But I'm Just a Mortal Man

When I think of poetry in music, my mind instantly darts to Kendrick Lamar's sophomoric album, To Pimp a Butterfly. The whole album is an experience and it was difficult to capture all of the experiences present throughout the album, but I think Mortal Man does this quite well. Additionally, though this might be cheating, along with the initial five minute song, the track also contains two poems, one by Kendrick and another by one of his good friends. The first poem is built on throughout his whole album, while lastly, in the final track, the poem is revealed in full. This first poem encapsulates Lamar's struggle with his rise to prominence and his survivors guilt with leaving Compton. Yet, despite this, he decides to educate people on the potential they have and transcends borders of mortality through his messages contained within his music, despite being a mortal man. This is all captured within his lyrics as he makes allusions to famous African American leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Nelson Mandela. Lines like ¨The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it¨ and ¨you think she gonna stick around if them 25 years occur¨ are clear allusions to these leaders.

Lamar also contains multidimensional language throughout the song. Lines like ¨Let my word be your earth and moon/ You consume every message/ As I lead this army make room for mistakes and depression" show his following and how he strives to be a leader in the world despite his mortal imperfections. Additionally, in the outro of the song after a conversation with Tupac, Lamar recites another poem told to him by a friend. This poem encapsulates his whole message spun throughout To Pimp a Butterfly, good kid Maad City, and Section 80. The poem speaks of the potential people hailing from a similar background as the Compton native are faced with despite the contempt society holds against them . The poem masterfully uses the metaphor of a caterpillar and butterfly to do this. Kendrick Lamar uses the butterfly as a symbol for the successful African American in the eyes of society while he uses the caterpillar as those that are cocooned within racism, gang violence, and police brutality. His message powerfully ends with the line ¨Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different/ they are one and the same".  I would recommend listening to the entire album for the entirety of Kendrick Lamar's message, yet Mortal Man stands as the capstone on his pyramid of an album.