Kendrick Lamar Music Analysis

This lesson is a part of a larger unit on music as literature. The purpose is to help students understand how music can be viewed as serious literature. This lesson will eventually segue into a unit on poetry; however, this unit does not focus on “music as poetry.” Through this lesson, students will understand Kendrick Lamar’s music (specifically his album To Pimp A Butterfly, and several songs from his latest album DAMN.) to represent a serious work of African-American literature. 

This lesson is broken into two days. The first focuses on Kendrick Lamar’s music as literature, with a smaller focus on the meaning behind his lyrics. The second day will focus on Kendrick’s representations of the “black experience” through his lyrics. It is helpful to become familiar with the songs listed throughout the lessons in order to best anticipate student responses and questions.