Foward: He starts off aggressive...humbles himself, and is rewarded for it Backwards: Starts off humble, gets aggressive and is punished fir it. That's how I interpret it
Meh, it wasn't anything I was really blown away by, but some of the most interesting sections did get me excited. Quite depressing, but I wouldn't say it was awful as a viewer standpoint. Decent to strong 4.
Listening forward, it's the evolution of Kendrick living by his music, becoming better and more virtuous (going from pride to humble, from lust to love) and finishing by meeting God in good terms with a final thought on his legacy and all that lead him to where he's at (Duckworth). Played backwards, it's the exact opposite story, he finishes in the same place sure, but here he lets go of his beliefs and sinks into the violence, the vices of rap, justifying it with it being written in his DNA. It's the polar opposition of Kendrick's psyche, how different he can be in a single instant bc he's so divided between enlightment and vice. Sure it's the same story, bc it's the same character who ends up in the same place (death), but the path isn't the same. But hey, who am I to think for myself instead of following Melon Head Lord's opinion?!
I mean, I've been on this theory and always believed it to be true, that it was done purposely. If you listen to the album front to back how it's originally intended to be digested, you get a Kendrick who loses his life right at the beginning of the album, who after losing his life, tells a story of a man who is looking back at how he progressed as a person. He's a lot more cocky and braggadocious toward the beginning of the album and finds his way to a better place toward the latter half of the album, where you have to experience lust before love, and being prideful before being humble and ultimately finding god. If you listen to it in reverse, he tells a story about how different his life could've been had top actually murdered his dad, he's a man of god from the very beginning, but loses his way and ultimately loses his life at the end of the project. Listening to it this way puts love before lust and maybe being too prideful to remain humble. Sorry for the rant, this is just a personal take on it, I'm surprised this isn't what he mentioned in his interview, I truly thought this was his train of though.
The story is the same because it's cyclical, and the character (presumably Kendrick) ends up dead either way. Played forward, it's his descent into weakness that leads him to the blind woman. Played in reverse, it's his descent into wickedness. Both of these concepts feed into each other no matter which why you flip it. The themes don't matter because they end up in the same place.
Is it wickedness? Is it weakness? You decide! Maybe hes telling us exactly what you just said, to interpret it both ways. Could be a reach, but knowing Kendrick, it seems awesome
“You Decide. Are we going to LIVE or DIE?” I believe in the timeline from BLOOD. to DUCKWORTH., BLOOD. is not Kendrick dying, but a premonition OF Kendrick dying & THAT becomes the genesis for his redemption.
Snowfall Knight there's sharing your opinion, and then there's coming across as a pompous pseudo intellectual who thinks he's knows more about an artist's music that the artist himself
karma delivery no. that's not how it works. you shouldn't just trust the artist. if macklemore told you his album was a classic, do you trust it because he's the artist and he knows the album best? no, you judge it for yourself.
Listening to the album forward, he's living through his music and becomes immortalized in death like Pac. Backwards, he's at the top of the game and fears loosing wealth and sanity, and agonizes how people will perceive his music when he's gone. "Wondering if I’m living through fear or living through rap"
Forward, I interpreted it as him getting killed on BLOOD. and living through his music from that point onward, eventually becoming an immortal GOD. of rap in the end. Backwards, he lives in fear since his father wasn't killed in the chicken incident on DUCKWORTH, allowing him to live his life and become one of the greatest rappers to ever live. But that life comes with a laundry list of fears that he describes on the track, FEAR, right after DUCKWORTH. Then, backward, the album ends w/ DNA, where Kendrick doesn't give a fuck the pundits anymore (as shown w/ FEEL and YAH) and snaps, b/c he is rap royalty in his DNA and he is proud of it. Then, he dies on BLOOD., as a man conformable of the mark he left on earth, which he worried so much about for a large portion of the record.
Here's my take on DAMN. There are two sides in this album. The first one that goes from 1-14, presents us with Kendrick starting off from the hood aggressive, violent, losing, afterwards, negative feelings for positive ones, through rap, and finding his way back to God at the end of the album, thus going from the red album cover to the alternative blue album cover. In the last track ,though, Kendrick refers to the things that would happen if his dad was murdered, with the album being reversed to its start. This is the second outake of the album, going from 14-1, in which Kendrick would start off as a humble and innocent individual,losing, afterwards, positive feelings for negative ones ,through fear, and ending up being shot,(described in BLOOD.), thus going from the blue album cover to the red one. Either way, Kendrick is damned to feel those feelings, over and over again, therefore losing his hope for the world, and no more, praying for it to become better. At this point, Kendrick is tired of carrying everyone's feelings in his back, while nobody cares for his("ain't nobody praying for me"). That's why he wrote DAMN.
You're just wrong. He includes a few moments in the album where the music is literally reversed. This was probably a hint. He said it was premeditated. Do you not believe him? I think your general lack of appreciation for the songs on the album due to a lack of "central theme" and all that is the reason you can't see the message in the backwards, or the forwards, versions of the album. You think each song is just an under-developed attempt at addressing each topic in the title of the song but you miss the story kendrick is telling about his own mind. I think more than anything this album is about understanding the way kendrick thinks. Usually I respect your opinion as your own but this just feels like disrespect to a legend. An artist is saying that there is deeper meaning in their work and you made an entire video to basically say, "nope, its essentially just a meme" like wtf? So you're saying your opinion of the meaning is more significant than kendricks own?
