Why are all the best songs leaks or unreleased songs? It seems as though all the great music is music that we were never intended to hear. Today, one of these lost treasures in music is a song by Kendrick Lamar called Prayer. Kendrick Lamar is known for teasing music that will most likely never get released, like he did on To Pimp a Butterfly with the intro to the Alright music video, and most recently in the Not Like Us music video, so this was nothing new. After Kendrick released his fourth studio album, Damn, He went on a five-year hiatus where he was struggling through personal problems that he would soon reveal on his fifth studio album, Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers.
But in 2020, three tracks leaked on the Leak This platform. Among these three tracks, one stood out the most, a track titled Prayer, clocking in at just under six minutes. The song featured three verses over an alchemist beat.
In each verse, Kendrick raps in different perspectives. But to understand the brilliance of prayer, we need to understand Kendrick's mindset at the time. Going back to when Kendrick was absent in the music industry. In that time, Kendrick was battling with his stardom and most importantly being portrayed as the hip-hop savior, which he addresses directly in the song Savior on Mr. Morale. It's important to note that Kendrick was concerned with the way he was portrayed in the media and in hip-hop discussions, and he feared that being held to such a high standard would result in him falling from grace like many artists.
These concerns fueled the making of Prayer and The Heart Part 5. I believe that Prayer was the original Heart Part 5, but Kendrick decided to make the face of his enemy clear, which was the culture and at large the separation of the art from the artist. Although The Heart Part 5 was much more impactful and clear in its storytelling, both these songs have one thing in common and it's perspective. In the first verse, Kendrick raps in the perspective of ABC by the Jackson 5, but mainly talks about Michael Jackson.
The verse opens with the line, I was born February 24th, 1970, which is the day ABC was released. ABC catapulted an 11-year-old Michael Jackson into stardom. In less than two months, the song rose to number one on Billboard 100. The song went around the world and back in the sense that it was an international hit.
This song was seen as the song that would engrave the group in stone forever. Many saw the song as a herald of Michael Jackson's soon-to-be generational legacy. They were correct.
As Jackson went on to be one of the highest selling artists of all time, with seemingly endless awards to his name, many still consider Jackson the greatest artist of all time. As the verse goes on, it takes a turn. While keeping in mind that ABC is the son of Michael, he goes on to describe his father's stardom, which was so grand, no one in the music industry till this day has managed to match. As the verse goes on, ABC claims that his father's rise to fame is what ruined him.
Michael Jackson often claimed that his father, Joe Jackson, physically and emotionally abused him in efforts to mold him into a pop star. Jackson's sister corroborates this, saying that her father was sexually abusive as well. This abuse made him deeply insecure and is often cited as the reason for his constant need to alter his appearance.
Unfortunately, it's also cited as the source of his alleged pedophilia. While the personified ABC isn't clear on whether or not he believes the allegations against his father to be true, the child is conflicted on whose side he should take. This may be the same way that Kendrick and many fans of Michael feel about the allegations. Kendrick expressed his frustration in Mortal Man from his 2015 project to pimp a butterfly. This is an interesting point to point out in the relevant beef with Drake, because Kendrick seems as he should understand that these type of allegations are very serious.
This is confirmation that Kendrick is not just saying these allegations because he wants to win the beef, but he truly and deeply believes them. The verse closes off with the line, But the moment he died more accusations arrived I had to die too This lyric is important because once Michael Jackson died more pitiful accusations surface causing people to stop listening to his music which brings this full circle to the personification of the ABC song by the Jackson 5. As people stopped listening, the song died. It's important to note that this is the longest verse, and I might be reaching here, but Drake and Michael Jackson have many similarities.
It wouldn't be far off to think that Kendrick wanted to help Drake move away from the fame and ground himself in his art so it can live forever. with no shadow of allegation above it. Because till this day, when listening to Michael Jackson songs, the allegations are lurking at the back of your head. His art is tainted by his unfortunate upbringing leaked into many bystanders. Continuing the theme of personified art, Kendrick begins the second verse by marking the date again for the story that is about to unravel.
Remember taking my first breath, August 28th, 1963. Kendrick now raps from the perspective of another prominent black figure, Martin Luther King Jr. The date Kendrick mentions is the day King gave his famous I Have a Dream speech in Washington, D.C. The personified speech goes on to express how great of a creator it had, and how grand its influence was and still is, the minds it changed and educated. But then just like the first verse, it takes a turn to reveal the unpleasant personality of MLK. Kendrick refers to allegations that have surfaced about MLK, which suggests that King was involved in over 40 extramarital affairs.
and that he even witnessed how he encouraged the grape of a woman by a fellow minister. Kendrick holds side by side two seemingly contradictory images of the same man, one where King appears as a heroic, important civil rights advocate, and one where he is an unfaithful, imperfect man. In this verse, Kendrick postulates about whether these two depictions of King should exist simultaneously, even if they are at odds with one another.
Can one still value King's contributions to the civil rights movement while condemning his alleged immoral behavior? Even cruel behavior? Or does the bad outweigh the good?
MLK's speech tells the listeners that it was never made to justify Martin's own personal endeavors, just to display his dream of a world without prejudice to the current world. As MLK says in the speech, he imagines a world where our children can play outside together, completely free of prejudice. Kendrick believes that MLK most likely had other skeletons in his closet and If they came out to public light, his dream would have been killed, and they would be used as a weapon against the civil rights moment.
The verse closes out with an impactful line. I imagine the other demons he hid before he died, if they came to surface this dream probably won't be alive because of you. This dream refers to the I have a dream speech that Kendrick is personifying. He says you, or the people who over criticize MLK and others, run the risk of losing the impact of the artist's work if we get too caught up in controversy. The importance of art cannot be lost in the controversy of their creators.
Kendrick's fear seems to be that if he were to pass away, would his skeletons overshadow his art? However, he countered by going on to make Mr. Morale to confess and understand his trauma that he may have instilled on other people. Kendrick Lamar just wants his art to live forever.
The third verse is the closing verse of the song. It is also the shortest verse in the song. Kendrick has talked about paranoia throughout his life in the past, most notably in his 2016 song, Fear.
He expresses a similar traits of paranoia as a successful artist in the lines. Kendrick also explores strikingly similar themes in 2015's Mortal Man, with a theme of personifying works of art. Kendrick reminds the listener that an artist's body of work should be judged separately from how we judge the artist as a person. Kendrick tells us that we should separate the art from the artist unless the art becomes the artist. The next line Kendrick references Daniel Hale Williams, who was an early 20th century African-American surgeon who founded the first black-owned hospital in the United States and performed the first documented successful pericardium surgery to repair a wound.
If artists and historical figures had committed wrong, or evil acts during their lives. Should we still not value the work they contributed for the betterment of society? Kendrick in the following line drives the point home that by mentioning if Carl Benz was a racist, would you stop driving cars?
Which I would disagree, unless the art of the artist in question is a necessity, which is rare, and if not, then they should suffer the consequences of their actions. It's not wise for us to be ignorant. The closing line of this song is simply, sincerely yours. Whereas the last two verses were from the perspectives of Jackson 5's hit ABC and Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech, this last verse is from Kendrick's personal perspective, his own words.
He signs off hoping that when his skeletons come to light, the public will spare his art. Prayer is one of Kendrick Lamar's most well-written and performed tracks. Maybe it will be released officially in the future, or maybe Kendrick changed his mind and perspective on separating the art from the artist. which may be why the track never officially released. It's clear that Kendrick's biggest concern is his art not living forever because of his own actions.
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