Reflections on Dissections: S5E15 — “XXX.” pt. 2b
America is a reflection of me
< Previous: S5E15 — “XXX.” pt. 2a
This post is a companion to Dissect Podcast Season 5 Episode 15
In the previous post, we witnessed Kenny’s sudden and ironic switch from telling his friend to shoot his enemies to talking to kids about gun control. We discussed how this use of extreme irony suggests that “XXX.” in particular and DAMN. in general function as a satire. Additionally, we discussed how the subsequent beat switch and introduction of Bono from U2 signals a dramatic change in perspective. Kenny is now able to see the chaos on earth from the vantage point of Heaven. It is from this new vantage point that Bono sings:
It’s not a place
This country is to me a sound
Of drum and bass
You close your eyes to look around
Here in the chorus of the final section of “XXX.” Bono makes the counterintuitive assertion that America is not a geographic place. This more abstract understanding of America is something that Bono has talked about for years, most extensively in his 2004 commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania.
I love America because America is not just a country, it’s an idea. You see my country, Ireland, is a great country, but it’s not an idea. America is an idea, but it’s an idea that brings with it some baggage, like power brings responsibility. It’s an idea that brings with it equality, but equality even though it’s the highest calling, is the hardest to reach.
- From Bono’s Commencment Address at the University of Pennsylvania’s 2004 Commencements Ceremony
In that speech, Bono asserted that at its essence, America is not just a country but actually a powerful idea that can be shared by people around the world. At the same time, Bono reminded his listeners that with great power comes great responsibility. In particular, America has a responsibility to live up to the radical implications of its own idea. The most challenging implications stem from America’s claim that all humans are created equal.
From slavery to segregation to mass incarceration and racial profiling, America has consistently failed to live up to its core idea. The consequences of these failures have been deadly. Thus, while Bono’s assertion that America is an idea might at first generate a degree of pride and optimism, he also recognizes that there is a more sobering reality to what America. Based on the tone and narrative context of “XXX.”, that sobering idea seems to be what Bono is trying to express by stating that America is a sound of drum and bass.”
While this metaphor could be interpreted in various ways, one possibility is that Bono is comparing America to sounds which cause people to move to a common rhythm. This interpretation stems from the fact that drum and bass are the two core elements that comprise the rhythm section of a band or music ensemble.
Rhythm is defined as “a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound”. Within music, it is this repeated pattern of sound that allows multiple humans to move, dance, and sing in remarkably similar ways. Likewise, America is something that causes numerous individuals all over the country to act in remarkably similar ways. Indeed, as we’ve seen with the individuals portrayed in “XXX.”, everyone seems to be ready to commit acts of violence and retaliate rather than forgive.
It also seems important to note that like all sounds, the sound of drum and bass is transmitted by changes in pressure that are usually invisible. In many ways, this idea of an invisible phenomenon causing humans to act in a synchronized and repeated pattern mirrors the biblical concept of spirits. We’ve already highlighted the numerous ways that Kendrick has used DAMN. to reveal how spiritual forces lead people either to life and freedom or death and destruction. These ideas can be traced all the way back to the pivotal track “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” on good kid, m.A.A.d. city where Kendrick rapped from the perspective of one of his homies who said.
My plans rather vindictive
Everybody’s a victim in my eyes
When I ride it’s a murderous rhythm
And outside became pitch black
A demon glued to my back whispering, “Get ‘em”
I got ’em, and I ain’t give a fuck
That same mentality that told my brother not to duck- Kendrick Lamar from “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”
In these lines, Kendrick’s homie describes how he is driven by a “murderous rhythm” to commit vindictive acts of violence. He then reveals that the murderous rhythm is actually the result of a demon who is glued to his back. Kendrick’s homie perceived the sound of this dark, spiritual force as a whisper which tells him to murder the gang member who killed his brother. Furthermore, just like Kenny at the beginning of “ELEMENT.”, the demon drives Kendrick’s homie into a mentality in which he does not “give a fuck.”
