ABSTRACT
James W. Perkinson’s ‘“Black Meaning’ Out of Urban Mud: good kid, m.A.A.d. city as Compton Griot-Riff at the Crossroads of Climate-Apocalypse” argues that Lamar’s first major label album good kid, m.A.A.d city put the Compton rapper on the map. Perkinson’s contribution, by “a wanna-be-human hiding in white skin,” as he self-describes, asks if Lamar’s riff on ghetto life can be understood in parallel with ancient griot wisdom and teaching. Perkinson juxtaposes Lamar’s laments with the manner of old griot rites of recitation in thirteenth-century Mali’s struggle to ‘sing’ the world back into existence, with a look (back) to the Epic of Sunjata. In a poetic fashion that seeks to inspire and mimic the brilliance of hip-hop as a tool for social intervention, Perkinson’s essay offers a word on the tragic late-coming of Lamar (as a voice who might inspire the masses to address current social and ecological climate crises), while Perkinson also suggests many may find solace in the manner in which Lamar’s complex reworking of ancient wisdom gives glimpses of a way forward.
