Category: Senior Literary

Okay, this is going to be another serious blog for me. Normally I’m not the most political person. Not that I don’t care, I’ve just never educated myself like I should have. I knew what I needed to know, and I knew right from wrong, but recently I have been trying to change that. I think we all know that we are living in a time of fear, manipulation, division, and inhumanity. I would just like to talk about how this is affecting me and how I am scared. Maybe this will help me feel a little better about it all.

I can’t go too deep into everything, but I do want to talk about the things I have seen and the censorship that is going on. Jimmy Kimmel’s show was canceled due to something he said. He used his first amendment right, not to slander a death, not to talk ill of the people in the situation, but to tell the truth and call out the people who are using a tragic death to gain popularity. Though this is not the biggest thing that has happened recently, it makes me question what is next. Will I not be able to express my opinions in the future? Will my rights be taken from me because I don’t think the same way as all the people who like the color red? Will Big Brother be watching?

Another thing is the cruelties that are happening to innocent people who came to this country for a better life. You know, the thing that was promoted all those years ago. Like the stories you hear of immigrants seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time. I can’t believe that people are being picked up off the street and put into prison for living their lives. Some people taken from COURT CASES who are in the process of getting their citizenships. Pregnant women and children are put into these facilities where they are denied treatment for illness along with poor quality of resources, causing their health to deteriorate more. I saw a story of a girl who was taken from her home while babysitting her siblings because she was not American. The worst part of that was they weren’t even looking for her. They were looking for the previous owner. She was a student, and she was ready to make a name for herself. Now, she sits in prison, calling her mother in pain due to her, now, poor health and the pain her scoliosis is causing her. Oh yeah, they aren’t even helping her with her diagnosed problems. This is the most shameful thing I have ever seen. We are seeing concentration camps pop up in the United States, land of the “free”. Free only if you are a rich white man in power.

There is so much more I could talk about, but I’ll end it with the gun violence in our country. Even though everyone says that banning guns will not help with anything going on right now, I don’t think keeping them so easy to get is helping either. There needs to be heavier restrictions. Almost anybody can go into a Walmart down in the south and purchase a shotgun without any background checks. That is horrible because what is stopping someone from buying that gun and shooting up the store? That should not be a question that needs to be asked. And now we are seeing people being murdered all because someone chose that it was their responsibility to make them stop spreading their beliefs. Whether someone is spreading good or bad beliefs, no one gets to determine whether they live or die. Another thing is that students can’t feel safe. School shootings are more common than they should be. We shouldn’t have that problem. Time and time again, we see it happen and the only people who try to prevent it are the schools themselves. And even then, that may not even happen. Then just like Kimmel said, people who only see red use these things to gain political points and spread more hate and violence. They pin the blame on the mentally ill, immigrants, trangenders, and all these people that don’t deserve the blame. Some not even making any sense. I saw one conservative man say transgender people probably kill more people than guns do every year. Make that make sense. At the end of the day, whoever pulled the trigger was able to purchase a gun, bring it into an event, and kill somebody and still, guns apparently aren’t the problem. Yes, people make the decisions to do these bad things, but it there are so many ways we can go about solving the situation instead of spreading more lies and hate. 

Like I said, there are so many other problems going on that shivers my timbers like financial aid cuts, Medicaid cuts, tax raises, and specific files not being released. All these things should not be issues, and you’d think it would be common sense, but it isn’t. But whatever gets the rich white men more money, right?

This is my LAST To Pimp A Butterfly blog, and I’m so excited about it. These songs mean so much to me, and Kendrick is a HUGE inspiration. I couldn’t get to into the other two songs because the last on is so long, but so important, and I actually want people to read this… Anyways, 

14. You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma said) = 4:01

“It’s all in your head, homie”

This whole song is practically based on not being your true self. The song starts with Kendrick telling us what his mama said. “I could spot you a mile away/I could see your insecurities written all over your face…Who you foolin’? Oh, you assuming you can just come and hang with the homies but your level of realness ain’t the same.” This is a play on a “mother intuition”. Being able to know things without being told it, and she knows that lies are being told. This song was inspired by Tupac Shakur’s song “Lie to kick it” which means that you don’t have to make up things to seem cool just so you can hang out. Kendrick even says, “You ain’t gotta lie to kick it” after naming things being said to clearly impress him, saying, “You sound like the feds, homie.” Later in the song Kendrick says, “The loudest one in a room, that’s a complex” referring to people who make themselves seem like they’re better than everyone by boasting and bragging about things when they don’t even have to do all that.