Much like the demonic spirit in “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”, the spirit of America has caused numerous individuals to move to a murderous rhythm as if propelled by the sound of drum and bass. Furthermore, because sounds and spirits are invisible, one cannot use one's eyes to perceive the existence of these influences. Like a blind woman whose sense of hearing is more attuned after losing her sight, Bono asserts that we must close our eyes to perceive what is really going on around us. This new dimension of perception and revelation seems to be part of what Kenny is experiencing as he delivers the verse with the greatest sense of moral clarity on the entire album.
Hail Mary, Jesus and Joseph
The great American flag is wrapped and dragged with explosives
Kenny opens up the final verse of “XXX.” with one of the most compelling pairs of lines on the album. He begins with a reference to Jesus, Jesus’s mother, Mary, and Mary’s husband, Joseph. When grouped together in iconography, these three individuals are often referred to as the Holy Family, which highlights how an entire family can become a unique, source of life rather than a vengeful source of death.
In addition, to referencing the Holy Family, Kenny also references the “Hail, Mary” prayer, which is one of the most famous spiritual practices within the Roman Catholic tradition.
Hail, Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.- The “Hail, Mary” prayer
In the midst of an album that focuses on curses, it is noticeable that the “Hail, Mary” prayer proclaims that Mary and her offspring, Jesus, are both blessed. It is also interesting to note that the main point of the “Hail, Mary” prayer is to ask Mary to pray for us. The “Hail, Mary” prayer thus disproves Kenny’s assertion on “ELEMENT.” and “FEEL.” that “ain’t nobody prayin’ for me.” Moreover, the “Hail, Mary” prayer suggests that — like the Mother of God — Kenny’s grandmother’s are alive with the Lord and are actively praying for Kenny as he struggles to find the Way.
Still, we can find even more significance to the “Hail, Mary” prayer when we consider the fact that the first half of the prayer is comprised of direct quotes from the first chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. Within the context of the Gospel, the first few lines are spoken to Mary when she learns that despite being a virgin she will give birth to a son who will rule over God’s eternal kingdom. This two-part announcement occurs when Luke recounts an angelic visitation.
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said:
“Hail, you who are full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed are you among women.”
- Luke 1:28
After, the angel Gabriel says “Hail” to Mary, declares that she is full of grace, that the Lord is with her, and pronounces that she is blessed among women, the angel goes on to inform Mary that she is going to give birth to a son named Jesus who “will be great” and “will be called the Son of the Most High” and “will reign over the house of Jacob forever.”
After the Angel Gabriel left Mary, Luke recounts a subsequent event in which Mary took a trip to see her relative named Elizabeth.
Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
- Luke 1:39–42
Mary’s cousin Elizabeth repeated Gabriel’s statement “blessed are you among women” and added “blessed is the fruit of your womb” just like we saw in the “Hail, Mary” prayer. After these quotes from the gospel of Luke, the “Hail, Mary” prayer transitions into a request for Mary to pray for us. Similarly, within the gospel account, after hearing the words of blessing spoken over her by Gabriel and Elizabeth, Mary responds with a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s forthcoming acts of justice.
“Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the humble state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
And exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.’”Luke 1:46–55
In her prayer, Mary asserts that God is now pulling down the proud, powerful governments of the world and exalting those who are humble. She also asserts that God has rejected those who are rich and satisfied by sending them away empty-handed and fulfilling the needs of those who are poor and hungry. In essence, Mary was declaring that her son’s kingdom would operate by a definition of greatness that is in direct opposition to the kind of greatness often touted by human governments with powerful economies and militaries.
Given the counterintuitive definition of greatness exposed in Jesus’s teachings and in Mary’s prayer, it is deeply ironic for Kenny to begin the final verse of “XXX.” by juxtaposing “Hail, Mary, Jesus and Joseph” with “the great American flag is wrapped and dragged with explosives.” The line is particularly ironic given the fact that throughout its history America has tried to attempt to associate itself with God. Most notably, in 1952 during the onset of the Cold War, America began to refer to itself as “one nation under God” in its pledge of allegiance. Additionally, public dialogue about symbols of patriotism such as the pledge of allegiance and the American flag are almost always intertwined with the idea of taking pride in America’s military.
