Kendrick Lamar. A man who has proved himself to be worthy of consideration for one of the greatest rappers of all time, several times over. No doubt that in recent times, you’ve become at least acquainted with him through his performance at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. He’s been lauded almost endlessly by fans and critics, with his award shelf undoubtedly being close to full at this point. This is a man who lays himself bare through a combination of simple metaphors and animated delivery. But who is Kendrick outside of the studio? Today, we’re going to attempt to shed some light on that by analyzing his nativity.
I will not lie to any of y’all, it’s difficult to articulate just how much this man’s music means to me. Kendrick is one of my favorite rappers, and albums like GKMC and Section.80 were soundtracks to some of the most difficult moments of my life. If it sounds like I’m gushing at any point in this analysis, then I probably am. I’ll try to keep it to a minimum, though. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
As usual, our genesis point will be with the Moon. Kendrick’s Moon is placed in Pisces, the double-bodied water sign. This clues us into a cleverness within him, one that runs parallel to a deep sense of wonder and intrigue. It’d also show us that he tends to fall victim to perpetual restlessness. These are qualities that align with artistic mediums, which are tied to Pisces through its being a place of exaltation for Venus, which symbolizes the arts. Those qualities are also indicative of Pisces being the domicile of Jupiter, the planet of wisdom and wonder. Pisces aligns with the archetype of the poet and the teacher, ones that Kendrick settles into rather snugly. This is a man who is known for his talent in writing and rapping, with him being able to couch a variety of simple messages by painting vividly abstract sonic portraits in a listener’s mind. He views his profession as a means of offering hope and clarity, a profession that has been divinely ordained by God.
For many fans, “I’m the closest thing to a preacher that they have,” Mr. Lamar, 27, said from the couch of a Santa Monica studio where he recorded much of the new album. “I know that from being on tour — kids are living by my music.” However, he added: “My word will never be as strong as God’s word. All I am is just a vessel, doing his work.”
New York Times • Kendrick Lamar on His New Album and the Weight of Clarity
Kendrick’s Moon is in the bounds of Mars, which reinforces that restlessness indicated by Pisces’ double-bodied nature. In those bounds, the Moon will also highlight a pugilist in the native – a latent rambunctiousness, a willingness to battle. We can see this throughout Kendrick’s journey as an artist, as he would engage in rap battles around his neighborhood before breaking through to the mainstream. This is something that he references most recently on his song wacced out murals.
While we could also reference his feature verse on Control or the feud that he had with a certain Canadian rapper one year ago, I’d like to take this in another direction. Mars is symbolic of conflict and tribulation, of struggle and warfare. With the Moon symbolizing the public sphere that one navigates in, we can look at it being in the bounds of Mars as indicative of someone operating in a rough environment. In Kendrick’s nativity, Mars is also fallen and out of sect, which skews its significations towards being relatively disruptive.
Kendrick was raised in Compton, California. He has spoken to how the harsh factors of that neighborhood impacted him, both in and outside of his music. Before even becoming 10, he’d witnessed two murders.
Tam’s was another hangout. “This is where I seen my second murder, actually,” he says. “Eight years old, walking home from McNair Elementary. Dude was in the drive-thru ordering his food, and homey ran up, boom boom — smoked him.” He saw his first murder at age five, a teenage drug dealer gunned down outside Lamar’s apartment building. “After that,” he says, “you just get numb to it.”
Rolling Stone • The Trials of Kendrick Lamar
“It was outside my apartment unit,” Lamar tells NPR’s David Greene. “A guy was out there serving his narcotics and somebody rolled up with a shotgun and blew his chest out. Admittedly, it done something to me right then and there. It let me know that this is not only something that I’m looking at, but it’s something that maybe I have to get used to — you dig what I’m saying?”
NPR Music • Kendrick Lamar : I Can’t Change The World Until I Change Myself
Despite the efforts of his parents to keep him separated from that world, Kendrick ended up falling in with gangbangers around him as a teenager. These experiences play a role in shaping the man that we hear today, from the territorial feuds he found himself embroiled in, to injustice at the hands of overly violent authorities. In the screenshot of the lyrics that I posted above Kendrick raps about having lost many of his friends, undoubtedly to the unrelenting nature of the streets. In spite of managing to make it out of Compton, even making sure to give back to his neighborhood with his wealth, he still grapples with something akin to survivor’s guilt.
Here, we begin to enter the territory of the Moon – Saturn square. Kendrick displays traits indicated by Saturn – being withdrawn to the point of reclusive, preferring to be alone, and being extremely responsible. As a child, Kendrick earned the nickname “Man-Man” from his parents due to his rapid development. In spite of that, it was a label that would also chain him to maturity beyond his age as well, as Kendrick has spoken about how his parents expected him not to cry over incidents that would typically distress a child. His parents taught him to take charge of his circumstances, as well. In particular, Kendrick’s mother instilled in him a refusal to succumb to victimization, which is something that would contribute to that ever-present sense of responsibility within him as well. Bilal’s chorus on the song Institutionalized follows Kendrick ending each verse referencing something along those lines that his grandmother told him.
However, Saturn can also indicate depression and anxiety, and Kendrick suffers from both in spades. The Lot of Burden is in the bounds of Saturn, in the 8th house. As Saturn’s planetary lot, Burden is indicative of troubles and experiences that continually haunt the native. As stated before, he shoulders intense survivor’s guilt for making it out of Compton. In the song u, he spends almost 5 minutes launching an unyielding assault on himself for how the demands of his fame and career has taken him from being there for his loved ones. Throughout the first half of the track, he is viscerally screaming and ad-libbing haunting chants, setting a clear tone. In the second half, he raps between sniffles and choked-back sobs about thoughts of ending his own life. Kendrick appears to hold himself to high standards, but also blames himself when he’s unable to maintain them across every area of his life. As a matter of fact, the song i serves as a counterpoint to the sentiment that he expresses in u, being the complete opposite in sound and feeling.
“I’ve woken up in the morning and felt like shit,” he [Kendrick] says. “Feeling guilty. Feeling angry. Feeling regretful. As a kid from Compton, you can get all the success in the world and still question your worth.” Lamar says he intended “i” as a “Keep Ya Head Up”-style message for his friends in the penitentiary. But he also wrote it for himself, to ward off dark thoughts. “My partner Jason Estrada told me, ‘If you don’t attack it, it will attack you,’ ” Lamar says. “If you sit around moping, feeling sad and stagnant, it’s gonna eat you alive. I had to make that record. It’s a reminder. It makes me feel good.”
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