@@Shmuel420 it’s not stupid. it’s entended to be able to be played both ways so ur getting both sides of the story. at the end of duckworth it rewinds itself. that’s the part where you replay duckworth and go back through it backwards. so your getting the part of the story IF anthony killed topdawg
It's exactly my thoughts on reordering or retuning a tool album. It doesn't actually change the meaning unless you yourself give it more meaning, and that's completely the specific listeners choice. Give it a listen backward. Did you love it? Did you hate it? What would you rate it? Just know you're still listening to the same songs everyone else is.
Not even that big of a fan of Tool but I could see them using this gimmick and actually making something creative out of it. As opposed to "Oh it has a different vibe played backwards" uh no shit. "If you watch titanic backwards, Its a heartwarming story of a magical ship that saves people"-DiiceForeveroO3. That dood pretty much sums up my feeling on DAMN backwards.
I don't know that any Tool fan really feels like changing the song order alters the meaning of the piece. The most notorious example of Tool album restructuring is The Holy Gift (Restructuring Lateralus to spiral in and out based on track number, for those of you who might be reading this and are unfamiliar with it) and while most Tool fans agree it changes the progression and presentation of the album, I don't know of many who feel the meaning is radically different. In fact, most would state that the same meaning is present and that the restructuring is only meant to underscore it.
DAMN is overhyped imo. It's a decent album, but it's no way near as good as good kid maad city or to pimp a butterfly. EDIT: This is just my opinion; you don't have to like it. I wasn't expecting this comment to get so much traction. 😂
Good Kid Maad City is his worst out of his major label 4. Kendrick ranked his own albums and had Section. 80 at 1, TPAB at 2, DAMN at 3, and GKMC at 4. GKMC is so fucking Overrated. All you guys like it a Mainstream ass listen mainly composed of hooks.
It's still confirmed pre meditated. The concept is DUALITY. Not every album can be played backwards. It's not a completely LINEAR story. That's the point. You said yourself you cannot do this with GKMC. Kendrick said it was premeditated. What people are discovering is "we bout to put it in reverse" on DUCKWORTH. Now it's confirmed. It's not rocket science. No one is claiming it is. Didn't you say you wanted more conversation about music? Oh, wait. Not if you're wrong though. *forced laughter*
I read this theory the day after DAMN. come out, and reverse order is actually my preferred order. Although, that's not necessarily because it tells any kind of "different" story. It's a little more abstract than that. For me, the two orders are meant to reflect aspects of Kenny's life from an outside perspective (Original), and from within his own head (Reverse). This is primarily showcased in the commercialized order of the original, placing most of what the AUDIENCE wants to hear towards the first half of the record (his revered social commentary on racial tension, radio bangers like DNA. and ELEMENT., his Rihanna feature, etc.). While these tracks may be super fun and easy to listen to, I don't believe it's any accident that we see a lot more swagger than substance in the first half. Additionally, this track listing provides an easily digestible pseudo-narrative, taking the listener through what seems to be a simply-presented "platter" of 14 different themes that are just random things on Kendrick's mind as of late. Like Anthony said: each track has it's own "single" potential. No doubt that was intentional. However, when you "THROW IT IN REVERSE", you're immediately presented with themes that we all know, judging by subject matter from the rest of his discography, have always been inherently important or relevant to Kendrick (His family, his religion, his worst fears, his intimacy, etc.). But somewhere along the way, he realizes that his mainstream audience does not WANT him to be humble (track 8) or godly (track 13) or loving (track 10), but would rather see him flex on wax and get aggressive, maybe start some beef with reporters or other artists (both of which are addressed on the first half). So he transitions in the public eye from HUMBLE. (again, track 8) to PRIDE. (track 7). His values deteriorate because of the aforementioned fears (you know, in FEAR.) of losing his success, landing back in the belly of the beast. He MUST convey a persona to retain his status as the arguable modern GOAT of hip hop. This begets the more shallow themes, even going so far as to name a track "YAH.", as if that hold any value to him whatsoever. We get an AGGRESSIVE, more COMMERCIALLY ACCESSIBLE Kendrick Lamar from DNA., ELEMENT. and FEEL. The reverse order appropriately ends in what the mainstream media (as addressed on-record) traditionally has always wanted from Hip-Hop: BLOOD. Maybe I'm just blowing smoke, but the track listing just feels so much more illustrative of what's going on in Kendrick's mind when you play them in reverse. That being said, it's stupid as fuck to bitch and whine about how people "should" listen to an album. Listen to it however you enjoy it most. Nobody else should give a shit.
Wow how has no one really talked about this yet. The fact that the first few songs are more commercial and mainstream sounding (which they ended up being the big hits) is what the people wanted from him, which also lead the Fox News people to continue calling out his music as promoting violence, leading to his death. Wow
I'm a huge Kendrick fan but some fans will be reading into his music way too much like I remember when GKMC came out some people were analyzing the cover explaining why the van is a certain color or why the sky is blue in the photo. This honestly sounds like high school kids trying to find symbolism in a children's book when it's not even there...