This close association between God, the American flag, and the American military has convinced many Christians in America that Mary, Jesus and Joseph must fully support any actions at home or abroad that “make America great.” However, having taken the time to understand the dichotomy between wickedness and weakness along with Jesus’s teachings about forgiveness and humility, we should understand that Jesus would never consider a nation to be great by virtue of its wealth or military strength. Moreover, after considering Mary’s prayer for justice in the Kingdom of God, we can reasonably conclude that rather than the poor and hungry individuals who will be exalted by God, America more closely resembles the proud, powerful nations that Mary declares will be brought down by God.
This idea that America’s values are directly opposed to the Kingdom of God also seems to be the point that was further explored in U2’s album Songs of Experience which was released on December 1, 2017, less an eight months after the release of DAMN. The album actually contains back-to-back tracks — “Get Out of Your Own Way” and “American Soul” — that are clearly connected to “XXX.” This connection is first signaled by a spoken word performance by Kendrick that spans the end of “Get Out of Your Own Way” and the beginning of “American Soul” and features Kendrick saying.
Blessed are the arrogant:
For there is the kingdom of their own company
Blessed are the superstars:
For the magnificence in their light
We understand better our own insignificance
Blessed are the filthy rich:
For you can only truly own what you give away
Like your pain
Blessed are the bullies:
For one day they will have to stand up to themselves
Blessed are the liars:
For the truth can be awkward- Kendrick Lamar from “Get Out of Your Own Way” and “American Soul”
In that spoken word performance, Kendrick is clearly making a reference to the Beatitudes. “Beatitude” was originally a Latin word that meant “blessings”. In modern usage, the term is normally used to refer to the opening section of Jesus’s iconic Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus declares who would be blessed in the Kingdom of God.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn:
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek:
for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful:
for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart:
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers:
for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad:
for great is your reward in heaven:
for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”- Matthew 5:3–12
If one examines Jesus’s blessings alongside the blessings that Kendrick proclaimed on “Get Out Of Your Own Way” and “American Soul”, you will see that the two sets of blessings are diametrically opposed to one another. In Jesus’s teaching, it is the poor, the hungry, the meek, the humble, and the oppressed who are blessed in the Kingdom of God. However, in “American Soul”, it is the rich, the arrogant, the bullies, and the liars who Kendrick declares are blessed.
This direct contrast highlights the fact that the spoken-word piece, much like “XXX.” is a clear example of satire in which the speaker ironically claims to support the values and ideals that the speaker intends to critique. Given that the performance occurs between “Get Out of Your Way” and “American Soul” it would seem that Kendrick and U2 are using this satire to critique the values and ideals of America which are in direct opposition to the Kingdom of God. In case, these connections to “XXX.” were somehow unclear, the first verse of “American Soul” that Bono sings is identical to the hook that he sings from “XXX.”
It’s not a place
This country is to me a sound
Of drum and bass
You close your eyes to look around- Bono of U2 from “American Soul”
The remaining verses of “American Soul” continue to build on the structure of first verse by saying amongst other things “It’s not a place / This country is to me a thought” and “It’s not a place / This is a dream the whole world owns.” The track then builds into a bridge in which Bono sings
Could be too late, but we still gotta try
There’s a moment in our life where a soul can die
And the person in a country when you believe the lie
The lie
There’s a promise in the heart of every good dream
It’s a call to action, not to fantasy
The end of a dream, the start of what’s real
Let it be unity
Let it be community
For refugees like you and me
A country to receive us
Will you be our sanctuary
REFUJESUS- Bono of U2 from “American Soul”
In this climactic bridge, Bono issues a call to action for individuals in America to reject the lie that America has become and work to make America into a sanctuary. Sanctuary is a keyword here because it can be used in the spiritual sense to refer to a building in which God’s Spirit is invited in to reside with His people. At the same time, sanctuary is also a term used to refer to cities and towns in which refugees are invited in to reside alongside the current residents. This dualism between spiritual and geopolitical sanctuary is further highlighted by the final line of the bridge in which Bono says “REFUJESUS”, which seems to be a blending between the word “refugee” and the name “Jesus.”
