There are three different breeds of song. The first is a bubbling and often slow rise toward an emotional climax, where lumps swell within throats and memories of unrequited love firmly lodge themselves within chests. The second is the middle of the road pop song, which usually only exists to fill the vacant space in the great vessel of mediocrity that is existence until something better comes along. The third is a track like Kendrick Lamar's "Money Trees."Call it a slapper, call it a banger, call it the greatest consolidation of energy particles this side of heaven—whatever. When you hear a track like "Money Trees," it reverberates around your soul. When that beat drops, it moves within one's being. Like a cascading river made from sound, it moves into bodily chasms and revitalizes them. Songs like "Money Trees" are special, and rare, and few, and when they play at their loudest volume, they bring forth a monumental energy shift. In many ways, it is like some form of magic. Music like this is the closest we will get to being wizards, or having that feeling of taking drugs for the first time all over again. It reminds us why life can be dope. In fact, the reason why I'm going so hard on what's meant to be a news post about "Money Trees" is that it reminded me why life can be dope three times already this morning.See, Kendrick Lamar took to the White House yesterday to play a bunch of songs for the President. This in itself is amazing—Kendrick Lamar! In the White House! Playing songs from To Pimp a Butterfly! What a time to be alive!—but it's the fact that he opened with "Money Trees" that stands out the most, because it proves that Kendrick Lamar is surfing on the super-highway of prodigious talent. We all knew that already, because we've all heard good kid, m.A.A.d city, or To Pimp a Butterfly, or Section 80, or this awe-inspiring performance between him and Prince which is like ascending into heaven, or the whole bunch of other showcases (like on Fallon, or the BET Awards, or the Grammys) where he's proved time and time again that he's an artist pushing the boundaries of what it means to advance toward a higher-level of being.But it's this song in particular from this performance that's struck me because, God damn: do I need to do any more explaining? Kendrick Lamar is great. He is playing a great song in the White House and ad-libbing the fuck out of it, carving his way through the atmosphere like the Silver Surfer, but 3000x times better than that because he's a real person. This is some incredibly dope shit.You can watch the whole thing below, where he tears through "Swimming Pools," "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe," "Poetic Justice," "ADHD," and "Alright". But fuck it: this shit just made my entire morning. This is a pinnacle in life. Obama say what it do!
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