Wrong. Multiple songs have reference to others. Like Duckworth ending like blood begins. Just because you are lazy and unimaginative it doesn't mean those things are not there.
@@chriscc14 Yeah I don't get how this was such a confusion, there's 2 reverse parts in the album and in DUCKWORTH one of the lines is "We gonna put it in reverse" He put the album in reverse in a snippet on that song and yet people were still saying it wasn't true I'm glad we know the definitive truth since the deluxe version of the album is the same but in reverse
He doesn't understand that you can't just go to an album and play it backwards and it plays in perfect sequence but Damn is perfect sequence played forwards and backwards
Richard Walker what's so different about damn? You're so far up Kendricks ass that you're coming up with bullshit theories for why he said this. You could take ANY album and play it backwards to get a different story.
Aminoff The Don shut the fuck Up and stop fucking crying, my god the amount of dumb Ass kids bitching cause kendrick makes them feel stupid is too damn high
i don't know if it tells a different story. but there are things in certain tracks that reference things later on the album. like "my cousin carl duckworth said know my worth" and "love's gonna get you killed, but pride will be the death of you and me." like these references just make more sense in reverse order. however as you said, it's not like there's pieces of one story throughout the album that make sense in reverse order. i guess you could argue that duckworth is his beginning, then fear kinda talks about his childhood in the beginning, humble could be him on top of the rap game, DNA could be him responding to more recent haters. but again there's not a strong enough thread there
melew25 DUCKWORTH is his beginning, talking about his family breaking the curses which was necessary for his success as a Black male. FEAR is the track responsible for laying out a lot of what ties the album together, playing the album forwards or backwards, in FEAR he's asking about will become of him. The last verse pretty much lays out the issue to be addressed in the album: Has Kendrick strayed too far and became wicked? That's why some song titles contradict one another: Kendrick's LOVE for a woman becomes a LUST of the flesh, which results in living the same days over and over with no further determination for a meaningful life. HUMBLE (where the hook is Kendrick telling himself to humble himself) turns to PRIDE (where he resents the world as if he's any better). Skipping ahead to YAH, here Kendrick contemplates what path he will follow, he tells himself if 14-1 "I know he walks the earth, but it's money to get, bitches to hit, yah." Next we have DNA, where Kendrick boasts and accepts his fleshly flaws and ends asking "When destruction gonna be my fate?" which leads into BLOOD, where that's exactly what happens. He was executed by a blind woman because he has been judged wicked, regardless of how he appears
melew25 melew25 You hit the nail on the head. I always did think it was weird that he seemed to have certain revelations before the moment that served as catalyst for said revelations.
I played this video in reverse and man I got to say it really changed the vibe of the whole video. That is a very artistic choice melon, you truly are the greatest artist of our generation.
I think what he means is that regardless of whether you play the album forwards or backwards, it still tells a story. Whereas most albums, they may tell a story forwards but they will not tell a story backwards and that's where the beauty lies, the fact that both directions there is still a story to be told
I get what Kendrick is saying. When you're listening to it in the original order forward the story starts from the present where he died and ends at the beginning. But when you listen to it in reverse you're going from past to present, like yeah it's the same story but it is told in a different perspective in a way. Tbh I don't really give a shit about the reverse thing at all. I value that this is the first Kendrick album in awhile that I can just casually listen to without dissecting it too much but I do think it's important to acknowledge that the same story can be told in multiple perspectives and DAMN does do that to a certain degree. Just not enough for me to care honestly because I prefer it in the original order.
Illuminati I disagree that it's not meant for hip hop fans. The rapping is still really great. Despite what a lot of people on the internet might think, it's possible for something to be popular and good. It doesn't have to be one or the other. Not everything has to be like to pimp a Butterfly and be different than everything else. And even with Kendrick being more commercial the beats are all fucking great and once again I say the rapping is still fantastic.
Not for everyone who loves music, but for everyone who loves being in the mainstream. There's no sense in making worse music (I believe TPAB is objectively better than DAMN.) for people who love music.
TheShooterAddicted that's partially what I mean. "Mainstream" don't like underground and/or unpopular artists/music. That's why songs like damn, humble, loyalty... are made for those who solely enjoy listening to music. Loyalty couldn't have been in TPAB considering the style of the album. Rihanna may have even also brought in more women who love her music or just music in general the way it was produced - to listen to Kendrick.
If it's better in reverse order than why didn't ya put it that way to start with? Idk, I love when people hide stuff in the album but this just feels pointless.
AlexMacIsKING it's likely because he wants people to see the two paths, and if he placed it in the true order it would be harder to grasp that there was a path of the order we were given
Because BLOOD. works as a better outro than intro since he dies and DUCKWORTH. works better as a intro since it’s about his youth or before his birth or whatever it is about That’s was my interpretation
“Is it wickedness, or weakness?”. If you play the album from start to finish, he goes on to the path of weakness, the undoing of the deadly sins. If you play the album from the back end to the start, he goes on to the path of wickedness. On the song FEAR, just for the sake of it let’s interpret that his father did die…Kendrick goes on to the path on the undoing of the best parts of him as he’s growing up. The narrative is there, you’re just ignorant if you don’t want to acknowledge it. Now if that’s something you don’t care about after you try to see it through those lenses, that’s different.
