Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, who performs as Kendrick Lamar, was born in Compton, California, on June 17, 1987. After writing stories as a child, he put to music some lyrics about the rough Compton streets he grew up on. He rapped under the name K-Dot, releasing a series of increasingly popular mix tapes, which brought him to the attention of hip-hop super-producer Dr. Dre. Lamar's debut major-label recording, good kid, m.A.A.d City, was released to great acclaim and impressive sales for an up-and-coming recording artist. He continued to receive accolades for his 2015 album, To Pimp a Butterfly, and his 2017 follow-up, DAMN.; both won Grammys for Best Rap Album, while DAMN. also made history as the first of its genre to earn a Pulitzer Prize. Source
excerpt from “How Much a Dollar Cost”
Walked out the gas station
A homeless man with a semi-tan complexion
Asked me for ten rand
Stressin' about dry land
Deep water, powder blue skies that crack open
A piece of crack that he wanted, I knew he was smokin'
He begged and pleaded
Asked me to feed him twice, I didn't believe it
Told him, beat it
Contributin' money just for his pipe, I couldn't see it
He said, my son, temptation is one thing that I've defeated
Listen to me, I want a single bill from you
Nothin' less, nothin' more
I told him I ain't have it and closed my door
Tell me how much a dollar cost
It's more to feed your mind
Water, sun and love, the one you love
All you need, the air you breathe
I wash my hands, I said my grace, what more do you want from me?
Tears of a clown, guess I'm not all what is meant to be
Shades of grey will never change if I condone
Turn this page, help me change, to right my wrongs
Tell me how much a dollar cost
It's more to feed your mind
Water, sun and love, the one you love
All you need, the air you breathe
Published:
2015
Length:
Regular
Literary Movements:
Rap & Hip Hop
Anthology Years:
2024
Themes:
Rap & Hip Hop
Literary Devices:
Antanaclasis
The repetition of a word within a phrase, in which the second use of the word utilizes a different and sometimes contrary meaning from the first.
Assonance
The repetition of similar vowel sounds that takes place in two or more words in proximity to each other within a line; usually refers to the repetition of internal vowel sounds in words that do not end the same.
Dialogue
conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or movie
End Rhyme
when a poem has lines ending with words that sound the same
Epistrophe
the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive clauses
Imperative
an instruction or a command
Internal Rhyme
A rhyme involving a word in the middle of a line and another at the end of the line or in the middle of the next.
Pleonasm
the use of more words than necessary to express meaning, redundancy
Rap
a type of popular music of US black origin in which words are recited rapidly and rhythmically over a prerecorded, typically electronic instrumental backing
Repetition
a recurrence of the same word or phrase two or more times
Rhetorical Question
a question asked for effect, not necessarily to be answered
Rhyme
correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry