Andrew Ferruzza

Karlianne Seri

WRT 102.72

27 February 18

Kendrick Lamar, “How Much a Dollar Cost”: The Definition of Compassion

Kendrick Lamar made quite a name for himself in 2013 when he released his major label debut, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. The album was unanimously praised by critics for its production, songwriting, and Kendrick’s catchy yet thought-provoking style. However, the acclaim wouldn’t end here. Fast forward two years and America has increasingly become more racially, sexually, and morally seperated. Events such as the shooting of Trayvon Martin and the Ferguson County riots were inspiring protesters everywhere to fight for change. These callings were also reaching musicians as well, of all genres and races. In looking at Kendrick’s second major-label album, To Pimp a Butterfly, it is important to keep in mind that these issues are exactly where he is drawing most of his lyrics from. Kendrick has put himself out in the spotlight at this point in his career. He has shook the hand of success, and he has seen how it destroyed other artists in his realm. On track eleven of this album, “How Much a Dollar Cost,” Kendrick recites an anecdote on his account of a homeless beggar. His control of rhetorical strategies such as foreshadowing, repetition, and imagery forces the listeners to rewind the song and hope to truly understand his message about human compassion, selfishness, and greed.

“How much a dollar really cost?” Kendrick asks us in the first line. Already we are placed in Kendrick’s position. We are asked to ask ourselves a question that cannot literally be answered. We are rhetorically asked to think as Kendrick insists, “The question is detrimental, paralyzin’ my thoughts.”  The setting is also established in the first few lines, and it is very crucial to the message. Kendrick recites this story from a gas station, which means he is pumping his own gas, in his own car, like any “average” person. He is putting himself down to our level, and not where he could easily stand with all of the fame and money he has accumulated.

Shortly after establishing the setting, Kendrick walks out of the gas station and spots a “homeless man with semi-tan complexion, asking for ten rand [ten rand is about one U.S. dollar].” Foreshadowing is an important strategy used in this story, and it all comes from what the homeless man says back to Kendrick. “…stressin’ about dry land, deep water, powder blue skies that crack open.”  Later on in the story, the homeless man asks Kendrick, “have you ever opened Exodus 14? A humble man is all we ever need.” Exodus 14 is a chapter in the Book of Exodus from the Bible. It is the story of when Moses parted the Red Sea, which explains the dry land the man is speaking about. He also claims earlier, “My son, temptation is one thing that I’ve defeated,” which is a Biblical reference to Jesus Christ. So the reader already gets the idea that there is something different about this homeless person, and the Biblical references should start to become pretty clear. He isn’t just asking Kendrick for money, but he is testing him. Finally, in the last verse, the homeless man reveals himself to be the Son of God, and that his whole act was precisely a test of Kendrick’s character, in which Kendrick failed. With this foreshadowing, the reader eventually understands that the beggar was testing Kendrick all along, and he only hinted at it. This is exactly what is making us rewind the song again, paying closer attention to the lyrics the second time around.

While foreshadowing plays a great role in developing the beggar’s character, repetition does the same for Kendrick. As the song progresses, particularly in verse two, Kendrick becomes increasingly aware that the beggar isn’t just asking him for a dollar, or a “piece of crack that he wanted…” The constant repetition of “He’s starin’ at me” shows the listener Kendrick is dwelling on more thoughts. He is witnessing all the life that is below him, but there’s something about this particular man that keeps pulling him back. “He’s starin at me in disbelief…He’s starin at me, his eyes followed me with no laser…he’s starin at me, I noticed that his stare is contagious” Kendrick notes, as he admits to the listener — the human inside him wants to give in to this man. He knows it would be the right thing to do, but his selfishness controls him yet again, and he still refuses. Kendrick does not know that this man is in fact God.

Perhaps the most important use of repetition is featured at the end of all verses when Kendrick insistently asks, “Tell me how much a dollar cost.” By asking this question, we can uncover the Kendrick’s conflicting thoughts even further, as he ponders why he should have to give this man a dollar.