Instead of going from lust to love, etc he's going backwards(love to lust) into a darker state of mind where, in the end, gets shot. Even uncle carl in FEAR. warned him about this. If you listen normally, kendrick listens to him and lives, if not, Kendrick ignores him and dies. You're very welcome
Playing any album backwards won't have the same effect. I think your missing the polarity theme of the album, the tracklist is set in polar opposites. So going one way is more a story of enlightenment, the other the opposite.
When Exmilitary came out I burned it to a CD (no aux in car) and windows media player scrambled the track listing but kept Beware as the first track I can't unhear that track order.
scovell7 sadly. Though i think interviews are milking so much this topic. DAMN. is a cool album, but some of this "interviewers" are fuckin cancer. Yup, bunch of pretentious shit nowadays in the press, and sadly kendrick got caught by this "cancerous articles".
He never said it HAD to be played backwards or should only be played backwards. Only that it can indeed be listened to backwards. Idk why y'all so offended.
So, like I know my comment is like 3 years late but is no one going to comment on Kendrick’s life as he does let people know his survivor ptsd is forever apart of him? Like from end to start that his dark inner thought of his mind and then from the start to end it’s about him living from those experiences and trying to stay humble? It’s a duality of his inner most thoughts and his story. In my humble opinion the albums a 10/10
I'm loving this album more the more I look into it, I've heard many theories. What I'm sure of is that when played forward it's a bit of a sad, yet satisfying story in which he becomes a better person and may or may not die at the end. In reverse, his habits keep getting worse and eventually he tragically dies from something (I don't know what the blind lady represents)
DAMN. normal: 7/10
DAMN. WITH BACKWARDS: *10/7* album of Century
:o
Good one.
Centuries of Damn
Andrew Cabaj Hold this W
OCTOBER 7TH. THAT'S THE KEY!!
Foward: He starts off aggressive...humbles himself, and is rewarded for it
Backwards: Starts off humble, gets aggressive and is punished fir it.
That's how I interpret it
that's actually a pretty interesting way to put it
Thats a cool idea. From humbleness we are exalted, from exaltation we become prideful (And pride cometh before the fall)
damn.
.nmad
I don’t think there’s a single interpretation
DAMN was meant to be played on Shuffle.
Same story, different feel every time.
If you play albums on shuffle imma face fuck you
ElitexKing lol same
ElitexKing heh
How do you shuffle a record? Hahaha
Wlf_Hly depends on the album, if it's like still striving playing it on shuffle is fine
*I guess he watched melon's review and now he want him to reverse the rating*
Yeezy Yeezy how you doin huh?
Yeezy Yeezy your father in law is now your second mother in law
10/7 incoming
Yeezy Yeezy Turn the 7 upside down its an L now
goofyboy16 Definitly caught this one
Reupload the review backwards or we riot
Not Thomas W
Stop Anthony Fantano
Inciting a riot is illegal
Jake Pauler Dab Dab
OH SHIT SHOTS FIRED
If you play fantano's video backwards it tells you where the next cult meeting is, melon juice provided. Keep asking questions
I hope this becomes a meme
Our Founding Liars subbed.
damn does it tell you whether Anthony is Dr eggman or not?
Our Founding Liars stay woke
Our Founding Liars this now has 666 likes, theory confirmed
Review my failed marriage
Poop McDoop please get this comment to #1
NOT GOOD
Light to a decent 4
Meh, it wasn't anything I was really blown away by, but some of the most interesting sections did get me excited. Quite depressing, but I wouldn't say it was awful as a viewer standpoint.
Decent to strong 4.
I’m Feeling A Strong 5 To Light 6.
Listening forward, it's the evolution of Kendrick living by his music, becoming better and more virtuous (going from pride to humble, from lust to love) and finishing by meeting God in good terms with a final thought on his legacy and all that lead him to where he's at (Duckworth). Played backwards, it's the exact opposite story, he finishes in the same place sure, but here he lets go of his beliefs and sinks into the violence, the vices of rap, justifying it with it being written in his DNA. It's the polar opposition of Kendrick's psyche, how different he can be in a single instant bc he's so divided between enlightment and vice. Sure it's the same story, bc it's the same character who ends up in the same place (death), but the path isn't the same. But hey, who am I to think for myself instead of following Melon Head Lord's opinion?!
Rafael Sanches 👏🏽
DAMN
You explained it so good
Wow, that makes more sense
A FUCKING SMART PERSON!
I wonder if DAMN/10 would be different if it was BACKWARDSDAMN/10
no bc he didn’t like love or god and those songs would still be there
.NMAD
01/L
BACKWARSDAMN/10 has 12 letters
12/10 confirmed
DROPTOP GOLF CART Soundcloud....
don't let this distract you from the fact that Anthony gave damn a 7
Stop Anthony Fantano
Stop Anthony Fantano Stop Anthony Fantano
it deserved a 7
360
Nelson Benitez did it deserve higher or lower?
great now you can give it a ㄥ
naked flames that's upside down
actually you flipped it horizontally, then flipped it vertically
honestly funniest reply im high af and im laughing ahahahahah
That looks like an L
When shit hits the fan, is you still a fan?
