Dissect - S1E20 – Mortal Man (Part 1) by Kendrick Lamar

Episode Date: January 24, 2017

We continue our serialized analysis of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly by dissecting "Mortal Man." Follow Dissect on social media @dissectpodcast. Purchase Dissect merch at dissectpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Dysect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. I'm your host, Cole Kushner. Today, we continue our serialized examination of Tipa Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. On our last episode, we reached a dramatic narrative conclusion of Toppipa Butterfly with the live performance of the song I in Kendrick's hometown of Compton. In a full-circle moment, Kendrick embodied the leadership role he was so reluctant to embrace. In the song, N-E-G-U-S, said with me, or say no more, black stars can come and get me, take it from Oprah Winfrey, tell us you right on time.

Kendrick Lamar, by far, really sneak us a lie. Through the power of music, the spoken word, and a message of self-love and acceptance, Kendrick ended a fight in the crowd, a metaphor for black-on-black violence, and gang conflict in inner cities like Compton. If I were the last track of Tipipa Butterfly, the album's narrative would remain intact. It's a conclusion to Kendrick's journey from naive, newly successful rapper, who pimps his talent for influence in selfish returns, to fully mature artist and leader,

who pimps his talent and influence for the betterment of his community in the world. People don't like to look themselves in the mirror. That's the hardest thing to do, you know, it's to critique yourself rather than point the finger, you know, and everybody hates change. So to actually do that and say, I'm wrong in a lot of areas. I look at myself in the mirror and I'm saying I'm wrong in a lot of areas.

That takes a lot of willpower. You dig what I'm saying? So it starts with self first. Thus far into Pippa Butterfly, Kendrick has held a mirror to himself, analyzing his new place in the world of celebrity and success outside of the streets of Compton, the only life he knew for 20 plus years.

Now having shared his story, Kendrick will turn that mirror around on us, the listeners, with the album's final track and the subject of today's episode, Mortal Man. The ghost of Mandela, hope my flocks stay propelling. Let these words be your earthen move. You consume every message as I lead this army make moon for mistakes and depression.

And with that being said, my nigger, let me ask this question. When shit hit the fan is you still a fan. When shit hit the fan is you still a fan. Mortal Man is the epilogue to Tipinput a Butterfly. An epilogue is a section or speech at the end of a book or play that comments on or serves as a conclusion to what has happened dramatically. Clocking in at over 13 minutes, Mortal Man is clearly divided into two parts. We're going to dedicate two episodes to unpacking it.

Today we'll examine the song Mortal Man. On our next episode, we'll dissect the extended dramatic skit that ends the album. Regarding the transition from the conclusion of I to Mortal Man, Kendrick said, quote, What I like most about Mortal Man is how it's set up, how it comes out of I, because the end of I is stressing leadership. The fight breaks out and I'm saying, I'm on stage, y'all, listen to me,

everyone you get into position. We don't have to be doing none of this. You know what I mean? Then it goes to Mortal Man, and I'm questioning that same leadership. It's me questioning myself. But are the homies that I'm performing it for going to listen to it? So it still brings back the insecurity. so a song like Mortal Man is questioning not only myself,

but questioning what has happened to the past leaders that's put way more work in and touched way more hearts than I have. Mortal Man is produced by Soundwave and features live instrumentation by Butterfly's usual suspects, Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Marlon Williams, Robert Glasper, Joseph Leimberg, and backing vocals by James Fontaluerre and Giovante. The song opens with an angelic instrumental passage, followed by the song's hook.

Kendrick begins, the ghost of Mandela, hope my flow stay propellant. Let these words be your earthen move, you consume every message. As I lead this army, make moon for mistakes and depression. And with that being said, my nigga, let me ask this question.

When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan. Kendrick begins, The Ghost of Mandela, hope my flow is a propell it. Kendrick here is evoking the spirit of Nelson Mandela, 20th century anti-apartheid activists,

prisoner, and South African president. Mandela is referenced several times throughout mortal man, and since South Africa plays a pivotal role into Pimp a butterfly and behooves us to spend a few minutes outlining Mandela's life and contributions. Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 and Transke, South Africa. In his early 20s, Mandela settled in Johannesburg to escape and enraged marriage. Here, Nelson studied law and became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement. Though racially discriminatory laws in South Africa began in the early, early 1900s, apartheid officially began in 1948 when the National Party took office, extending these racist policies and giving them the name apartheid, meaning apartness.

There are a series of acts including the Group Areas Act of 1950 and the Land Act of 1954 and 55, the National Party divided the nation by race and awarded 80% of South African land to the minority white population. Other laws restricted social contact between races, segregated. public facilities, separated educational standards, and restricted job opportunities for people of color, banning them from national government. It was these racist policies that Mandela dedicated his life to fighting. In 1942, Mandela joined the African National Congress, or ANC.