15. i = 5:36

“I love myself”

In an earlier blog, I mention how later in the album Kendrick makes a song about self-love, well this is that song! Kendrick says it loud in proud in this song that he loves himself. He says he’s been through a lot, but he knows God, and he’s holding onto hope and life even when people wanna bring him down. He talks about bad things happening but trying to stay positive while not ignoring those things at the same time. At one point Kendrick says that this is the best song he’s ever written since he never thought he’d make a song this positive when he grew up around so much negativity.  Further into the song, there is an argument in the crowd, and Kendrick does his best to settle them down by talking about all the rough stuff that has happened, so we need to stop causing problems with one another when the world already gives us so many. When he begins to rap again, he talked about the N word. He says, “N-E-G-U-S, definition: royalty, king royalty. /N-E-G-U-S, description: black emperor, king, ruler.” He says that we’ve been using the word wrong after “The history books overlooked the word and hide it/America tried to make it a house divided.” He ends the song by saying, “Kendrick Lamar, by far, realest Negus alive.”

16. Mortal Man = 12:07

“Only hope that we kinda have left is music”

In this song, Kendrick asks a question, “When sh*t hit the fan, is you still a fan?” He referenced many important activists in history, starting with Nelson Mandela. Kendrick says, “The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows stay propellin’/Let these words be your Earth and moon, you consume every message/As I lead this army, make room for mistakes and depression/And with that being said let me ask you a question:” Kendrick understands that he is important to the Black community, and how he must use his voice for greater things. The meaning of his question that he asks throughout the song is if he makes a mistake, will we still be with him. He asks if we believe in him or are we deceiving him. He asks if he was framed for a crime, would we take up for him or turn against him. He knows he has had a big impact on his community saying, “You tell me my song is more than a song, it’s surely a blessing.” Kendrick talks about his flaws like how he has abandonment issues, and he holds grudges, and he wants to be important like Nelson Mandela, and he says, “Don’t let me resent you/That’s not Nelson-like.” He continues to question loyalty of the people around him, “family, friends, fans, cats, dogs/Trees, plants, grass, how the wind blow, Murphy’s Law.” He is questioning this due to another line where he says, “How many leaders you said you needed, then left ’em for dead.” He names off Moses, Huey Newton, Detroit Red, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and even Michael Jackson.

The song goes into an interview, and Kendrick gives us the whole poem continuing from where we left off from Hood Politics, “A war that was based on apartheid and discrimination/Made me wanna go back to the city and tell the homies what I had learned/The word was ‘respect’/Just because you wore a different gang color than mine’s/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 no mortal man/Maybe I’m just another n-“

He begins speaking to the person he’s interviewing about a metaphor of the ground. The man talks about the ground being poor people, and that it will soon open up and swallow the rich people. The man calls himself a “natural-born hustler” who had nothing but opportunities to get him where he is today. He had a terrible job and a terrible life, but he did all of that to eventually be more than he ever imagined. He says, “I made millions for a lot of people/Now it’s time to make millions for myself.” He kept his sanity by having a faith in God and faith in the game. He says, “All good things come to those who stay true.” And he believed he was always true.  He says, “A Black man only have five years we can exhibit maximum strength.” He says as teens, they’re strong, “Once you turn thirty… they take the heart and soul out of a Black man in this country.” I could rant about this interview for much longer, but I’ll cut it short. The title of the album comes from something Kendrick said a good friend wrong for him, describing his world. There is a caterpillar who is prisoner to the streets. It can only eat to protect its city. The more it eats, the more it learns to survive. The world shuns the caterpillar but praises the butterfly. The butterfly is talent, thoughtfulness, and beauty within the caterpillar, but “having a harsh outlook on life, the caterpillar sees the butterfly as weak/And figures out a way to pimp it to his own benefits.” But soon, the caterpillar becomes institutionalized inside its cocoon. He’s trapped, and while he is, he has a revelation of going home and “bringing back new concepts to this mad city.” When the caterpillar grows mentally, it becomes a butterfly. He asks the man what’s his perspective on it, but with no answer he calls his name. “‘Pac?” Tupac!! Isn’t that crazy? 

In this song Kendrick used an old interview that Tupac was on in 1994. Kendrick takes a lot of inspiration from Tupac and even planned to name the album Tu Pimp A Caterpillar. This album had a heavy grasp on me last year and I lost that passion over the summer. Coming back to this blog was difficult, but when I began to listen and think once again, I remembered how much I loved it. Kendrick may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I do encourage you guys to listen to some of these songs, DEFINITELY this one. Thank you!

