Kendrick did feel like he should be a community leader though, as seen on Mortal Man. Nothing wrong with that, as he is one. But I think he previously put an unrealistic pressure on himself as well as having the weight of some people's unrealistic hopes.

The ironic thing is that by him saying no I can't be this saviour he was making great thoughtful and meaningful songs for people like Mother I Sober (which unfortunately made some people still see him as a saviour).

However really this has no impact on his legacy as an all time great artist and most people do not care, this is just meta commentary about his social impact.

Also this is a troll thread tbh.

The All Day ref posted in the other thread reminded me that in addition to working with Ye in his prime (on a Paul McCartney track no less) Kendrick has also worked with

SOPHIE
Beyoncé
Rihanna
Taylor Swift
Eminem
50 Cent
Dr. Dre
Drake
A$AP Rocky
Lil Wayne
Cole
Nipsey
MC Eiht
Busta
Game
Carti
Mac
Pac Div
Danny Brown
Vince Staples
The Weeknd
Cudi
Jhené
YG
2 Chainz
Kodak
Pusha
Brandy
Rapsody
Snoop
Miguel
James Blake
Ty$
Pharrell
Sia
Dido
Beth Gibbons
U2
NERD
Funkadelic
Skrillex

While also big brothering and coming up alongside

SZA
Karen
Q
Soulo
Jay Rock
SiR
Isaiah Rashad
Reason
Thundercat
Terrace Martin
Kamasi Washington
Zacari
Blxst

And so many others (hell, the features on GNX are only just beginning to pop off) all while refining his craft and pushing the genre forward.

Collabs aren’t everything obviously, but when we’re talking about legacy I think it’s important to remember just how much of modern music this man has touched, influenced, and lifted up while also standing strong on his own discography. When it’s all said and done, that’s legendary to me.

just a joke gang

Truuu ngl that 5 year gap where niggas was hating doesn't negate his massive Ws

He has never really taken an L his entire career. Dam

Kendrick’s only L is not releasing this song

I think it's pretty important with the point he's tryna make on the album tho. Especially when there's a whole song dedicated to the audience part of the savior role.

One of the essential step in threapy to getting better is taking accountability, I dont think that was present

Tell me who the b**** nigga hatin on meeeeeeeeee

“Kendrick’s Marketing” -> “I don’t like the way PEOPLE paint him”

The way I saw it, he's taking accountability by the very act of self-awareness. The entire album is rooted in his shortcomings. No, he didn't spell it out that he was in over his head by trying to save the world, but the whole album is an admission of failure through self-examination and self-flagellation. Idk how much more accountable it gets.

Is he a perfect leader in his community? No, but he'll keep trying to uplift and form bonds as much as he can and there's nothing wrong with that, even as he's realized how much he ain't s*** throughout his career, even as he's realized how everything around him is warped in this toxic brand of masculinity that he's learned from his dad (Father Time); the same toxic masculinity that forces the men in his life to "handle" the relative that didn't even touch him as a kid even as he told em no, but as men, did what they thought was right. It's the same toxic brand of masculinity that forced him to bite on more than he could chew until the truth spat him out.

So when people say, "Who asked him to take on that role anyway?" I'd say it was his genuine desire to do better, but it was also his way of running away from his flaws. Mr Morale is those flaws catching up to him and exposing him.

Damn 🔥

I believe that's where my issues lies with it. Being self-aware =/= taking accountability. Self-awareness is a necessary step into taking accountability, but they're not the same, that would be him taking responsibility for his actions.

While I agree the album as a whole, he examines himself and takes responsibility for many different facets of his persona, but when it comes to the "Savior" role specifically, I think it's very much lacking.

I wouldn't have an issue with this specific point if Savior and Mirror weren't on the album and it was just Crown. On these two songs he goes into depth of asking the audience to examine themselves and why they would want him to be their "savior" and expect certain things of him. I feel like you can't take accountability implicitly considering this context of him explicitly calling for others to take accountability. He himself should also explicitly do the same and verbalize it. It comes off more as defensive than it does self-reflective in this manner.

I don't see no wrong with his intentions of wanting to take up the role and the desire to do better. This specific character arc has been one of the more interesting part about his discog. He's wrestle with this role since S80 where he reluctantly takes up the mantle to DAMN where you really start to see him reject it, to MMBS where he outright rejects it. But the thing is you don't have to choose between being a savior or saving yourself. There's no one man, MLK or Malcom X type figure, that is going to save the community, but that doesn't mean there can't be a middle ground at play here. The community can be saved through the community which is something i think he took away from the Pop Out show

How this thread got me feeling

essays itt

op won

nah, i took Mr. Morale as him saying

“Goddamn niggas, i tried and it still wasn’t good enough so bet, here’s really what I’ve been up for the last 5 years tryna heal with my family as my homies around me are dying and the world itself is dying as we’re trapped inside trying to figure out what’s next. Sorry I couldn’t be the savior for ya’ll s***, I had a lot of s*** f***ing me up at home. here’s an album, sorry we not at the same place, I was fixing my world cause the world finally showed me it’s impossible to fix on DAMN like I dreamed I could on TPAB. if you here mentally, peace. see yall for the good times”

that’s what I took from it

the way people talk about him is kinda crazy and i’m not talking about just his fans. niggas tryna force any pointless hate on him cus he’s been loved since he started. prime example is this thread already has more pages than the thread about him performing at the olympics and i know this happens with everybody, negativity sells, but the discourse is tiring

and the tpab boo-boo dead homies song

Or Prayer

…yet

You cant put me morale and gnx on the same level. Mr morale was ass and lazy while gnx is genuinely a fun project

People still replying to this troll thread?

I think Mirror is saying that we all can and should help ourselves and by extension that will help the community through doing things like therapy (if you take it in the context of the album). i see Kendrick as leading by example there, and is an example of the middle ground.

I get your issue with him not saying he is accountable for the Saviour things as explicitly as you'd like, but imo I think its clear and implied throughout the album and so is not an issue for me