“REFUJESUS” calls attention to the fact that Jesus identifies himself with the poor, hungry, and marginalized immigrants. In fact, within the context of Matthew’s gospel account, Mary, Jesus, and Joseph all identify with refugees because they became refugees when a violent king named Herod the Great ordered his soldiers to kill all baby boys in Jesus’s birthplace in an attempt to hold on to his throne. However, God preemptively warned Joseph about the coming danger. Joseph then took Mary and Jesus, fled from their homeland, and became refugees living in Egypt.
This key narrative in Matthew’s gospel account thus challenges America the Great to decide whether it will receive poor refugees or build barricaded borders that will keep Jesus outside of America.
Compulsive disorder, sons and daughters
Barricaded blocks and borders
Look what you taught us!
After reflecting on the issues that plague men and women in America, Kenny diagnoses the population with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. OCD is a mental illness in which a person feels the need to perform certain routines repeatedly (called “compulsions”), or has certain thoughts repeatedly (called “obsessions”).
While this is the first time that Kenny has diagnosed his fellow Americans as having a disease, the idea that Kenny and his peers are thoughtlessly repeating the same routines has been well established within the album. On the track “LUST.”, Kenny concluded that it is extremely difficult to effect sustained change in America because we “lust on the same routine of shame” which makes us all performed a prescribed set of fruitless actions. Here in “XXX.” we have heard how the American spirit is like the sound of drum and bass which produces a “murderous rhythm” which causes numerous individuals to react in similar ways.
This idea that Americans engage in compulsive acts of violence also explains why Americans have also resorted to barricading blocks within their own cities along with borders between themselves and neighboring countries, particularly countries from which refugees might try to enter. We might be naturally inclined to blame the degenerate individuals who contribute to the cycle of hostility. However, with the lone “Look what you taught us” Kenny asserts that these patterns of violent and divisive behavior were actually taught by America.
Thus, when we reconsider the first verse of “XXX.” in which Kenny advised his friend to get a gun and retaliate against anyone who had hurt his friends or family, we can now appreciate the fact that Kenny learned this way of thinking from America’s own pattern of perpetuating the cycle of violence, particularly in the decades of war in the Middle East in response to earlier acts of terrorism.
Still, America’s pattern of escalating violence goes all the way back to the very beginnings of the country. In 1775, a year before the nation’s founders signed the Declaration of Independence, the collective spirit of America incited men to arm themselves with guns and instigate a violent rebellion against the ruling government of Great Britain.
America justified these acts of violence by claiming that their freedom was taken away when the British imposed taxes without consulting them. Given this history of American rebellion against tyranny, it would seem natural to conclude that when Nat Turner rose up in 1831, incited enslaved Black men to arm themselves with knives and hatchets and instigated a rebellion against the ruling government which had enslaved Black people, Nat Turner was simply doing what America had taught him. However, America did not see Nat Turner’s rebellion as a justifiable attempt to create a world in which all men are created equal.
Still, the deeper irony of the American rebellion is that just two years and five days after Nat Turner’s rebellion, the government of Great Britain received the official royal approval of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. This act permanently abolished slavery throughout all British colonies, which at the time included Jamaica and Canada but not the United State of America. Instead, slavery persisted in America until the Civil War pushed Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
If America had never declared independence or if the British had managed to defeat the American rebellion, it is likely that slavery would have been abolished 30 years earlier. Moreover, America could have avoided a bloody Civil War which cost the lives of 750,000 Americans and sowed seeds of resentment that has continued to inspire hostility in the Southern United States to this day.
It’s murder on my street, your street, back streets
Wall Street, corporate offices
Banks, employees, and bosses with
Homicidal thoughts
As these lines suggest, the spirit of hostility that has been fomented by America’s brutal history has led to a world in which murder is common to streets all over America. Whether in Compton or Corporate America, everyone is affected by the murderous rhythm that makes individuals think that getting more money is worth killing other human beings. Indeed, violent rhetoric has only grown as America’s politics have become increasingly polarized and hostile.
Donald Trump’s in office
We lost Barack and promised to never doubt him again
But is America honest, or do we bask in sin?
While many liberal and moderate Americans might point to Donald Trump as the reason for the increasingly inflammatory rhetoric that has been openly endorsed from the highest levels of power, what Donald Trump says seems to largely reflect what America has done as its sought to be the greatest nation in the world. Thus, according to this recently enlightened version of Kung Fu Kenny, the real problem is that America would rather bask in sin than to have its numerous moral failures exposed in the light of God.
