93. Kendrick Lamar - “ELEMENT.”

Kendrick Lamar is the Sisyphus of Hip-Hop. There’s plenty of artists out there who continue to carry the torch of insightful and incisive Hip-Hop, however, there’s none who do so under the intensive microscope and within the bright spotlight of being Kendrick Lamar (or with such a sense of dexterity and ease). He’s single-handedly been tasked with the almost impossible endeavor of making sure popular Hip-Hop isn’t entirely neutered and relegated to the flaccid and vapid propaganda of corporate and racist business interests. It’s no simple calling, especially in a world of Lil Pumps and 6ix9ines, but Kendrick takes it upon himself to continue to push the genre in a positive direction that remains true to its intelligent and politically-charged roots without sacrificing any sense of artistry or groovability along the way.

Now I’ll admit I didn’t find DAMN. to be as moving as some of his other works, but it was still hands above any other releases made by artists of his stature (if there are any) within Hip-Hop. Kendrick gives the intellectual a sense of swagger that is simply unattainable by anyone else. He remains true to who he is and where he comes from, and yet at the same time transcends all of it. It’s as if he’s making a continuous statement, defying stereotypes and the limitations of structural racism by his mere existence, rewriting possibility and making himself untouchable through the might of his well-earned popularity. He’s a force, incapable of being contained, the Carl Sagan of Hip-Hop making the genre’s legacy of meaning and beauty readily available and comprehensible to all.