Department

Bailey School of Music

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2022

Embargo Period

1-7-2025

Abstract

The flow of Kendrick Lamar veers between old-school, metrically rigid and new-school, prose-like rhymes. Through manipulating rhymes within 4/4 time, Lamar increases and decreases affective tension, suggests formal ambiguity, and highlights changes in point of view and literary topic. Although rhyme manipulations have been discussed by Kyle Adams (2009), Mitch Ohriner (2019a), and others as sources of formal contrasts, their effects on affective tension, relaxation, and formal functionality have been unspecified. In this essay, we propose a more comprehensive model of rhyme-based tension and relaxation, then apply it to questions of formal norms and ambiguities in Lamar’s songs. Analyses of songs across Lamar’s output demonstrate how changing degrees of metrical tension suggest comprehensible formal subsections within verses. Our methodology codifies previously unnamed formal categories, highlights formal similarities with pop-rock repertoires, reflects the aims of Lamar’s conscious rap aesthetic, and illuminates Lamar’s lyrics.

Journal Title

Intégral

Journal ISSN

1073-6913

Volume

35

First Page

69

Last Page

94

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

n/a

Comments

Online Article can be found at https://www.esm.rochester.edu/integral/35-2022/wadsworth-and-needle/

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Music Theory Commons

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