As much as I hate to admit it, my music taste has been heavily influenced by my dad. Years of saying “No dad, that music sucks” have now come back to bite me, because a lot of his music tastes are actually very good. A couple years ago, me and my dad listened to Alt Nation on SiriusXM all the time. Every drive in the car was soundtracked by those songs. The first one that comes to mind is one called Chaise Longue by Wet Leg. I was instantly obsessed. Once Wet Leg released their self-titled debut, I listened to it on repeat for three months straight. That was back in 2022. Now, it’s 2025 and Wet Leg released their newest album, moisturizer. It was my soundtrack over the summer, and I couldn’t get enough. I forget how easily I obsess over my interests, because I find that I never have enough time to indulge in them. The only reason I was able to get so intensely into moisturizer was because it was easily accessible. It was available to me every time my engine turned over. Even for the ten minute drive from my house to work, I could be invested into this album. The commodification of labor and art has easily made the world so difficult to create and be creative in. Mainstream media has taken out the pure creativity required to make powerful art, and with music being a commodity, it takes away from the experience of immersing yourself in music, but I had this one moment that belonged only to me, cruising down the beachside highway with my windows rolled down. It was exactly what I pictured my summer would be. But I didn’t have time for anything else. I can count the times I saw my friends over the summer on one hand. I had to give up my free time so that I could pay for my responsibilities. I had to make enough for car insurance payments for the next year, which I did, but I missed the time I could’ve spent on my interests. In all honesty it really sucked, but I had to do it. Working is the future, which I hate, but it is required, no matter what. Music is therapeutic, and definitely helps me to not think too hard about that. I’m grateful that I had any time at all to indulge even a little bit over the summer.

So, I’m sure everyone knows about evolution. The idea and theory that animals evolve overtime to fit their environment. Evolution is a debatable topic. Many people believe that relying on science is the best way to go about discovering once living creatures. Other people believe that evolution shouldn’t be a topic of conversation because it goes against religion. Whatever point of view you have about evolution is okay. There’s no rule or law that says you must believe that everything originated from one animal. I’m just saying that the idea of evolution is cool, and it’s backed up by some solid evidence. So, we’re going to talk about the evolution of whales. There are more than eight animals that scientists identify to be ancestors of whales, but today we’ll only be talking about the median three. 

Pakitcetus:

Pakicetus is an extinct animal from South Asia that lived during the early Eocene period, about fifty million years ago. It is classified as a cetacean, an aquatic mammal, because it lived around oceans, and had a specialized inner ear that most cetaceans developed. It lived both in and around water, walked on land, and was carnivorous, meaning that it ate fish and other animals to survive. Pakicetus looked more like a wolf than a whale. Scientists who studied the extinct fossil say that it had a snout, tail, and large molars that gave it the ability to break down tough material. The most shocking difference between Pakicetus and other modern-day cetaceans is that it walked on four legs and was covered in fur. Pakicteus is what scientists regard as a transitional ancestor, meaning that it serves as the groundwork for current cetacean creatures and it signifies cetacean’s transition from land to water. There is no specific cause for Pakicetus’s extinction. The animal likely went extinct due to environmental pressures that interfered with how well it could survive.

Kutchicetus:

            Kutchicetus existed during the Early to middle Eocene Era, and like the Pakitcetus, it lived in Pakistan. Many of the animals were also found in India. Kutchicetus is the smallest cetacean, and fossil evidence shows that it also had a snout, like the Pakitcetus. It had a tail, and four limbs that helped it to swim and walk on land. I think this animal was one of the last ancestors of whales to swim and walk. After the Eocene period, there is an event (not sure which) that likely changed all organism’s ability to adapt, so the Kutchicetus won’t have use for four legs, other than for swimming properly. It has a thick tail, hip bones, and elongated vertebrae/spine. The Kutchicetus has body proportions that are unlike other cetaceans, but similar to other land-living creatures, like otters.

Dorudon:

            Dorudon lived during the later Eocene period. It was one of the first creatures that evolved to look like the modern whales we know today, except it was a lot smaller. It measured about five meters long. Dorudon didn’t have any legs or body hair, and it lived in warm seas. Many fossils of this creature have been found in Egypt, New Zealand, and West Sahara. I also think this is the first whale to be so widely populated and so well adapted to its environment. Because of Durodon, whales have taken on traits that make them more adapted to swimming, which is what they do best. 

If you’re interested in all the different species of early whales, I recommend that you watch a more detailed version of this on YouTube. There is so much information out there that breaks down the habits and biological traits of extinct whale ancestors and other animals. I truly love learning about this, and hopefully in the future, I’ll write more about the other species as well. 

