Mortal Man

"Mortal Man"
Song by Kendrick Lamar
from the album To Pimp a Butterfly
ReleasedMarch 15, 2015
Genre
Length12:07
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Sounwave

"Mortal Man" is a song by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It is the sixteenth and final track on his third studio album To Pimp a Butterfly, released on March 15, 2015 through Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.[3] A 12 minute-long song, it is composed of a song section, a poem section and ends with a faux-interview between Lamar and the late rapper Tupac Shakur.

Background

"Mortal Man" extensively samples a 1994 P3 Soul interview with Tupac Shakur.

Written by Lamar while on Kanye West's Yeezus Tour,[4] "Mortal Man" ends with a simulated interview between Lamar and the late Tupac Shakur. It was sourced from an obscure, previously unreleased November 1994 interview between Shakur and Mats Nileskär [sv] (host of Swedish radio station P3 Soul) that took place only weeks before the former was shot at Quad Studios.[5][6][7][8] Lamar met Nileskär in Germany in 2014 and he gave him the audio, which Tupac's stepbrother Mopreme and mother Afeni approved the sampling of.[7][9][10] According to Tupac Shakur estate-affiliate Tom Whalley, Lamar himself came up with the idea of appending a posthumous interview with Shakur to the end of "Mortal Man".[11] Lamar said he was inspired to make the song after seeing Shakur's shadow talk to him while asleep, in addition to realizing that they were both born in June.[12] Whalley stated that he "didn't really hear the final results until" after To Pimp a Butterfly's release.[11] The original, unadulterated interview was publicly released around the same time as the album.[13]

Top Dawg president Punch recalled in an Instagram post that during To Pimp a Butterfly's creation, Lamar "was feeling a bit lost in the concept" and so asked him to "write something to sum up the album". His words were later added to the end of "Mortal Man".[14] In an interview with MTV, Lamar stated that the song's title meant that he is "just a man".[15] The song's inspiration was his 2014 trip to Robben Island, South Africa where Nelson Mandela had before been imprisoned;[16][17] in addition, Lamar has said it is about how people seem to point out others' flaws without seeing "the big picture", citing Jesus as an example.[15] According to Miles Mosley, invited by Kamasi Washington near the end of To Pimp a Butterfly's production, he came over to the studio to record double bass on the track.[18]

Content

"Mortal Man" samples a 1977 cover of Fela Kuti's 1975 song "I No Get Eye for Back" by Houston Person,[16] in addition to incorporating "mid-tempo drums and muffled orchestration".[19] The track begins with a melodic section: there are references to popular figures such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Huey P. Newton, Malcolm X, John F. Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Jackie Robinson, Michael Jackson, and Moses, with a chorus that asks "When shit hits the fan, is you still a fan?".[20][21] The analyst Monica R. Miller says the line questions if fans of Lamar would continue to be loyal to him in difficult or controversial circumstances.[21]

Throughout the entirety of To Pimp a Butterfly, a recited poem is slowly revealed until the part after the song section of "Mortal Man" renders it in its entirety.[20][note 1] After the reading, Lamar simulates an interview with Tupac Shakur that slowly incorporates free jazz, in which they discuss "fame, the fattening of the upper class and the lifecycle of the black man's power".[2] Finally, he tells Shakur of a black-related metaphor about caterpillars and butterflies: it argues that people who live on the street are like caterpillars that must use up all surrounding resources, turning into butterflies if they realize their potential. According to Miller, the cocoon stage in between could symbolize "life, death, the system, [or] the industry that pimps out artists before they can become butterflies".[21] The analyst Sequoia Maner said that "Mortal Man" was its album's "crown jewel" and acted as its "thesis statement".[23]

Critical reception and legacy

Devon Jefferson of AllHipHop referred to "Mortal Man" as "one of Kendrick Lamar's most notable, critically acclaimed album deep cuts".[14] Ben Travis wrote for GQ that the track is "a jaw-dropping conclusion that snaps everything before it into focus".[24] Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly selected it as one of To Pimp a Butterfly's best two tracks,[25] while ABC News called "Mortal Man"'s faux-interview weird but stirring.[26] In 2022, BuzzFeed's Kasim Kabbara ranked it as Lamar's 26th-best song, calling the track a "powerful outro".[27] Some criticized a line about the singer Michael Jackson ("That nigga gave us 'Billie Jean', you say he touched those kids?"), perceiving it to be excusing his sexual abuse allegations.[28][29][30]