That nigga gave us "King Kunta", you say he didn't mean for it to be backwards?
Dunkey's Long Lost Son the ghost of tupac
@@DunkeysLongLostSon atnuK gniK?
@@DunkeysLongLostSon did dunkey have a kid with sky who he beat in smash?
@@armanpamma9454 watch AMA Jax and the secret will b uncovered
wait
are you still trapped in the deep fried dimension?
That's his brother, Paul Joseph Watson. And it's a frog dimension.
SquatsAndOats2plate *gay frog dimension
it's a furry dimension
stop exloding green nigga
7 a DAMN gave You
ㄥ ɐ ʇᴉ ƃuᴉʌᴉƃ llᴉʇS
This deserves infinite likes
Lul
how
Do you live in Austalia?
It’s a 6 now, but as the great Drake says, “turn the 6 upside down it’s a 9 now”
I mean, I've been on this theory and always believed it to be true, that it was done purposely. If you listen to the album front to back how it's originally intended to be digested, you get a Kendrick who loses his life right at the beginning of the album, who after losing his life, tells a story of a man who is looking back at how he progressed as a person. He's a lot more cocky and braggadocious toward the beginning of the album and finds his way to a better place toward the latter half of the album, where you have to experience lust before love, and being prideful before being humble and ultimately finding god. If you listen to it in reverse, he tells a story about how different his life could've been had top actually murdered his dad, he's a man of god from the very beginning, but loses his way and ultimately loses his life at the end of the project. Listening to it this way puts love before lust and maybe being too prideful to remain humble. Sorry for the rant, this is just a personal take on it, I'm surprised this isn't what he mentioned in his interview, I truly thought this was his train of though.
The story is the same because it's cyclical, and the character (presumably Kendrick) ends up dead either way. Played forward, it's his descent into weakness that leads him to the blind woman. Played in reverse, it's his descent into wickedness. Both of these concepts feed into each other no matter which why you flip it. The themes don't matter because they end up in the same place.
Is it wickedness? Is it weakness? You decide!
Maybe hes telling us exactly what you just said, to interpret it both ways. Could be a reach, but knowing Kendrick, it seems awesome
@@jackal1 Dudr that’s actually brilliant
“You Decide. Are we going to LIVE or DIE?” I believe in the timeline from BLOOD. to DUCKWORTH., BLOOD. is not Kendrick dying, but a premonition OF Kendrick dying & THAT becomes the genesis for his redemption.
The "I'm an Israelite - don't call me black no more" assertion comes before the phone call that gives him that idea in the original sequence.
PLAYING DAMN IN REGULAR ORDER IS WEAKNESS, PLAYING DAMN BACKWARDS IS WICKEDNESS
THE MAIN THEME OF THE ALBUM WICKEDNESS OR WEAKNESS
you mean the main theme is Duality.
I'm feeling a light to decent satanic messages from a Christian man are not my thing. Tran.
Ryan Nice ssexual
Jacob M'Boi LMAO
Ryan Nice Sition! Did ya hear it? Did ya love it? Did ya start speakimg in tongues. Comment below
Ryan Nice Sition! Did ya hear it? Did ya love it? Did ya start speakimg in tongues. Comment below
@@boo1488 Did ya hear it? Did ya love it? Did ya start speaking in tounges? Comment below.
NMAD gets a - 7
kikwe Butt -7/-10
I'm sure if it was backwards then melon would give it a 10
Sherk The Ogre That Finnesed Shreks Wife W
Stop Anthony Fantano
W
Jake Pauler Dab Dab
Sherk The Ogre That Finnesed Shreks Wife either way it's trash
But, when is NATION coming out?
damn spelled backwards is nation
OMG😭😭😭😭😭😭
Datpiff got NATION on there but its just old songs
it was a fan theory it ain't coming
NATION/10
Melon knows more about the album than Kendrick does apparently
How so?
From Memes 2 Dremes lmfaoo exactly, he's just appeasing his hipster fanbase by bashing kendrick
Snowfall Knight there's sharing your opinion, and then there's coming across as a pompous pseudo intellectual who thinks he's knows more about an artist's music that the artist himself
karma delivery he got caught liking/favoring an artist and now he has to disperse that notion every chance he gets
karma delivery no. that's not how it works. you shouldn't just trust the artist. if macklemore told you his album was a classic, do you trust it because he's the artist and he knows the album best? no, you judge it for yourself.