Within the ANC, Mandela helped form a youth league with a goal to transform the ANC into a grassroots movement, with focus on giving a voice to rural peasants and working people who were repressed by the current political regime. By 1949, the ANC had adopted the Youth League's tactics of boycott, strike, civil disobedience, and non-cooperation. They strive for full citizenship, redistribution of land, trade union rights, and education for all children. Mandela continued this peaceful fight against the racist policies of South African government

for years to come. He founded the law firm Mandela and Tombo that provided free and low-cost legal counsel to unrepresented Africans. One of the first public demonstrations against apartheid took place in Sharpville on March 21st, 1960. The police responded to the protesters' actions by opening fire, killing about 69 black Africans and wounding many more. The event caused Mandela to shift his views from peaceful protest to one that included armed militant support. He co-founded an armed subsidiary of the ANC, known as the MK, who used guerrilla war tactics and attention. attempt to end apartheid. In the same year, Mandela was arrested for organizing a three-day

national worker strike and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1963, he and 10 other ANC leaders were tried again for conspiracy and sabotage to overthrow the government. All were sentenced to life in prison. Mandela was in prison on Robbins Island for 18 of his 27 years spent in prison. As a black political prisoner, he received the lowest level of treatment. While incarcerated, Mandela remained a potent political symbol of black resistance against apartheid and the South African government. In 1985, the president of South Africa offered Mandela his release on the condition that he renounced the anti-apartheid armed struggle. Mandela rejected the offer. When Frederick William de Clerk became president, he called for Mandela's release in February of 1990 after 27 years of imprisonment.

The clerk also banned the ANC and suspended executions. Mandela wasted no time upon his release from prison. He urged for pressure from foreign powers to continue reform in South Africa and ensured that ANSI's armed struggle continued until the black majority received the right to vote. In 1991, Mandela was elected president of the African National Congress. He continued to negotiate with President DeClerc about an equal share of power between black and white South Africans. National disruption continued during these negotiations, as many black Africans, wanted to complete a transfer of power, but Mandela showed a commitment to resolution through

negotiation, not a violent overthrow. By 1994, negotiations between black and white South Africans prevailed, and in April of the same year, South Africa held its first Democratic elections. On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the country's first black president. As president, Mandela helped transition from white minority rule and apartheid to black majority rural. He helped protect the potential collapse of the South African economy through his reconstruction and development plan that funded job creation, housing, and health care. He also signed into law a new national constitution that guaranteed the rights of minorities, the freedom of expression,

and a strong central government based on majority rule. Retiring from politics in 1999, Mandela continued humanitarian efforts through his foundation, working to rebuild schools and clinics in rural areas of South Africa. He also advocated for peace and equality on a global scale, as well as the fight against AIDS. At the age of 95, Nelson Mandela died in his Johannesburg home. Today, Mandela remains an iconic global symbol of civil rights activism. Finally, I want to tell you, as I have told many other meetings before. And that, we respect you. We admire you.

And above all, we love you. Coming back to mortal man, in the opening line, the ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it, Kendrick is making clear his humanitarian intentions. A strong voice of his generation, Kendrick is in a small way aligning himself with Mandela. He wishes the spirit of Mandela to live on through his music by preaching unity and peace.

Kendrick continues, let these words be your earth and moon. You consume every message, as I lead this army make room for mistakes and depression. Again, embracing his leadership position, Kendrick invites his fans to, quote, consume every message, but asks that they also see him as human, one that makes mistakes and at times struggles with insecurity and depression. Regarding mortal men, Kendrick told Billboard magazine, quote, I felt that pressure in Compton, looking at the responsibility I have over these kids. The world started turning into a place where, where so many people were getting no justice,

you got to step up to the plate. Mortal Man is not me saying, I can be your hero. Mortal Man is questioning, do you really believe in me to do this? The song continues with a post-hook refrain, and the fundamental question mortal man poses. In a fan, When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan? One too, one too, one too. Uh, when shit hit the fan is you still a fan.