9. Momma = 4:43

“Until I realized I didn’t know sh*t”

The song begins with Kendrick talking about his success. He knows all the things he accomplished, and he even says, “This feelin’ is brought to you by adrenaline and good rap.” Everything he has done brought him success but it also back home and he is glad about that. He says, “I would say it got me get a plaque, but what’s better than that? The fact it brought me back home.” Kendrick then goes on to talk about everything he knows, which is everything. He knows himself and mortality; he knows the streets, religion, and politics. It goes on for a very long time, and as we know Kendrick is very educated so it may be true that he knows all these things to some extent, but he ends his knowledge with saying he realized he knew nothing when he returned home which means he is acknowledging that if he knows everything it means nothing without his home. In verse 3 Kendrick begins talking about a little boy he met in South African that resembled him when he was younger. This relates him to him returning home to Compton, showing how he was still connected to the people around him despite being away for a while. The boy says, “Kendrick you do know my language/You just forgot because of what public schools had painted.” 

10. Hood Politics = 4:52

“They give us guns and drugs, call us thugs”

This song begins with Dr. Dre portraying one of Kendrick’s old friends who have been left on voicemail. The voice is laughing at him over becoming a rapper telling him, “Don’t tell me they got you on some weirdo rap sh*t. No socks and skinny jeans.” A lot of Kendrick’s friends growing up weren’t used to his new lifestyle since he couldn’t talk with them daily and most of them took offense to this behavior. Kendrick starts the chorus by calling everything boo-boo (the funniest thing ever to me). He’s been A1 since day 1 and everyone else and boo-boo! He goes on for bit naming things, but the main focus of this song are “politics” of the hood/rap, with Kendrick saying he doesn’t care about these politics despite being a very political person. He speaks on gangs/cliques who fight with others about different neighborhoods. He even talked about the LAPD saying, “The LAPD gamblin’, scramblin’, football numbers sladerin’.” Which is rereferring to certain scandals they have been in and tried to cover up. “Football numbers” refers to a term being served in prison. Kendrick also says, “From Compton to Congress/Demo-Crips and Re-Blood-icans”, Which talks about how some officials talk down on these communities despite being a big part in communities being separated and being against one another. He also references the book “DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans: No More Gangs in Government” that was written by Jesse Ventura, who was a former Minnesota governor about how certain places are marked certain colors (red and blue mainly), which seems like it’s separated as a gang territory. Kendrick uses this allusion to point out hypocrisy in some government officials. The poem continues in this song, “But that didn’t stop survivors’ guilt/Going back and forth/Trying to convince myself the stripes I earned/Or maybe how A-1 my foundation was/But while my loved ones was fighting a continuous war/Back in the city/I was entering a new one.”

11. How Much a Dollar Cost = 4:21

“My selfishness is what got me here”

Kendrick starts this song by saying, “How much a dollar really cost? /The question is detrimental, paralyzin’ my thoughts.” Kendrick is pondering the actual worth of a dollar, but this entire song is Kendrick questioning his moral because he introduces us to a homeless man asking him for a dollar. Kendrick refuses to give it to him, assuming that he’ll be using it for drugs despite the homeless man begging for the money to have food. The man also starts to convince Kendrick he doesn’t want the money for drugs saying, “My son, temptation is one thing I’ve defeated. Listen to me, I want a single bill from you. Nothin’ less, nothin’ more.” Kendrick even goes on to tell the man he doesn’t have it despite just buying gas. We’re at a gas station! The chorus is sung by James Fauntleroy in the perspective of God, saying, “It’s more to feed your mind/Water, sun and love, the one you love/All you need, the air you breathe” This voice is telling us that life itself is worth more than a singular dollar, and these things are really all you should need in your life. The homeless man is in disbelief over Kendrick not giving him the singular dollar he had asked for, and Kendrick begins angry as he wonders why this man is so upset with him. He even says, “Until I could see/ A reason why he was mad, a stranger like I was supposed to save him/Like I’m the reason he’s homeless and askin’ me for a favor.” Kendrick is infuriated with this man, even saying that he was being guilt tripped by him. He begins telling the man he needs it all and that he has nothing to give out to him, even calling him a bum. SO, the big reveal comes as the man says, “Known the truth, it’ll set you free. You’re looking at the Messiah, the son of Jehovah, the Higher Power/And I’ll tell you just how much a dollar cost/The price of having a spot in Heaven, embrace your loss, I am God.” This tears Kendrick apart the next line being, “I wash my hands, I said my grace, what more do you want from me?” His selfishness caused him his spot in Heaven.

