What it Means to Do It For The Culture
Kendrick Lamar's "The Pop Out"
Song of the week: Kendrick Lamar - The Heart Part 5
“I do this for the culture.”
Kendrick Lamar’s “The Pop Out” will likely go down as one of the most historic nights in Hip-Hop history.
Watching it live felt like witnessing the capstone in what’s already been a legendary career. And while Dot still has more to give, for sure, that night was iconic.
Why?
Because it reaffirmed that Kendrick believes he has a higher calling with his music. A calling that involves the people.
Consider this…
“The Pop Out” was a night that could’ve (easily) been just about Kendrick, but instead, he made it a night dedicated to the entire West Coast.
He didn’t do it for himself,
HE DID IT FOR THE CULTURE.
This is something that youth culture brands, and platforms say all of time. In fact, even brands that fall outside of the pop zeitgeist talk about what it means to be “in culture” or be a part of “the culture” all the time.
9/10 the convos are about how they can leverage Black Culture into influence for their respective brand efforts.
Many try, few succeed.
The brands who succeed understand that culture is deeper than platitudes, or attaching themselves to the right name(s) to sell things. Those are vain connections, and they don’t really move the needle long-term.
Events like “The Pop Out” highlight why brands should really reground themselves in what culture is, before deciding that they should be “in it.”
What is Culture?
Culture consists of the shared values, customs, and beliefs that make up a group’s identity.
It’s not really something you “tap into” at whim — because how do you “tap into” or “borrow” a community’s identity. (There’s a name for that… but that’s another convo for another day).
In that sense, yesterday’s event was less of a concert and more of a display (and celebration) of a specific region’s culture and influence.
Culture is Bay area legend E-40 narrating the show.
Culture is bringing West Coast acts who haven’t had a platform that big in their entire careers to share the stage with you.
Culture is bringing LA Krump icon Tommy The Clown on stage and giving him and his crew an entire set to dance.
Cultural influence is DJ Mustard running through his catalog of West Coast anthems while bringing a wave of established West Coast talent on stage.
Cultural influence is Kendrick Lamar sporting a red hoodie, a red hat, and Nike Shox.
(Some say he was looking like Pac at the Source Awards)
DOING IT FOR THE CULTURE MEANS…
You uphold the values and standards of those who came before you — in Kendrick’s case, it meant performing his raps without backing vocals.
It meant putting a whole coast on his back when he’s the biggest artist in the world.
It meant brokering peace and prosperity between the different factions of Los Angeles.
It meant creating a means for celebration — No incidents. No tension. Just good vibes.
That’s Culture. That’s Hip-Hop.
Culture is about focusing on what’s best for the whole —not just one.
Cultural acts, then, tend to be altruistic because, at times, there’s no direct payoff.
Culture is about keeping the legacy and ensuring the next generation knows the values and principles.
“The Pop Out” was for The Culture because Kendrick put beef to the side and focused on the greater mission:
Unifying the West Coast.
In the process, he showed a new generation each pillar of Hip-hop — an Emcee, The DJs, and the Dancers. All we need now are the graffiti artists.
For the marketers reading this…
DOING IT FOR THE CULTURE REQUIRES:
1. Humility
Some decision makers wouldn’t understand the merit of sponsoring a stream like “The Pop Out,” — especially if the artist isn’t as big as Kendrick Lamar.
When it comes to The Culture, decision-makers often believe that if they don’t get “it,” then it’s not worth the risk; after all, it’s their budget and name on the line.
That’s why being for The Culture is not for the faint of heart.
It requires humility to admit that you may not get “it,” and moreover, that not getting it could be a sign that it’s the right way to go.
Often, it comes down to accepting that whatever this generation is doing has merit and THAT is what’s worth investing in. Understanding it ain’t got sh*t to do it.
2. STUDYING THE HISTORY
Culture doesn’t exist in a vacuum. To really connect with The Culture it requires a level of detail that frankly most aren’t committed to.
It’s a commitment to not just understanding “the now” but paying homage to the past, and building a pathway to the future.
The Pop Out was an incredible moment because it did all three:
It paid homage to Nipsey, reunited Black Hippy on stage, brought out Dr. Dre for California Love, and invited many pertinent LA artists from the Blog Era on stage. In short, fans received a history lesson in LA Hip-hop, if they weren’t familiar.
Culture doesn’t play favorites — The Pop Out made that clear. It was about the West Coast getting their respect and included everyone who meant something to the movement however big or small.
That’s doing it for The Culture.
The question for the industry is…
Are you prepared to have that level of detail in your work?
Are you really invested in being immersed in the history of the thing you hope will catapult your brand to the next level?
What are you really doing it for?
Because consumers is that they are not dumb. They can tell who you’re doing it for, and the results will likely mirror that.
3. INTENTION
For the past few years, Amazon has been very intentional about etching out their presence in music, and specifically within Hip-hop culture.
A bunch of Amazon originals from the Lil Baby documentary, to Kendrick’s live show in Paris are all available for stream on their platform (no doubt attracting a new audience to Prime).
With their decision to host the concert on Amazon and Twitch, they up’d the score yet again by making sure that this concert had the widest reach possible.
Amazon knows that its in a fierce competition with Spotify and Apple Music, and because of that they’ve been intentional with the content they give to Prime Users.
Although number haven’t been released for The Pop Out, I’m willing to bet it helped grow Prime, even if just for a month.
EPILOGUE
Again, this was a historic night for the culture.
Twitter was on 10, and the livestream lived up to the hype. Not really much more to say besides that.
Shoutout to the entire West Coast for that show. Really loving what PGLang is doing too (y’all caught that Cash App commercial playing on loop, right? Genius).
I do it for the culture, so does Dot.
What do you do it for?
One.
Oh I can’t wait to read this!
Excellent analysis.