Thundercat is this generations George Clinton. His bass playing and vocal harmonies are totally unique to him and every song and artist he collabs with is fire. And Kendrick's delivery and flow match so well.
When you go back through the lyrics it's so incredible. His use of a personified Uncle Sam character essentially being a Faustian devil luring and tempting Kendrick and other folks in similar positions and using that as a metaphor for the predatory nature of not just the record industry but the nation as a whole is just too good.
That whole album is full of such deep meanings and clever metaphors on top of these beautiful funky and jazz style beats. It’s gotta be one of the best albums ever
Most of this album was done by this group Main vocals: Kendrick Supporting vocals: Bilal and Anna Wise Drums : various artists and producers, sounwave being the main one Sax and voice box (among various other instruments): Terrace Martin Solo sax: Kamasi Washington Keys: Robert glasper
I really hate to say this word when it comes to music, but Kendrick Lamar is OBJECTIVELY one of the best arists in the world (mainly concerning lyrics)
That baseline played by Thundercat is unreal, you can feel it on iPhone speakers and when you hear it on a system it makes you emotional. Low end and high end at the same time!🤦🏾♂️
Genuinely hoping this inspires you to go through the whole album, also I like this because I’ve dissected the lyrics time and time again because this whole album is filled with conceptual ideas and black struggles to black excellence like it’s so much but now I can focus on all the instrumental things and I neeeed to see what you think of these other tracks
Tony out here teaching me new things about one of my favorite albums that I never even noticed before. I completely missed the droning bass during that first verse until now. Awesome analysis as always
@@tomcutler8131most people consider TPAB to be his best album, or GKMC and even some people consider Damn. as his best album and that again shows how consistent he is
man i love this. it's great to see a musical director dissect the layers that most people wouldn't even appreciate. you should do more kendrick lamar reactions! especially on his recent album Mr Morale & The Big Steppers or on To Pimp a Butterfly.
Collaboration with George Clinton and Thundercat had me. Then the drone sounds which bring me back a lot to De La Soul. And the Snoop synth feel…which is really a Parliament feel. Love this track. Love seeing others appreciate how the parts come together
What a wonderful song (and album) for a director. The beats on this album are so good that it feels like they shouldnt be possible to make. What a frickin album.
This is my first time watching one of your vids even though I've been subscribed for a min, maybe bc I knew you'd be dope! As an aspiring MC, but a true music lover, this is amazing to watch. Since you have a musicians ear, it def helps me understand the methods the music utilizes to help create the theme and message of the art. Great Content! Now time to binge watch your older videos!
I still listen to the majority of this album on a weekly basis and the instrumentals is the main reason, the vocals are phenomenal but the instrumentation is what makes it something I can listen to near infinitely
Thank you for dissecting the instrumental! I feel like there is so much more you wanted to say but didn't get around to it. I've listened to this song maybe 100 times+ and you helped me notice some incredible details in the "trenches" Great video!
Think the reason for the shift you mentioned at 11:20 is because lyrics wise, initially he's seemingly dreaming about when he gets signed as an artist. He's dreaming up until this point in the song so it's all melodic and fun, then at the shift is when he meets "uncle Sam" (music industry) starts to become a threat to him, it's lyrically established but to see it's actually established in the music playing too is amazing. This shift in tone doesn't isolate anyone. If you like the story, you know, lyrics, you know, instrumentals, you know. And for someone like me that just let's everything take me on a journey without paying attention to any specific thing and just dancing I now fully know why when the song gets to this point I always pause and wait on it lol
Im so glad RU-vid added the “most replayed” graph to their videos. Really cool idea. I like that you use it as well. TPAB’s production on the entire album is legendary. There is so much going on in this song and every second is amazing.
I know Thundercat’s wrists must be this close 🤏🏼 to falling off. Gotta check out “For your sorrows” by big boi from outkast with George Clinton. I feel like it would be right up your alley. *subs*
From Brazil 🇧🇷 I followed it with subtitles, but I understand most of the English. I really liked how you respect music, you repeat moments with a very analytical emphasis! I liked it, foreign subscriber
Even if you’ve probably heard it, I would like to see a reaction on PRIDE by Kendrick, the instrumentals and the Vocals are a thing of beauty in that song
I’ve been listening to this album for almost ten years and never realized Thundercat was adding that chaotic layer to Wesley’s Theory throughout the track until today 😳 true masterpiece!
Haha you and Mike Palmisano dropped reactions to this around the same time, two of my favorite musicians on RU-vid. Cool to see when things coincidentally sync up like this 😂
I know this video is somewhat old, but another great song by kendrick is Mr. Morale off of his latest album Mr Morale and the Big Steppers. It has pharrell production and kendrick also does very well on it
The reason things shift so much midway through the song is because the person rapping switches from Kendrick to the main antagonist of the album which is Uncle Sam/Lucy. So it’s rapped in a different cadence.
Anybody else hear Rockwell's I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me lurking in there? Or am i just paranoid? What a time to be alive! God bless this jam 🦅✨
Greatest Rapper of all time period no contest, easy rebuttal to end any disagreement, he has a Pulitzer Prize for his writing in Damn. The only rapper to do that period, end of discussion
in my opinion this song is the greatest song on god's planet earth, no greatest hiphop song, not greatest rap song, just the greatest song to ever be made by a human
5:45 was the grinding of your rings intentional or did you just make that motion without thinking about that. idk why i focused enough on that to make a comment i just liked it haha