It’s nasty when you set us up
Then roll the dice, then bet us up
You overnight the big rifles, then tell Fox to be scared of us
Gang members or terrorists, et cetera, et cetera
Because America refuses to be exposed by the light of God, Kenny goes on to highlight the hypocrisy of America, particularly in regard to America’s heartless hostility towards people of color. According to Kenny, America does not hesitate to treat people of color as if they were chips in a poker game.
America’s role as the global policeman and the leading exporter of military weapons means that America is at least partially responsible for homicides throughout the Middle East as part of the War on Terrorism.
Moreover, whenever the American military produces a surplus of weapons, they are able to use the 1033 Program through the Law Enforcement Support Office to transfer excess military equipment to local law enforcement agencies within the United States.
This potentially alarming militarization of the police was initially justified by specifying that military equipment would be used against gang members in counter-drug operations as part of the War on Drugs. To preserve popular support for deploying military weapons to kill gang members and terrorists, America has utilized the media, particularly Fox News to convince enough Americans that they should be scared of people of color.
With these social and political dynamics in mind, we can now look back at “BLOOD.” and “DNA.” where we heard Geraldo Rivera and the hosts of Fox Five unfairly criticize Kendrick’s performance of “Alright” and recognize that this is part of a sophisticated plot to inspire the kind of fear that will allow America to keep killing people of color just like the blind woman who killed Kenny during the parable in “BLOOD.”
Having reminded ourselves about the blind woman at the beginning of the album who seemed to be justice personified as a woman, we should also remember that “XXX.” began by referencing “God Bless America” where America is also personified as a woman. This subtle connection further underscores the idea that America has plotted to kill young black men like Kenny. At the same time, we recognize that Kung Fu Kenny learned to perpetuate violence from America. Thus, as we imagine Kenny staring into the face of America as she pulls a gun on him, we arrive at the pivotal line of the album.
America’s reflections of me, that’s what a mirror does
With the last line of “XXX.”’s final verse, we finally understand that Kung Fu Kenny is not just Kendrick’s alter ego. Kung Fu Kenny is America. Kung Fu Kenny is who Kendrick sees when he looks in the mirror at himself. America is the rebellious prophet who has rejected God’s call and followed its own intuition towards the pursuit of sex, money, and murder. America has become a reflection of the prophet Jonah who would prefer for God to kill America’s enemies rather than leaving the door open for forgiveness, repentance, and reconciliation.
Fittingly, as some theologians have pointed out, the Book of Jonah, like DAMN., is meant to function as a mirror. The use of humor and satire through the narrative of Jonah allows us as readers to plainly see the absurdity of Jonah’s small-mindedness before recognizing that we are Jonah. As one theologian summarizes it:
The point is that the book is trying to mess with you. And God’s questions here are actually addressed to you the reader. Are you ok with the fact that God loves your enemy? And so this book holds a mirror up to the one who reads it. In Jonah we see the worst parts of our own character magnified — which should generate humility and gratitude that God would love his enemies and put up with the Jonah in all of us.
- Tim Mackie from the Bible Project video “Overview: Jonah”
As we will discuss later, the Book of Jonah ends without us learning whether Jonah had a change of heart or not. As Tim Mackie pointed out in the previous quote, this unresolved ending seems to be by design. The author of the Book of Jonah is inviting us into the story and leaving us with the same choice that Kendrick has presented throughout DAMN.. Is it wickedness or is it weakness? Is it love or pride? Is it love or lust? We have to decide. Are we going to live or die? Each of our individual choices has the potential to result in life or death for all of us because America is a reflection of us. When we look at the hypocrisy and injustice of America, we are looking at the hypocrisy and injustice inside of ourselves. To the extent that we can be converted and have our lives transformed, America can be converted and be transformed into one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Resources:
- Kendrick’s performance at the 2018 Grammy Awards
- “The Satan and Demons” video by the Bible Project
- “The Birth of Jesus — Gospel of Luke Ch. 1–2” video by the Bible Project
- “American Soul” music video by U2 ft. Kendrick Lamar
- “Overview: Jonah” video by the Bible Project