Listening to the album forward, he's living through his music and becomes immortalized in death like Pac. Backwards, he's at the top of the game and fears loosing wealth and sanity, and agonizes how people will perceive his music when he's gone. "Wondering if I’m living through fear or living through rap"
ChowSquared no forwards he lives through fear backward hes living through rap
ChowSquared I hate kendrick talking about pac shits annoying
Berlinwood27 pac is one of kendricks favorite rappers and inspirations, of course he's gonna talk about him
Forward, I interpreted it as him getting killed on BLOOD. and living through his music from that point onward, eventually becoming an immortal GOD. of rap in the end. Backwards, he lives in fear since his father wasn't killed in the chicken incident on DUCKWORTH, allowing him to live his life and become one of the greatest rappers to ever live. But that life comes with a laundry list of fears that he describes on the track, FEAR, right after DUCKWORTH. Then, backward, the album ends w/ DNA, where Kendrick doesn't give a fuck the pundits anymore (as shown w/ FEEL and YAH) and snaps, b/c he is rap royalty in his DNA and he is proud of it. Then, he dies on BLOOD., as a man conformable of the mark he left on earth, which he worried so much about for a large portion of the record.
Melon head was yellin at the theorists for stretching it but honestly this seems legit. It fits in with how the album's themes are too, I'll dig it
Here's my take on DAMN. There are two sides in this album. The first one that goes from 1-14, presents us with Kendrick starting off from the hood aggressive, violent, losing, afterwards, negative feelings for positive ones, through rap, and finding his way back to God at the end of the album, thus going from the red album cover to the alternative blue album cover.
In the last track ,though, Kendrick refers to the things that would happen if his dad was murdered, with the album being reversed to its start. This is the second outake of the album, going from 14-1, in which Kendrick would start off as a humble and innocent individual,losing, afterwards, positive feelings for negative ones ,through fear, and ending up being shot,(described in BLOOD.), thus going from the blue album cover to the red one.
Either way, Kendrick is damned to feel those feelings, over and over again, therefore losing his hope for the world, and no more, praying for it to become better. At this point, Kendrick is tired of carrying everyone's feelings in his back, while nobody cares for his("ain't nobody praying for me"). That's why he wrote DAMN.
Since DAMN is a double album now it should be given a 14 by melon
You're just wrong. He includes a few moments in the album where the music is literally reversed. This was probably a hint. He said it was premeditated. Do you not believe him? I think your general lack of appreciation for the songs on the album due to a lack of "central theme" and all that is the reason you can't see the message in the backwards, or the forwards, versions of the album. You think each song is just an under-developed attempt at addressing each topic in the title of the song but you miss the story kendrick is telling about his own mind. I think more than anything this album is about understanding the way kendrick thinks. Usually I respect your opinion as your own but this just feels like disrespect to a legend. An artist is saying that there is deeper meaning in their work and you made an entire video to basically say, "nope, its essentially just a meme" like wtf? So you're saying your opinion of the meaning is more significant than kendricks own?
Agreed!
It's like he's saying Kendrick is just bullshitting.. what
you shouldn't make fun of anthony just becauce he's black
He’s not saying Kendrick is wrong, he’s saying that playing the album backwards is stupid. Also idk why you wrote an essay on it lol
@@Shmuel420 it’s not stupid. it’s entended to be able to be played both ways so ur getting both sides of the story. at the end of duckworth it rewinds itself. that’s the part where you replay duckworth and go back through it backwards. so your getting the part of the story IF anthony killed topdawg
It's exactly my thoughts on reordering or retuning a tool album. It doesn't actually change the meaning unless you yourself give it more meaning, and that's completely the specific listeners choice. Give it a listen backward. Did you love it? Did you hate it? What would you rate it? Just know you're still listening to the same songs everyone else is.
Not even that big of a fan of Tool but I could see them using this gimmick and actually making something creative out of it. As opposed to "Oh it has a different vibe played backwards" uh no shit. "If you watch titanic backwards, Its a heartwarming story of a magical ship that saves people"-DiiceForeveroO3. That dood pretty much sums up my feeling on DAMN backwards.
I don't know that any Tool fan really feels like changing the song order alters the meaning of the piece. The most notorious example of Tool album restructuring is The Holy Gift (Restructuring Lateralus to spiral in and out based on track number, for those of you who might be reading this and are unfamiliar with it) and while most Tool fans agree it changes the progression and presentation of the album, I don't know of many who feel the meaning is radically different. In fact, most would state that the same meaning is present and that the restructuring is only meant to underscore it.
seven backwards is neves, neves has 5 letter, kendrick lamar is two words, 5 - 2= 3.
the word ten has 3 letters.
DAMN IS A 10/10
This comment has 7 likes.
Your album is a 7/10. Checkmate!
Why’d you have to reverse it to have five letters
marvin marvin Seven is five letters...?
DAMN is overhyped imo. It's a decent album, but it's no way near as good as good kid maad city or to pimp a butterfly.
EDIT: This is just my opinion; you don't have to like it. I wasn't expecting this comment to get so much traction. 😂
Apollo8176 I agree I do think it's better than section 80 though.
Good Kid Maad City is his worst out of his major label 4. Kendrick ranked his own albums and had Section. 80 at 1, TPAB at 2, DAMN at 3, and GKMC at 4. GKMC is so fucking Overrated. All you guys like it a Mainstream ass listen mainly composed of hooks.
Devin Rochester I gotta disagree with that too
Apollo8176 I literally said this like 7 weeks ago and had like 80 people Insult me
Devin Rochester Yeah I can understand that, it is an enjoyable album, but the production and lyricism on DAMN were a big step down from TBAP.