When shit hit the fan, that you still a fan. The ghost of meddella. In a prophetic look into the future, Kendrick questions his fan's loyalty. As we'll become apparent in the song's three verses, Kendrick is hyper aware of the fragility of celebrity and the fickle devotion we often have toward our leaders, building them up just to revel in their downfall.

who also use this question to challenge us listeners to examine our own lives and the people we choose to keep around us. In verse 1, Kendra continues to question everything around him. Is you still a fan? Do you believe in me? Are you deceiver me? Could I let you down easily? It's your heart where it need to be. It's your smile on permanent. It's your foul on lifetime. Would you know where the sermon is? If I died in this next line, if I'm tried in the court of law, if the industry cut me off. If the government won me dead, plant cocaine in my car. Would you judge me? drughead or see me as Kayla Maher. I'll question my character,

hand to grade me on every block. Want you to love me like Nelson. I feed you for being a slave in your mind. You're very welcome. You tell me my song, it's more than a song, and surely your blessing. But a prophet ain't a prophet till they ask you this question.

When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan? Kendrick questions the loyalty of his fans, asking, quote, could I let you down easily? Is your heart where it need to be? He follows these questions with a conspiracy scenario. in which he's jailed on drug charges that were planted in his car. If something like this were to happen, would we judge him, would we believe his innocence, would we have empathy, or would we make memes and revel in his downfall?

Kendrick seems to know the framework of public trust is flimsy at best, and he challenges us to examine our relationship to him, and by extension all the leaders we say we believe in. Kendrick continues, Want you to love me like Nelson, want you to hug me like Nelson. I freed you from being a slave in your mind, you're very welcome. You tell me my song is more than a song. It's truly a blessing.

Kendrick wishes for a relationship with the public akin to Mandela's, one of mutual respect and mutual admiration. When Mandela was inside prison, people fought for his release. When Mandela was outside of prison, he fought for his people. The line, I freed you from being a slave in your mind, you're very welcome, refers to the teachings of Act 4, with song. like complexion, You Ain't Got a Lie, and I. While emphasizing black empowerment, love of self, and respect for others, as well as restoring

the N-word back to its roots of royalty, Kendrick hopes his message frees others from the imprisonment of their own mind the same way it freed him. Kendrick continues, You tell me my song is more than a song, it's truly a blessing. But a prophet ain't a prophet till they ask you this question. When shit hits the fan, are you still a fan? As we heard in his interviews, Kendrick has met. fans on tour with slash risk telling him his music saved their life. It's something he takes very seriously. Those we've heard throughout to Pimp a Butterfly, the weight of that responsibility

brought out insecurities and self-doubt. As he told Billboard magazine, Mortal Man is not him saying I can be your hero. Mortal Man is questioning, do you really believe in me to do this? After a repetition of the song's hook, verse 2 begins. Do you believe in me? How much you believe in her? You think she Don't stick around if them 25 years occur. You think he'll hold you down when you down behind bars hurt. You think y'all on common ground if you promise to be there first. Can you be immortalized without your life being expired? Even though y'all shed the same blood, is it worth the time?

Like who got your best interest? Like how much are you dependent? How clutch are the people that say they love you and who pretended? How tough is your skin when they turn you in? Do you show forgiveness? What brush do you bend with dust in your shoulders from being offended? What kind of din did they put you in when the lion start hissing? What kind of bridge do they burn revenge?

Your mind when it's mentioned You want to love like no son You want to be like noson You want to walk in his shoes But your peace make is seldom You want to be remembered And deliver the message That considered the blessing of everyone

This your lesson for everyone Say when shit hit the fan Is you still a fan When shit hit the fan Is you still a fan? Won't you look to your left? The majority of verse two Is a series of rhetorical questions

In verse one He questioned our loyalty to leaders In verse two Kendrick asked his listeners To question the loyalty of around them every day. Kendrick asks, you think she going to stick around if them 25 years occur? You think he can hold you down when you down behind bars hurt? Later he asks, like who got your best interest, like how much of you are dependent, how clutch are the people they say they love you

and who's pretending? How tough is your skin when they turn you in? Do you show forgiveness? With 25 years referencing a prison sentence, these opening questions seem to be aimed specifically at Kendrick's friends in Compton, who are constantly dodging the law or still involved in gang activity. He asked them to ask themselves how strong the mutual devotion they have to one another actually is, and how much of it would be sacrificed if someone's back were against the wall. Kendrick offers no answers or advice, merely prods them to question their priorities like he was forced to do upon escaping Compton. Midway through the verse, Kendrick refers to referencing Mandela, saying, what kind of bridge do they burn? Revenge on your mind.

when it's mentioned. You want to love like Nelson. You want to be like Nelson. You want to walk in his shoes, but your peacemaking seldom. You want to be remembered that delivered the message that considered the blessing of everyone. This is your lesson for everyone. Say when shit hits the fan, are you still a fan? It would seem Kendrick's focus is again inward, reminding himself of his ambition to love and be loved like Mandela. Upon his release from prison after 27 years, Mandela did not seek bloody revenge on his enemies. Rather, he continued his efforts towards resolution primarily through peaceful negotiations. As we know, after the release of Good Kid Mad City, Kendrick still felt ill-will towards rival gangs in Compton when his friends were shot and killed.

