Family Ties by Kendrick Lamar paves the way for new generation of music to come

Posted Jan 26. 2024

By Nuurto Gedi

Cub Reporter 

In the music industry, especially rap, Kendrick Lamar is a household name known for his bars and being able to send a message through his music while also making his music sound phenomenal. That’s why he’s loved by many fans, especially his song “HUMBLE”, where he uses his talent to show a reminder of issues in the world that should bother us all.

His lyrics in his song also give another message for himself to be humble regarding the countless amount of success and the opportunities he has and for his fans as well. He also states that women are not afraid to enhance their beauty,  “I’m so f****** sick and tired of the photoshop / Show me somethin’ natural like afro on Richard Pryor / Show me somethin’ natural like a** with some stretch marks”. Our society has normalized photoshopping and creating unrealistic beauty standards so many admire him and this song specifically for the meaning behind the lyrics and his intentions. Kendrick Lamar is THE music industry and no one can compete with him. 

In one of his recent collaborations with his cousin Baby Keem, family ties highlight the struggles of balancing fame and family relationships, and how they’ve dealt with it. The lyrics mention various topics within relationships, loyalty, betrayal, and legacy, The song is into two parts, starting with Baby Keem and mentioning that he has family ties and they cut him no slack. Meaning that they didn’t treat him any differently than before his fame. Also, in his verse, he talks about his difficulties with fame and keeping his family close, “You know the price of every brick, but you don’t know the sacrifice. The lyrics start very slow-paced, but each verse gives a strong message to the listeners. It also highlights the triumphant, with celebratory horns backed up nicely by a simple drum beat. It’s a moment for Baby Keem to truly show what he’s capable of. On the other hand, Kendrick’s second half begins to get more aggressive, darker and muddied. Kendrick’s verse, speaks on his journey with his success and the sacrifices he had to make to get where he is now, being loved by many people and seen as a rapper leading the rap industry. The lyrics, “I am the omega, pgLang, Rollie gang, S.I.E.,” and, “I’m not a trending topic, I’m a prophet,” increase soundly with each bar, and begin to do an impression of famous wrestler Hulk Hogan when he says, “Brother.” There are no rhymes to this whatsoever but, Kendrick’s change in slow makes it entertaining to listen to. However, he also speaks on the fact that even with his fame, he didn’t forget the roots of his family. This could also be a lesson to us, even with our success, to not forget our family roots and those who were with us before we reached that success. 

With an important message behind this song, it’s also left a great legacy and made a strong impact on the music industry, specifically the hip-hop genre, with many praising the artists for their creative lyrism with a lesson behind it. . The song's success goes in depth to have more music that goes into deeper topics, it can still sound good, and Family ties proved so. The fact that the song revolves around family dynamics and the impact of fame on those relationships shows that listeners are no longer interested in just entertaining lyrics and beats. They want music that speaks to them on a personal level, they can enjoy, but also get the artists’ message across. Family Ties won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance, an award people would kill for their artists to have. Kendrick Lamar & Baby Keem are very influential rappers and many rappers can learn from them.