It's still confirmed pre meditated. The concept is DUALITY. Not every album can be played backwards. It's not a completely LINEAR story. That's the point. You said yourself you cannot do this with GKMC. Kendrick said it was premeditated. What people are discovering is "we bout to put it in reverse" on DUCKWORTH. Now it's confirmed. It's not rocket science. No one is claiming it is. Didn't you say you wanted more conversation about music? Oh, wait. Not if you're wrong though. *forced laughter*
c0rrupt c0ntent inli
JK Rowling: the Harry Potter movies were meant to be played backwards
14-1 sounds better than 1-14
TMFaster yea, 9/10 for me backwards, forwards it's just weak tbh. I don't understand why, I just genuinely think this
Nyshyn because forward it's for the ppl the skim the album real quick, might not even make it thru the whole album, only lookin for the "lit" parts
z7513 that makes sense but I still don't think that's a great excuse to list the album backwards instead of the "true path"
1-14 sounds better than 14-1
I agree, he didn't even try to listen to it backwards, wtf fantano
I read this theory the day after DAMN. come out, and reverse order is actually my preferred order. Although, that's not necessarily because it tells any kind of "different" story. It's a little more abstract than that.
For me, the two orders are meant to reflect aspects of Kenny's life from an outside perspective (Original), and from within his own head (Reverse). This is primarily showcased in the commercialized order of the original, placing most of what the AUDIENCE wants to hear towards the first half of the record (his revered social commentary on racial tension, radio bangers like DNA. and ELEMENT., his Rihanna feature, etc.). While these tracks may be super fun and easy to listen to, I don't believe it's any accident that we see a lot more swagger than substance in the first half. Additionally, this track listing provides an easily digestible pseudo-narrative, taking the listener through what seems to be a simply-presented "platter" of 14 different themes that are just random things on Kendrick's mind as of late. Like Anthony said: each track has it's own "single" potential. No doubt that was intentional.
However, when you "THROW IT IN REVERSE", you're immediately presented with themes that we all know, judging by subject matter from the rest of his discography, have always been inherently important or relevant to Kendrick (His family, his religion, his worst fears, his intimacy, etc.). But somewhere along the way, he realizes that his mainstream audience does not WANT him to be humble (track 8) or godly (track 13) or loving (track 10), but would rather see him flex on wax and get aggressive, maybe start some beef with reporters or other artists (both of which are addressed on the first half). So he transitions in the public eye from HUMBLE. (again, track 8) to PRIDE. (track 7). His values deteriorate because of the aforementioned fears (you know, in FEAR.) of losing his success, landing back in the belly of the beast. He MUST convey a persona to retain his status as the arguable modern GOAT of hip hop. This begets the more shallow themes, even going so far as to name a track "YAH.", as if that hold any value to him whatsoever. We get an AGGRESSIVE, more COMMERCIALLY ACCESSIBLE Kendrick Lamar from DNA., ELEMENT. and FEEL. The reverse order appropriately ends in what the mainstream media (as addressed on-record) traditionally has always wanted from Hip-Hop: BLOOD.
Maybe I'm just blowing smoke, but the track listing just feels so much more illustrative of what's going on in Kendrick's mind when you play them in reverse. That being said, it's stupid as fuck to bitch and whine about how people "should" listen to an album. Listen to it however you enjoy it most. Nobody else should give a shit.
Wow how has no one really talked about this yet. The fact that the first few songs are more commercial and mainstream sounding (which they ended up being the big hits) is what the people wanted from him, which also lead the Fox News people to continue calling out his music as promoting violence, leading to his death. Wow
Damn.
I'm a huge Kendrick fan but some fans will be reading into his music way too much like I remember when GKMC came out some people were analyzing the cover explaining why the van is a certain color or why the sky is blue in the photo. This honestly sounds like high school kids trying to find symbolism in a children's book when it's not even there...
Marco LMAO
Sounds like me doing every English essay in high school , “overanalysing shit that ain’t there”.
Wrong. Multiple songs have reference to others. Like Duckworth ending like blood begins.
Just because you are lazy and unimaginative it doesn't mean those things are not there.
it was literally meant to be played backwards. kendrick said it himself
@@chriscc14 Yeah I don't get how this was such a confusion, there's 2 reverse parts in the album and in DUCKWORTH one of the lines is "We gonna put it in reverse"
He put the album in reverse in a snippet on that song and yet people were still saying it wasn't true
I'm glad we know the definitive truth since the deluxe version of the album is the same but in reverse
This video is a bit of a cop out, as it doesn't mention that DAMN. is M.A.A.D backwards.
Oh, D.A.A.M
NMAD
TPAB
BAPT
as in baptism
Kendrick is... religious?
He doesn't understand that you can't just go to an album and play it backwards and it plays in perfect sequence but Damn is perfect sequence played forwards and backwards
Richard Walker Exactly
Richard Walker what's so different about damn? You're so far up Kendricks ass that you're coming up with bullshit theories for why he said this. You could take ANY album and play it backwards to get a different story.