12. Complexion (A Zulu Love) = 4:23

“I made a flower for you outta cotton”

This song starts off by saying, “Complexion don’t mean a thing (It’s a Zulu love).” In this song it talks about the color of your skin and how that shouldn’t dictate the type of person you are. Zulu love is relating to the Zulu philosophy which translates to “human kindness” or “humanness”. In verse 1 Kendrick starts off saying, “Dark as the midnight hour or bright as the mornin’ sun.” Then he goes on to say that he doesn’t care about anyone’s complexion, and it also refers to how many different colors African Americans can be despite all being Black people. In the next line Kendrick talks about being snuck into a window by a White girl who he gave a flower made of cotton to, and he tells her he’s “ten toes down/even if master listenin’, cover your ears, he ’bout to mention complexion.” Kendrick is infatuated with this girl and doesn’t want “master” to stick the idea of racism into her head. Later in the song Kendrick introduces Rapsody who wrote her own verse for this song. She talks about complexion and how darker Black Americans usually feel inferior to those around them, she even says, “Light don’t mean you smart, bein’ dark don’t mean you stupid.” She ends her verse saying, “Black as brown, hazelnut, cinnamon, black tea/And it’s all beautiful to me/Call your brothers magnificent, call all the sisters queens/We all on the same team, blues and pirus, know colors ain’t a thing.” The song ends on a sad note with Kendrick saying, “Barefoot babies with no care/Teenage gun toters that don’t play fair, should I get out the car? /I don’t see Compton, I see something much worse/The land of the landminds, the hell that’s on earth.” This elaborates on the communities that have been formed with people holding hate against one another and oneself, and people being fearful in their own neighborhoods, usually young teenagers. 

13. The Blacker the Berry = 5:28

“All them say we doomed from the start cah we Black.”

Kendrick starts this song off with a monologue about everything being black., but the background vocals say, “They want us to bow/Down on our knees/And pray to the God/We don’t believe.” It’s speaking of how a lot of people want African Americans to submit in this modern society despite suffering for so long. Kendrick goes on to say, “I own black, I own everything black.” which is him saying that African Americans deserve more than what has been giving to them. In the first verse Kendrick calls himself, “the biggest hypocrite of 2015” and says, “Once I finish this, witnesses will convey just what I mean.” SO, we will come back to that line at the end. Kendrick says that he’s been feeling this way since he was sixteen, that America never liked Black Americans despite the actions made to give us more freedom. He says, “You never liked us anyway, f*ck your friendship, I meant it.” Kendrick even lists characteristic stereotypes of Black Americans saying that his hair is nappy and his nose is round and wide. He turns to the audience speaking to us saying, “You hate me, don’t you? /You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture.” Kendrick even calls himself a “proud monkey,” which is him taking a word used against Black Americans to reclaim as his own. He even talks about how he was born during the Reagan era, addressing this by saying, “You sabotage my community, makin’ a killin’/You made me a killer.” And this addresses how drugs were put into impoverished areas and led to many killings, that Kendrick had witnessed himself. The line, “The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice” alludes to The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life written by Wallace Thurman during the Harlem Renaissance. It’s simply a positive affirmation to darker African Americans, but Kendrick ends this pre-chorus saying, “The blacker the berry, the bigger I shoot.” which alludes to a darker skinned person being more likely to get hurt due to their skin color. In the Chorus, Kendrick gets Assassin to sing where he talks about being treated as lower due to being Black. He says, “How you no see the whip, left scars ‘pon me back/But now we have a big whip parked ‘pon the block.” Which talks about luxury, but this American dream of materialism is another form of oppression. At the end Kendrick talks about Zulu and Xhosa, two of the biggest tribes in South America, who might go to war which reminds him of gangs in Compton. He accepts that it doesn’t matter if he likes to preach with the Panthers, referring the Black Panther party. Or say that Marcus Garvey has all the answers, the man who supported the “Back to Africa” movement saying that all Black Americans should get on a boat and sail back home. He says he tries to celebrate February like it’s his birthday, and eat watermelon, chicken, and drink Kool-Aid on the weekdays, or jump as high as Michael Jorden. He just goes on about stereotypical things that he wants to enjoy, but he ends the song saying. “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street /When gang-banging make me kill a n- blacker than me? / Hypocrite.” 

This is getting kinda long, and I actually want people to read this, so I will save the other songs for another blog. Oopsie!!