[This is part 3 of a longer series - previous track "For Free?"- next track "Institutionalized"] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRK7PVJFbS8 If To Pimp a Butterfly were a movie, "King Kunta" would be the close of Act I. Sound-wise, the first three songs share a common up-beat energy: they're all relatively rhythmic, brash in terms of their use of … Continue reading To Pimp a Butterfly #3: King Kunta
Category: pop-culture-pedagogy
Posts about different ways I’ve brought pop culture into my high school English classroom
To Pimp A Butterfly #2: “For Free? Interlude”
[This is part 2 of a longer series - previous track "Wesley's Theory" - next track "King Kunta"] "For Free?" is labelled as an "interlude," and though it does have the feel of skit that goes between two more properly formed songs, what happens on this track is much more than a transition. Under cover … Continue reading To Pimp A Butterfly #2: “For Free? Interlude”
To Pimp a Butterfly – #1: Wesley’s Theory
[This is part 1 of a longer series - next track "For Free?"] For a few years now I've listened to To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar's 2015 masterpiece, with my junior English classes. I have learned a lot about music, about the experiences of both Kendrick and of my students, as well as a … Continue reading To Pimp a Butterfly – #1: Wesley’s Theory
What I’ve Learned Bringing Kendrick Lamar into my Classroom
[This post is part of a broader project I'm calling "Pop Culture Pedagogy" where I write about ways pop culture finds its way into my classroom] When Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize today, I think more than a few people probably dismissed it as somehow the committee trying to be trendy but that … Continue reading What I’ve Learned Bringing Kendrick Lamar into my Classroom