As mentioned with the setting, another rhetorical strategy Kendrick uses is imagery, and he uses it in a way to paint a picture of his encounter at the gas station. He wants us to put ourselves in his position in this exact moment. He writes very specific features of this station, mentioning the “indigenous African” man at the counter and his parked “luxury car” which showcases the poor gas station clerk vs. Kendrick’s luxury. We get a sense of how he is physically and emotionally feeling while talking to the homeless man when he explains things like “my temper is buildin’… feelin’ some type of disrespect…” and “If I could throw a bat at him, it’d be aimin’ at his neck.”  There is even some olfactory imagery mixed in when Kendrick gets closer to the man, “I smell Grandpa’s old medicine reekin’ from your skin, Moonshine and gin.” All these descriptions are meant to put us in this exact situation and make us answer for ourselves if we would honestly give this man what he wants. Kendrick admits that his “…selfishness is what got me here, who the fuck I’m kiddin’” but he also admits that these “Sour emotions got me looking at the universe different.” Again, we get the sense that Kendrick is conflicted in this particular scenario. It’s essentially a story about seeing how other people live, some living outside of a gas station, or some working inside the gas station just to get by. These are things that we don’t usually notice on a daily basis, especially for someone like Kendrick who doesn’t have to see this side of the human race much at all. Which is why it is important to recognize why he has written this album, and why in this scene, he denied this certain man a dollar. It is because he is supposed to represent us here. When we know that we are not being tested, and we think we know everything about a certain someone just by the way we look (Kendrick thought the beggar was a crack addict), that is exactly when we are wrong.

When the homeless man comes out to Kendrick as Jesus, he says “I’ll tell you just how much a dollar cost, the price of having a spot in heaven, embrace your loss…” And here, the repeated question is finally answered. Kendrick’s genuine confusion and betrayal of his own thoughts and morals is just a part meant to represent the human race as a whole. What he is ultimately saying here is that when we make it to the top, we’ve never really made it to the top. Sure, everyone wants to be successful, purchase the “luxury car” of their dreams, and be able to say that they made it. But what not everyone realizes is that we are all tested in some way. Putting religion aside, you may not be tested by a God or Gods, but maybe by someone who might think nothing of. Here, the Son of God is portrayed as a homeless man to Jesus, because why would Kendrick Lamar want to give a dollar to a homeless man, after his album just went multi-platinum? There is a reason why he explains so many things about the gas station like how it looks, how it smells, and what he sees; to put us in his exact position. To drop the listener right into this specific setting and give them a sense of what it’s like to be tested at his level. Through Kendrick’s brilliant storytelling and effective use of these rhetorical strategies, he is able to make us, the human race, remember the meaning of empathy, and selflessness above all.

Sources

Kendrick Lamar, “How Much a Dollar Cost,” To Pimp a Butterfly, Interscope, 2015.

In reading “Us and Them” by David Sedaris, I think it’s interesting how the author blends in humor with a good theme of selflessness and perspective that is brought up at the end. In parts like when the teacher makes a joke about a  robot from a popular television show, in which the Tomkey kids don’t get because they don’t have a TV, the reader can connect to the childlike innocence and humor. Sedaris mentions “The Tomkeys, though, would have thought she was having a heart attack” (1). I think at one point or the other, we have all been in that situation as a kid. The one where we had to give something up for someone less fortunate or because our parents told us to share and be nice. But up until that point, we didn’t understand that some people are less fortunate than us. Or that we have to share our stuff sometimes. And that’s what the main character and his siblings learn here which ties into the main theme. They learn to understand that the Tomkey kids are less fortunate because they don’t get to do normal things like watch TV. Instead, the author explains that the kids “were forced to talk during dinner” (1). This is something that a lot of families don’t even do a lot of times anymore. It’s also interesting to see that after the main character is forced to give up his candy at the end, he goes from wanting to spy on the Tomkeys so bad, to then hating them. As a kid, that’s also another thing I think we could all relate to. When we had to share something, or give something up for someone else to use, we would end up hating the very thing that inflicted that on us. For me, I saw this story as a short anecdote on the beginnings of growing up. Turning from that innocent child that always needs to get his way, to someone who is willing to understand compassion and empathy. The author most likely wrote it to discuss how he went through this stage. I don’t think I could really pick out anything that I didn’t like here… it seemed to me the author did a great job blending in different emotions with this particular theme and story. There were times where I could laugh and other times where I would try to recall a similar experience I had when I was around this age.