But in a Mandela-like move, rather than given to his urges to retaliate, he questioned them, turned inward, and ultimately saw the bigger picture. That change comes from within. that if you can respect yourself, it's much easier to respect and empathize with your enemy, realizing that they're fighting the same internal struggle you are, they're just wearing a different color or live in a different part of town. After a repetition of the song's hook, verse three begins. I've been roared off before, I got abandon me issues. I hold grudges like bad judges. Don't let me resent you.

That's not nosing like, want you to love me like noose it. I went to Robbins Island analyzing. That's where his cell is so I can find clarity. Like how much you cherish me? Is this relationship a fake or realist? The heavens B.C., I gotta question it all. Family, friends, fans, cats, dogs, trees, plants, grass, how to wind blow. Murphy's Law, Generation X.

Will I ever be your ex? Flores of a baby step. Marred by the mouth a bit, pause put me under stress, crawled under rocks. Ducky y'all, it's respect, but then tomorrow put my back against the wall. How many leaders you said you need it? Then left him for dead.

Is it Moses? Is it U.E Newton or Detroit Red? Is it Martin Luther? J.F. G.G.'s. You assassin is a Jackie, is it Jesse? Oh, I know it's Michael Jackson. Oh, when shit hit the fan, is you still a fan? When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan?

That nigga gave us Billy Jean. You say he touched those kids? When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan? The ghost of Mandela. Hope my flow stay propelling. Kendrick opens a verse. I've been wrote off before. I got abandonment issues.

I hold grudges like bad judges. Don't let me resent you. Though Kendrick doesn't go into specifics, being black and living in a place like Compton, he certainly could feel abandoned and written off by his own country. He says, hold grudges like bad judges, alluding to crooked and perhaps racist judges who manipulate their power for self-serving motivations.

Kendrick continues, That's not Nelson like, want you to love me like Nelson. I went to Robbins Island analyzing, that's where a cell is, so I could find clarity, like how much you cherish me. Is this relationship a fake or real as a heavens be? As we've now discussed numerous times throughout the season, Kendrick's pivotal trip to South Africa is where he found resolve and inspiration regarding his new life. Visiting Mandela's jail cell at Robin Island seemed to have had a dramatic effect, perhaps lending perspective, and offering Kendrick guidance from a role model who used their influence to better their community and world on a large scale.

As the verse continues, Kendrick asks, Generation X, will I ever be your X? and later, how many leaders you said you needed, then left him for dead? Is it Moses? Is it Huey Newton or Detroit Red? Is it Martin Luther, JFK, shoot, are you assassin? Is it Jackie? Is it Jesse? Oh, I know, it's Michael Jackson. Here, Kendrick calls out our tendency to physically or spiritually assassinate the leaders and role models we claim to need. Moses was the biblical character that saved the Jews from oppressive Egypt, only to be betrayed by the very people he saved, while gone and we're born.

receiving the Ten Commandants from God. Cuey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was assassinated by a member of the Black Gorilla family, whose members contained the former Black Panthers. Detroit Red, nickname for Malcolm X, was a prominent civil rights leader who was assassinated by the nation of Islam, a group he once led. Martin Luther King Jr. was a symbolic civil rights activist who was said to be assassinated by white supremacist James Earl Ray. In the 1919, 90s, a conspiracy theory gained traction that won Lloyd Jowers, who had mafia ties, hired police officer Earl Clark to kill MLK. Kareta Scott King, Martin Luther's wife, went on record stating that there was abundant

evidence that local, state, and federal government agencies were involved. JFK, or John F. Kennedy, was a United States president who was infamously assassinated in Dallas, and many believed governmental agencies were involved in the killing. Jackie Robinson was the first black man to play Major League Baseball and endured incredible amounts of verbal and physical abuse for doing so. Michael Jackson was arguably the most iconic pop star to ever live, and though beloved by millions, faced accusations of child molestation that left his reputation permanently tarnished,

even though the charges were acquitted. By reciting this laundry list of global icons that were in some way or another betrayed by the public or country they served, Kendrick can't help but to be somewhat skeptical about the public's admiration and belief in him. We're so confined with hatred and want to point out people flaws that we don't see the big picture in what they're doing. And it's been done with leaders way before my time. So what makes you special? Like, you're going to get it.

You get it with God. They did it to Malcolm and Moy. Hey, man, they did to Jesus Christ, man. That's right. And saving you feel me? So who am I? I'm just, man. That's why we call it more than.

