly wrestling. Yes, his Christian development does not
follow a traditional path, namely Christian faith that’s groomed inside of the four walls of the
institutional church. Kendrick’s faith seems to be shaped primarily by his engagement with a
harsh world.
Whether profanity disqualies him as a Christian, we must ask what it means to be a Christian.
Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only
what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benet those
who listen.” One of the goals of Christianity is building, uplifting, and edifying community.
Profanity is deemed taboo because it’s considered violent language and often not used to
build people up. But what about when it’s used in poetry or music lyrics? Can it be used
emphatically to express anger and frustration with racism (as in “Blacker the Berry”)? Or even
content exposing the struggles among teens having sexual relationships, but categorizing it as
temptation, as in “Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter’s Daughter”? Are his lyrics meant to tear down
or to uplift? To close people’s eyes or to open them? It’s also worth noting that if we are more
oended by his profanity and less oended by the systemic violence and injustice many young
black men face (which leads to profane outrage), we should seriously revisit our conception of
Christianity.
One Christian gentleman we spoke to told us about his rst time listening to To Pimp A Buttery.
He told us that after experiencing the song “u,” tears ooded his eyes because Kendrick spoke
to his own struggles with depression and survivor’s guilt. He explained, “It reached deep into
my soul, revealing the despair but refusing to leave me there by pointing to the hope. Good
Gospel preaching has always done the same for me.”
What may make us uncomfortable with Kendrick’s music is his ability to hold in tension his
Christian faith, sex, drugs, violence, numbing pleasure, and depression all in one song. In
a Christianity Today article, Dr. Daniel White Hodges calls this a combining of the “sacred,
profane, and secular in a tightly woven social knot which creates a type of nitty-gritty
hermeneutic in which his audience members are able to relate and engage.” In fact, this form
of expression has always been central to hip-hop music, especially during the early ‘90s. Artists
like NAS, DMX, Tupac, and Notorious B.I.G. produced albums that explored these very issues.
A warning of course is that many young listeners will nd license to sin if they carte blanche
accept Lamar’s lyrics as an endorsement to live a debauched lifestyle. There’s a dierence
between listening with discernment and wholeheartedly accepting what an artist says simply
because they’re an outspoken believer. In the same way we should question the motivation of
a “Christian” politician who is an outspoken racist, we should also take every thought or word
captive in order to properly discern the impact of his music.
Why do my kids (or their friends) love his music
so much? Is it just the beat they like?
Again, how we answer that question depends on our kids themselves and on the environment
in which we’re raising them. If we’re in places like Compton, they may love his music because
it speaks to their reality and deepest longing to escape the chaos of the hood. If we’re in less-
challenging areas, it’s possible that his music serves as a window into a world that is unfamiliar
to them. Potentially, it could also be that they view Kendrick’s so called “gangsta persona”
as cool. Or perhaps, as Bakari Kitwana suspects, artists like Kendrick speak to the feelings of
abandonment, hopelessness, and fear prevalent among millennials and Gen Zers.
But the only way to know for sure is to ask your kids and their friends. What is appealing to
them? How do they engage his music? What aspirations does it inspire in them? What have they
learned from Kendrick concerning the challenges of growing up in the streets? Of course, the
sound of his music could very well be the main draw, but why is it more appealing than other
modern artists’ sounds? What do they like about it?
So should I let my kids listen to his music?
If your kids are old enough to think deeply about and critique music, then we think you can...
together. If we allow our kids to listen to any music (both “secular” and Christian), many
unhealthy and unbiblical ideas will inuence them. But if we choose to engage music together,
discussing, analyzing and critiquing it, we will teach them to be aware of how everything
inuences them and to be more intentional with what they put into their minds. Kendrick’s
music is no exception. Take some time as a family to research him, hip hop, and his inuences
(check out “Additional Resources” for a place to start). Then discuss the positives and negatives
of his music, allowing your teens to calmly disagree and argue their positions (remember, the
profanity is only one element of his music!).
We believe that Kendrick himself would condone this. In an interview, he said, “I think every
artist should always be responsible for how they go about marketing...or putting their music out
or how they put they’re words together.” He continued on by mentioning how other artists who
are less thoughtful may inuence his young listeners in a negative way and how he strategically
and thoughtfully attempts to do otherwise. But we must have ears to hear his message.
Are there better Christian alternatives I could
suggest?
While we understand the intent behind this question (give kids something that’s more in line
with Phil. 4:8), it often gets skewed and becomes legalistic: “If it plays on the Christian station
or is on a Christian label, then it’s safe!” But sadly, that’s often not true, not to mention that it
teaches us to turn o our minds and simply accept whatever someone else deems to be quality.
Not exactly what we want to teach our kids!
Instead, let’s ask some good questions: What do we mean by “Christian”? Do we mean music
that is divinely inspired or spiritually empowered? Are we suggesting that Kendrick’s music is
outside the realm of divine inspiration? Does God speak only through church folk? There are
examples scattered throughout Scripture where unrighteous and unholy people, or individuals
outside of the community of God, delivered prophetic messages. The prophet Balaam, who was
originally hired by Balak to put a curse on Israel, was ordered by God to bless Israel (Numbers
22-24).