Andrew Ferruzza

Karlianne Seri

WRT 102.72

11 February 18

Kendrick Lamar, “How Much a Dollar Cost”: The Definition of Compassion

Kendrick Lamar had made quite a name for himself in 2013 when he released his major label debut, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. The album was unanimously praised by critics for its production, songwriting, and Kendrick’s impressive ability to compose both catchy and thought-provoking lyrics. The album also proved to be a commercial success, propelling him into the mainstream with the help of singles like “Swimming Pools” and “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe.”  The acclaim wouldn’t end here. Fast forward two years and America has increasingly become more racially, sexually, and morally seperated. Events such as the shooting of Trayvon Martin and the Ferguson County riots were inspiring protesters everywhere to fight for change. These callings were also reaching musicians as well, of all genres and races. In looking at Kendrick’s second major-label album, To Pimp a Butterfly, it is important to keep in mind that this exactly where he is drawing most of his lyrics from. Kendrick has put himself out in the spotlight at this point in his career. He has shook the hand of success, and he has seen how it destroyed others of his kind. On track eleven of this album, “How Much a Dollar Cost,” Kendrick recites an anecdote on his account of a homeless beggar. His control of rhetorical strategies such as foreshadowing, repetition, and significant use of imagery forces us to rewind the song and want to truly understand his message on human compassion, selfishness, and greed.

“How much a dollar really cost?” Kendrick asks us in the first line. Already we are placed in Kendrick’s shoes. We are asked to ask ourselves a question that cannot literally be answered. We are rhetorically asked to think. “The question is detrimental, paralyzin’ my thoughts” he says, as he walks out of the gas station, putting in “20 on pump 6.” This setting is already established in the first few lines, and it is very crucial to the message. Kendrick is reciting this story from a gas station, which means he is pumping his own gas, in his own car, like any “average” person. He is putting himself down to our level, and not where he would be with all of the fame and money he has recently accumulated

Shortly after establishing the setting, Kendrick walks out of the gas station and spots a “homeless man with semi-tan complexion, asking for ten rand [ten rand is about one U.S. dollar].” Foreshadowing is an important strategy used in this story, and it all comes from what the homeless man says back to Kendrick. “…stressin’ about dry land, deep water, powder blue skies that crack open.”  Later on in the story, the homeless man asks Kendrick, “have you ever opened Exodus 14? a humble man is all we ever need.” Exodus 14 is a chapter in the Book of Exodus from the Bible. It is the story of when Moses parted the Red Sea, which explains the dry land. He also mentioned earlier “My son, temptation is one thing that I’ve defeated,” which is a Biblical reference to Jesus. So the reader already gets the idea that there is something different about this homeless person, and the Biblical references should start to become pretty clear.. He isn’t just asking Kendrick for money, but he is testing him. Finally, in the last verse, the homeless man reveals himself to be the Son of God, and that all of this was precisely a test of Kendrick’s character, in which he failed. With this foreshadowing, the reader eventually understands that the beggar was testing Kendrick all along, and he only hinted at it. This is exactly what is making us rewind the song again, paying closer attention to the lyrics the second time around.

While foreshadowing plays a great role in developing the beggar’s character, repetition does the same for Kendrick. As the song progresses, particularly in verse two, Kendrick becomes increasingly aware that the beggar isn’t just asking him for a dollar, or a “piece of crack that he wanted…” The constant repetition of “He’s starin’ at me” shows the listener Kendrick is dwelling in more thought. He is witnessing all that is now below him, but there’s something about this particular man that keeps pulling him back. “He’s starin at me in disbelief…He’s starin at me, his eyes followed me with no laser…he’s starin at me, I noticed that his stare is contagious” Kendrick notes, as he admits to the listener — the human inside him wants to give in to this man. He knows it would be the right thing to do, but his selfishness controls him yet again, and he still refuses. Kendrick does not know that this man is in fact God.

Perhaps the most important use of repetition is featured at the end of all verses. Kendrick insistently asks, “Tell me how much a dollar cost.”

