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/