Kendrick Lamar and Theology

"More than literary, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” qualifies as deeply theological.   At times, “Good Kid” even seems to sing a contemporary “Confessions.” Lamar differs from Augustine in many respects (Lamar offers no apology for torture, and he leaves much more room for sexual love.)  But like Augustine, Lamar crafts a narrative of sin, grace, friendship, and conversion in a particular time and place. Lamar’s “The Art of Peer Pressure” works like Augustine’s incident of the stolen pears, for example.

In some ways, I think Lamar even surpasses Augustine: in addition to confessing his own sins, Lamar also offers a structural critique.  All throughout, Lamar confesses his sins–for example, in “Swimming Pools,” he explores the perils, pleasures, and pathos of the human appetite for alcohol.  In another track, he laments, “I am a sinner who’s probably going to sin again; Lord forgive me, Lord forgive me.” While confessing his personal sins, Lamar demonstrates that, for young black girls and boys, adolescent folly is no child’s play.  When they make mistakes, they are much more likely to get not slapped on the wrist but killed or sent to prison.

Sometimes, as depicted in his video for the love song “Poetic Justice,” they are cut down for no reason at all."

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Tracklist:
1. Sherane 0:00
2. Bitch Dant Kill My Vibe 4:33
3. Backstreet Freestyle 9:44
4. The art of Peer Pressure 13:17
5. Money Trees ft Jay Rock 18:41
6. Poetic Justice ft Drake 25:08
7. Good Kid 30:08
8. Maad City 33:42
9. Swimming Pools 39:33
10. Sing About Me 44:46
11. Real 56:50
12. Compton 1:04:15
13. Recipe 1:08:22
14. Black Boy Fly 1:14:15
15. Now or Never 1:18:54