That's real. It's accepting that, acknowledge in that, but also challenging the listener, challenging the person that said they love you and believe in your message and your music. That's what that's doing. Conclusions. On to Pippa Butterfly, Kendrick spends the majority of the album coming to terms with his new position of role model and leader of his generation. He could have very easily ended the album on a dramatic high note and eye. It would have been the storybook conclusion of the album's narrative, one that most of us would have

been happy with. But what makes Kendrick Lamar, Kendrick Lamar, is his innate ability to hold a thing in his hand and inspect it from every angle. So it's only right that he chooses instead to end the album with introspection, to question his new role. He studied the history of black leaders before him and observes how betrayal and tragedy seems standard issue. He then prods us listeners to think about our loyalty to the leaders we claim to love, leaving us with a question when shit hits a fan, are you still a fan? It's a question we can all ask ourselves outside the context of Kendrick Lamar and to Pimp a Butterfly. Where does our own loyalty begin and end in our everyday lives? Not just with family and friends, but with humanity as a whole. How dedicated are we to the

betterment of mankind? How are we embodying the change we wish to see in the world? How dedicated are we to the ideals that define us? Have we scrutinized our own life to the level of detail Kendrick has scrutinized his? How loyal are you to yourself? After the song Mortal Man fades out, the narrative poem returns for the first time since the transition from hood politics

to how much a dollar cost six songs back. Here's the last line we heard on that recitation. While my love ones was fighting a continuous war back in the city, I was entering a new one. That new city, as we now know, was Johannesburg South Africa, Mandela's home. On the recitation at the end of Mortal Man, Kendrick recites the narrative poem in full, revealing seven new lines that explain what he's learned in this new city. I remember you was conflicting. Missusing your influence.

Sometimes I did the same. Abuse of my power full of resentment. Resentment that turned into a deep depression. I found myself screaming in the hotel room. I didn't want to self-destruct. The evils of Lucy was all around me. So I went running for answers until I came home. But that didn't stop survivors' guilt.

Going back and forth trying to convince myself the stripes I earned. Or maybe how A1 my foundation was. But while my loved ones was fighting a continue, It was war back in the city, I was entering the new one. A war that was based on apartheid and discrimination made me want to go back to the city and tell the homies what I learned. The word was respect. Just because you wore a different gang color than minds doesn't mean I can't respect you as a black man. Forgetting all the pain and hurt we caused each other in these streets. If I respect you,

we unify and stop the enemy from killing us but I don't know I'm a no mortal man maybe I'm just another nigga shit and that's all I wrote I was gonna call it another nigga but it ain't really a poem I just felt like it's something you probably could relate to

other than that now that I finally got a chance to highlight you I always want to ask you about a certain situation about a metaphor actually you spoke on the ground, what you mean by that, what the ground represent? The ground is going to open up and swallow the evil. Right.

That's how I see in my world is born. I see, and the ground is the symbol for the poor people. The poor people is going to open up this whole world and swallow up the rich people, because the rich people are going to be so fat, and they're going to be so appetite. The narrative poem is a structural roadmap of Tipa Butterfly, but as is revealed on mortal man,

Kendrick was actually reading the poem to someone throughout the album. That someone is deceased rapper Tupac Shakur, and the album proceeds with a metaphysical conversation between the two. We'll examine that conversation, the narrative poem, as well as the longer dramatic poem Kendrick recites to close the album. Next time on Dissect. Dysect is written and produced by me. Remember, now until the end of the season,

Dysect is holding a fundraiser for the Bicentennial High School music program in Compton, California. This was Kendrick Lamar's high school, and he since donated money to the music program in an effort to keep kids off the streets and in the studio. I'd love to show our appreciation for Kendrick and all we've learned from Topipa Butterfly by supporting his cause.

There's also some great donation perks, including Dissect T-shirts and an awesome Kendrick-inspired hat by Riz Apparel. You can make your donation at dissecpodcast.com. I have a goal of raising $1,000. If every listener of the show donated 13 cents, we could meet our goal. If every listener donated just $3, we can raise over $20,000. No donation amount is too small.

Also, don't forget I'm looking to feature Your Voice on the Season 1 finale episode. Record a 30-second audio clip on your phone, sharing your biggest takeaway from Tipipa Butterfly, how it's influenced you, why you think it's important, or really anything you want to say. Don't be shy. your voice is important. Send your clip to dissect podcast at gmail.com and I'll respond to you personally

letting you know it came through. Again, submit your audio clip to dissect podcast at gmail.com. Theme music by Beirocratic. For more, visit berocratic. com.