Kendrick Lamar is a worldwide phenomenon.
After he burst on the scene with one of the most ambitious hip-hop albums of the modern era in good kid, m.A.A.d city, his path to success was already on its way to legendary status. He followed up that project with an equally as experimental and genre-bending project in To Pimp A Butterfly. His impact on hip-hop culture is well-documented. Many believe him to be one of the greatest rappers in recent years and is a pioneer in west coast hip-hop forever.
However, he didn’t begin as the legend we know him now to be. His first debut album “Section.80” is foreshadowing for how great he was going to be but also provides a different vibe than any of his other projects. On July 2 this year, Section. 80 turned 10 years old. To honor that anniversary, we are going to look back at how interesting and thought-provoking this debut album was.
THE REVIEW
Section.80 is a concept album. Most people praise Kendrick for his concepts that he chose on his later projects, but Section.80 has a great concept of its own. The album begins with a campfire on “F*ck Your Ethnicity”.
This song serves as a opening theme to the main ideas of the entire album. Kendrick takes on a deeply personal topic to him: the impact of the Ronald Reagan Era on a lost generation, 80s babies. He uses the story of two girls named Tammy & Keisha to speak about these issues.
The impacts he describes through the album include drug addiction , self-hatred, violence, poverty, prostitution, etc. Now, this is not necessarily a new topic . There has been numerous articles and books that explain in-depth the impact of government policy on these exact issues. However, the way he creatively presents it, the album becomes much more than just good songs.Â
Section.80s Babies
F*ck Your Ethnicty is about race and how it divides us. Race is a social construct. Kendrick’s sees race as not a thing to care about and just makes it harder for us to rise up and really go against the real problem: the system and government.
The album goes on to explain all the issues that comes from the same system that created race.
The next song is a perfect example of this. “Hol’ Up” is a traditional braggadocio track, which is the type of songs that elevate the things Kendrick finds as detrimental: drugs, excessive sex and money.
The song is followed by the woozy, atmospheric track “A.D.H.D”. The song is about drugs and how hard the Crack Epidemic hit Kendrick’s generation.
“You know when you part of Section.80
You feel like no one can relate
‘Cause you are, you are, a loner, loner
Marijuana endorphins make you stronger, stronger”
The song is one of Kendrick’s best, taking you to a house party where he meets a girl where she explains to him that the drugs is a mask for the pain. 80s babies have A.D.H.D because of the trauma and drug addiction that comes with the communities we come from. It is such a hypnotic record with a sticky hook and displays Kendrick’s great storytelling ability. In addition, it can be inferred that this girl is Tammy, based on the next two songs.
“I hate my lips, my nose, my eyebrows…”
“No-Make Up” (Her Vice)” is a song of self-hatred where he uses Keisha as an example of a girl that doesn’t see herself as beautiful without make-up. It is revealed later in the track she is putting on make-up not just to make herself feel good, but to hide a black eye from a boyfriend. This is a continued theme throughout the album, covering up pain.
That story continues on the next song “Tammy’s Song (Her Evils)”. It introduces Tammy as a character in the album. Tammy is best friends with Keisha and both are in relationships. Unfortunately, these relationships do not end well after both find their boyfriends are cheating on them. Kendrick ends the song, eluding to the girls finding comfort in having sex with each other.
This is one on Kendrick’s most controversial songs as he seems to make an argument that being gay is wrong. However, he may just being saying that the girls were doing that to be spiteful and that is wrong. Either way, it is a great song that continues the story of pain and 80s babies.
The next 5 songs, “Chapter Six”, “Ronald Reagan Era”, “Poe Man Dreams” & “Chapter Ten” (“The Spiteful Chant” is not on streaming, but counts in the 5) shift focus away from the women’s stories and talk about Kendrick’s and his friend’s experiences. The songs all reflect the dangers and peer pressure that is found in the era and communities that Kendrick grew up in.
“1987, the children of Ronald Reagan
Rake the leaves off your front porch with a machine blowtorch
He blowin’ on stress, hoping to ease the stress
He coppin’ some blow, hoping that it can stretch”
“Ronald Reagan Era” is a hard-hitting, visceral track about the violence found in Compton and “Poe Man Dreams” is a soul-tinged reflection on poverty and prison. These tracks have some of Kendrick’s most honest and raw writing we had seen up to this point. However, nothing compares to the following track.
“Keisha’s Song (Her Pain)” may be one of Kendrick’s best lyrical performances and songs in general. We focus our attention back on Keisha, because we now find her as a prostitute. She clearly is not enthused about doing this but has to to to pay for food and to avoid consequences from her pimp.
She, sadly, has to degrade herself so she can not care about what she is doing. Unfortunately, the story ends tragically as she is raped and killed by one of her customers one day. It is revealed that she became a prostitute due to being sexually assaulted when she was younger by her mom’s boyfriend. Kendrick’s level of understanding and passion makes this a true highlight in his career.
“Lord knows she’s beautiful…”
The mind-blowing “Rigamortis” & the introspective “Kush & Corinthians” display Kendrick’s ability to be conscious, while also being extremely entertaining. “Kush & Corinthians” features a great BJ the Chicago Kid verse that pierces the soul and explains how easy peer pressure and temptation can be to give into.
After a funky Aaliyah tribute, the album ends with on a high note, starting with “Ab-Soul Outro”. The song is a jazzy, courtesy of Terrace Martin, reflection on the album and the themes. Ab-Soul and Kendrick both explain that these are their own thoughts and encourage listeners to form their own opinions on these issues discussed in the album.
“HiiPoWeR” (produced by J.Cole) is a final answer to the problems his generation face: free thought and self-love. Form your own opinions and be your truest self, without outside influences because most of those are detrimental.
Section.80 is a deep reflection on government, self, love and pain. A huge topic to be told by a 24-year old Kendrick Lamar that he does beautifully and tasteful. Section.80 is one of the greatest debut albums in the modern era and such a lyrical clinic and thought-provoking project to this day. Kendrick has become so much more than he was on this album, but this is the basis of everything he does. You can hear these ideas sprinkled through all his albums. Section.80 was the beginning of a legend.
Section.80 Rating: Platinum
10 YEARS OF HiiPoWeR!
Written by Demetrius Sadler| Twitter: @thademigod7Â