In the article “Why Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’ Is a Prophetic Message We Can’t
Ignore,” the managing editor of Relevant Magazine talks about how the prophetic voice does
not require the messenger to be perfect, holy, or even worthy of praise: “As far as the Christian
Scriptures are concerned, any [donkey] can prophesy (Num. 22:21-39).” Therefore God can
speak through imperfect and awed human vessels. Neither does the church have a monopoly
on truth. Therefore, could God be speaking to the millennial generation through Kendrick’s
voice?
Other questions to consider (and possibly use as conversation starters with your kids as you
work together to develop a theology of music):
• Are there Christian alternatives that speak about growing up in urban communities that
don’t use profanity and other explicit lyrics?
• Are explicitly “Christian” songs the only music we can and should listen to? Why/why
not?
• If the denition of Christian is “Christ follower,” should we be applying that label to
inanimate objects, like clothing, songs, and posters? Why/why not?
• Could Kendrick have described the trials and tribulation of being raised in the hood within
tidy lyrics?
• If the profanity were completely eliminated, would that make his music “clean” or
“safe”?
• What makes music good? What makes it bad? Is all good music wholesome and neat?
• Based on these criteria, would the Bible be deemed “safe” to read? (God’s Word illustrates
incidents of adultery, rape, unnecessary violence, babies being sacriced; in fact, it
centers on a Man falsely accused, sentenced to death, and tortured all in one night—by
the religious leaders! We shouldn’t replace the Bible with a cleaner version, but instead
engage it in all of its raw narrative as it depicts both human depravity and the hope of
new life. In other words, the Bible shows us to appreciate the power of the resurrection by
gazing at the “challenge and pain” of calvary.)
In case you hadn’t already gured it out, we’re not going to suggest alternatives. But we want
to make it clear that we also don’t believe that Kendrick’s music is perfect, nor is it the type
of music to never grapple with. It is challenging, and it can be the impetus for some great
discussions between you and your kids.
Discussion Questions
If your teens love Kendrick’s music, the following are good questions to ask to start a deep,
thoughtful, calm conversation that will help challenge them (and you!).
• How are the messages in his music impacting you?
• What does his music reveal within you?
• How do you feel about the profanity and explicit lyrics?
• If you were growing up in Compton, how would you respond to the situations Kendrick
talks about in his albums and interviews?
• Turning the tables, what areas of your life might seem sinful if seen from an alternate
perspective? Would a kid from Compton think going into debt $100k+ for college is more
profane than using profanity? How does our cultural conditioning shape what we think is
sinful or virtuous?
• Do you think that Kendrick’s lyrics disqualify him as a Christian?
• What does being a Christian mean to you?
• Do you have friends who live in places like Compton?
• (After listening to each album) Which track stood out to you and why?
• Do you think he’s a voice for the current generation? Why/why not?
• Do you think it’s possible for him to convey his ideas and reach the people he reaches
without using profanity? Why/why not?
• What about his music is excellent?
• Do you think his music glories God and/or proclaims the Gospel? Why/why not?
Conclusion
Kendrick Lamar’s music dees categorization and labeling, making it hard for us to box it
in or nail it down. And that may be precisely why Millennials and Gen Zers love it. As we
disciple them and encourage them to be more like Christ in everything, we need to not only
acknowledge and celebrate the good, but also lovingly root out the bad. Kendrick is human
and therefore imperfect, but there’s much to be said for his willingness to be vulnerable, to
grapple with extremely intense topics, and to try to nd a way to Christ through it all. Because
of his immense inuence, it’s important that we talk about these positives before tackling the
profanity, abusive language, objectication of women, and violence. Even more importantly, we
need to help our children confront how they use his music and allow it to inuence them, both
for good and for bad.
Related Axis Resources
• A Parent’s Guide to Swearing (coming soon!)
• A Parent’s Guide to Drake
• A Parent’s Guide to Gen Z’s Love of Music
Additional Resources
• Hip Hop’s Hostile Gospel: A Post-Soul Theological Exploration by Daniel White Hodges
• The Soul of Hip Hop: Rims, Timbs, and a Cultural Theology by Daniel White Hodges
• The Hip-Hop Generation by Bakari Kitwana
• Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes and the New Reality of Race in America
by Bakari Kitwana
• “Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer and the Making of a New Tradition,” Christ and Pop Culture
• “On DAMN., Kendrick Wrestles without Resolution,” Christ and Pop Culture
• “Album Review: Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. Is Brilliant, Anxious, and Spiritual,” Vulture
• “The Gospel According to Kendrick Lamar,” Vanity Fair
© Axis 2019Axis.org
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journey. We couldn’t do it without you!
• “Kendrick Lamar’s Real God,” Christ and Pop Culture
• “Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Good Kid, mAAd City’: A Lesson In Storytelling,” uDiscovermusic
• “Kendrick Lamar on His New Album and the Weight of Clarity,” The New York Times
• “What Do Kendrick And Kanye Owe Women Listeners?” BuzzFeed News
• “Hip-Hop Hymnals,” The New Republic
• “Kendrick Lamar’s Duel with Damnation,” Christianity Today
• “Why White Kids Love Hip Hop,” NPR
• “Why Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’ Is a Prophetic Message We Can’t Ignore,”
Relevant Magazine
• Hip-Hop Evolution, Netix [TV-MA]
• The Get Down, Netix [TV-MA]