"Mortal Man" was covered by Terrace Martin on his 2016 album Velvet Portraits.[31]

Charts

Chart performance for "Mortal Man"
Chart (2015) Peak
position
US Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles (Billboard)[32] 7

Notes

  1. ^ Sources refer to the name of the poem as either "Mortal Man"[20] or "Another Nigga".[22]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Simmons & Williams 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Kendrick Lamar's epic 'Mortal Man' features fiery 2Pac interview". Los Angeles Times. March 16, 2015. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  3. ^ Jeffries, David (March 16, 2015). "To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  4. ^ Frydenlund, Zach (March 31, 2015). "Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole Still Want to Release That Joint Album". Complex. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  5. ^ Thompson, Paul (March 16, 2015). "Listen to the Full 2Pac Interview Kendrick Lamar Samples on 'Mortal Man' - XXL". XXL Mag. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  6. ^ NME News Desk (April 9, 2015). "Tupac interviewer from Kendrick Lamar album calls record 'soundtrack to new civil rights movement'". NME. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Walker, Angus (April 1, 2015). "Kendrick Lamar Explains "The Blacker The Berry", "Mortal Man" & More". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  8. ^ Kyles, Yohance (March 17, 2015). "Listen To The Full 2Pac Interview Featured On Kendrick Lamar's "Mortal Man" (AUDIO)". AllHipHop. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  9. ^ Nevares, Gabriel Bras (April 23, 2024). "Tupac's Brother Says Drake Went Too Far By Using AI Voice In His Kendrick Lamar Diss Track". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  10. ^ Gee, Andree (April 22, 2024). "Drake Mostly Made Himself Look Bad on His Latest Diss". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Aswad, Jem (March 19, 2015). "Inside Kendrick Lamar's Tupac Tribute 'Mortal Man': 'I Think They Would Have Been Good Friends'". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  12. ^ Burditt, Peter (October 9, 2024). "The Paranormal Experience Between Kendrick Lamar and Tupac Shakur That Inspired the Closing Track on 'To Pimp a Butterfly'". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on November 23, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  13. ^ Frydenlund, Zach (March 16, 2015). "Listen To the Rare Tupac Interview Used On Kendrick Lamar's "Mortal Man"". Complex. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Jefferson, Devon (August 22, 2024). "TDE President Punch Reveals Touching Story Behind Kendrick Lamar's "Mortal Man"". AllHipHop. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Harling, Danielle (April 7, 2015). "Kendrick Lamar Breaks Down "Mortal Man," "u" & Other "To Pimp A Butterfly" Tracks". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on September 7, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  16. ^ a b Killakam (March 17, 2015). "Kendrick Lamar Samples Fela Kuti In 'To Pimp A Butterfly' - Okayplayer". OkayAfrica. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  17. ^ Carmichael, Rodney; Madden, Sidney (February 21, 2018). "'Black Panther: The Album' Is Kendrick Lamar's Parallel, Pan-African Universe". NPR. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  18. ^ Moore 2021, pp. 167–168.
  19. ^ Moore 2021, p. 21.
  20. ^ a b c Maner 2022, p. 73.
  21. ^ a b c Miller 2019, chpt. 9.
  22. ^ Phillips, Matthew. "Music Review: Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  23. ^ Maner 2022, pp. 71–72.
  24. ^ Travis, Ben (March 16, 2015). "Kendrick Lamar review: To Pimp A Butterfly". British GQ. Archived from the original on April 16, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  25. ^ Anderson, Kyle (March 26, 2015). "'To Pimp a Butterfly' by Kendrick Lamar: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  26. ^ "Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly' Music Review". ABC News. March 16, 2015. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  27. ^ Kabbara, Kasim (June 27, 2022). "The 30 Best Kendrick Lamar Songs". BuzzFeed. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  28. ^ Breihan, Tom (March 17, 2015). "Premature Evaluation: Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly". Stereogum. Archived from the original on July 19, 2024. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  29. ^ Lewis 2021, chpt. 5.
  30. ^ Pearce, Sheldon (October 26, 2020). "Kendrick Lamar and the Mantle of Black Genius". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  31. ^ Elone, Emmanuel (April 26, 2016). "Terrace Martin: Velvet Portraits". PopMatters. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  32. ^ "Kendrick Lamar Chart History (Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2024.

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