As mentioned with the setting, another rhetorical strategy Kendrick uses is imagery, and he uses it in a way to paint a picture of his encounter at the gas station. He wants us to put ourselves in his position in this exact moment. He writes very specific features of this station, mentioning the “indigenous African” man at the counter and his parked “luxury car” (which showcases his wealth). We get a sense of how he is physically, and emotionally feeling while talking to the beggar when he explains things like “my temper is buildin’… feelin’ some type of disrespect…” and “If I could throw a bat at him, it’d be aimin’ at his neck.”  There is even some olfactory imagery mixed in, “I smell Grandpa’s old medicine reekin’ from your skin, Moonshine and gin.” All these descriptions are meant to put us in this exact situation and make us answer for ourselves if we would honestly give this man what he wants. Kendrick admits that his “…selfishness is what got me here, who the fuck I’m kiddin’” but he also admits that these “Sour emotions got me looking at the universe different.” We get the sense that Kendrick is conflicted in this particular scenario, and in many of the other stories told on the album. Which is why it is important to recognize why he has written this album, and why exactly he denied this man a dollar. It is because he believes he is representing the human race here. When we know that we are not being tested, and we think we know everything about a certain someone just by the way we look (Kendrick thought the beggar was a crack addict), that is exactly when we are wrong.

When the homeless man comes out to Kendrick as Jesus, he says “I’ll tell you just how much a dollar cost, the price of having a spot in heaven, embrace your loss…” And here, the repeated question is finally answered. Kendrick’s genuine confusion and betrayal of his own thoughts and morals is just a part meant to represent the human race as a whole. What he is ultimately stating here is: when you make it to the top, you’ve never really made it to the top. Sure, everyone wants to be successful, purchase the “luxury car” of their dreams, and be able to say that they made it. But what not everyone realizes is that we are all tested in some way. Putting religion aside, you may not be tested by a God or Gods, but by someone who might think nothing of. Here, the Son of God is portrayed as a homeless man to Jesus, because why would Kendrick Lamar want to give a dollar to a homeless man, after his album just went multi-platinum? Through Kendrick’s brilliant storytelling, and effective use of these rhetorical strategies, he is able to make us all remember the meaning of empathy, and selflessness above all.

So for my rhetorical analysis, I have officially settled on “How Much a Dollar Cost” by Kendrick Lamar. Lamar wrote all of those lyrics to the song, with the track being co-written by accredited songwriters Ronald Isley and James Fauntleroy. The song is featured on Kendrick’s third studio album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” which was released in 2015 to critical acclaim, being nominated for “Album of the Year’ at the 2015 Grammys. The album currently holds a near-perfect score of 96/100 on Metacritic. Kendrick Lamar, having already released two exceptional albums before this, definitely contains the credibility to write a song about greed (ethos).

“How Much a Dollar Cost” itself is a song that hopes to reach all of us. There really is no “intended” audience, other than the human race. The theme of the song is to be self-consciously aware of our human greed and selfishness at all times. Lamar uses a multitude of rhetorical strategies here, including, but not limited to, repetition, rhyme (an almost omnipresent feature of hip-hop music), allusions, and the song itself being an anecdote.

I think the most important feature of this song that allows the message to hit us so effectively, is how Lamar builds the story up so well as the song progresses. The first time I heard this song, I remember being shocked when I read the lyrics and realized that at the end, the beggar reveals himself to be the Son of God. The track also increases in volume and becomes more intense as Kendrick rolls the words out faster and faster. It’s a combination of not just the music, but his extradoinary songwriting.

So I think that by combining a great use of rhetorical strategies and storytelling, with an exceptionally-well produced track, Kendrick Lamar is able to get his message across in “How Much a Dollar Cost,” which is : being rich doesn’t put you above anyone else, because you never know who that “lower” person is, or if they are placed in your life to test your character. I know for me personally, I was affected by this song after hearing it a few times. I never really listened to much hip-hop before, but I think it is safe to say that this album in general was the album that got me into this genre. And I think there is a reason for that. I am excited to analyze this track line-by line, and hopefully be able to convey to my audience a great lesson from this great song.