Aminoff The Don shut the fuck Up and stop fucking crying, my god the amount of dumb Ass kids bitching cause kendrick makes them feel stupid is too damn high
Aminoff The Don "WhAtS sO dIffErEnT aBoUt dAmN" lmfao look up the fucking lyrics, use your brain, and find out
Jordan J Playz God you sound pretentious lol
i don't know if it tells a different story. but there are things in certain tracks that reference things later on the album. like "my cousin carl duckworth said know my worth" and "love's gonna get you killed, but pride will be the death of you and me." like these references just make more sense in reverse order. however as you said, it's not like there's pieces of one story throughout the album that make sense in reverse order. i guess you could argue that duckworth is his beginning, then fear kinda talks about his childhood in the beginning, humble could be him on top of the rap game, DNA could be him responding to more recent haters. but again there's not a strong enough thread there
melew25 DUCKWORTH is his beginning, talking about his family breaking the curses which was necessary for his success as a Black male. FEAR is the track responsible for laying out a lot of what ties the album together, playing the album forwards or backwards, in FEAR he's asking about will become of him. The last verse pretty much lays out the issue to be addressed in the album: Has Kendrick strayed too far and became wicked? That's why some song titles contradict one another: Kendrick's LOVE for a woman becomes a LUST of the flesh, which results in living the same days over and over with no further determination for a meaningful life. HUMBLE (where the hook is Kendrick telling himself to humble himself) turns to PRIDE (where he resents the world as if he's any better). Skipping ahead to YAH, here Kendrick contemplates what path he will follow, he tells himself if 14-1 "I know he walks the earth, but it's money to get, bitches to hit, yah." Next we have DNA, where Kendrick boasts and accepts his fleshly flaws and ends asking "When destruction gonna be my fate?" which leads into BLOOD, where that's exactly what happens. He was executed by a blind woman because he has been judged wicked, regardless of how he appears
melew25 sorry I wrote so much bro
melew25 melew25 You hit the nail on the head. I always did think it was weird that he seemed to have certain revelations before the moment that served as catalyst for said revelations.
I played this video in reverse and man I got to say it really changed the vibe of the whole video. That is a very artistic choice melon, you truly are the greatest artist of our generation.
Reverse DAMN. is Kendrick succumbing to his vices and embracing the bad influences around him leading to his eventual (literal) demise
I though he ment backwards as in reverse lol
In alt universe damn was released backwards and Tano thinks listening to it forward is cringy
"I don't take headlines lightly or on their face"
*makes video trashing LCD based pretty much solely on the headline*
Damnthony Fantano.
Stop Anthony Fantano
Turn that 7 upside down it's an L now
Let's make this "backwards" shit a new meme guys. Backthony Wardstano
REVEN6E BACKTANO WARDTHANY
I think what he means is that regardless of whether you play the album forwards or backwards, it still tells a story. Whereas most albums, they may tell a story forwards but they will not tell a story backwards and that's where the beauty lies, the fact that both directions there is still a story to be told
Review my antifa bandana
Bystander55 "nazi"
Jonah Jameson antifa quite literally means "anti fascist"🤔call him a communist maybe?
How bout I make a joke and you guys not label me cuz you never met me in real life
feeling a decent to strong ten
Yo fuck antifa and fuck nationalists.
All sides are shit.
Make your own side.
Be rational.
.NMAD
I get what Kendrick is saying. When you're listening to it in the original order forward the story starts from the present where he died and ends at the beginning. But when you listen to it in reverse you're going from past to present, like yeah it's the same story but it is told in a different perspective in a way. Tbh I don't really give a shit about the reverse thing at all. I value that this is the first Kendrick album in awhile that I can just casually listen to without dissecting it too much but I do think it's important to acknowledge that the same story can be told in multiple perspectives and DAMN does do that to a certain degree. Just not enough for me to care honestly because I prefer it in the original order.
Bravo. Love your rants.
He's just having fun with it and you and all the people hyping the album into something it's not. Playing right into my niggas hands 😂😂
If that's the case then DAMN would get a 10/7
DAMN is Kendrick Lamar's commercial album it is not only meant for heavy hip hop/rap fans but for everyone who loves music.
Illuminati I disagree that it's not meant for hip hop fans. The rapping is still really great. Despite what a lot of people on the internet might think, it's possible for something to be popular and good. It doesn't have to be one or the other. Not everything has to be like to pimp a Butterfly and be different than everything else. And even with Kendrick being more commercial the beats are all fucking great and once again I say the rapping is still fantastic.
Joshua Bennett what.. ?
Joshua Bennett Read his comment again....
Not for everyone who loves music, but for everyone who loves being in the mainstream. There's no sense in making worse music (I believe TPAB is objectively better than DAMN.) for people who love music.
TheShooterAddicted that's partially what I mean. "Mainstream" don't like underground and/or unpopular artists/music. That's why songs like damn, humble, loyalty... are made for those who solely enjoy listening to music. Loyalty couldn't have been in TPAB considering the style of the album. Rihanna may have even also brought in more women who love her music or just music in general the way it was produced - to listen to Kendrick.
Yo totally not related but the new action Bronson album is surprisingly very very good
nice I like him and Jonwayne
If it's better in reverse order than why didn't ya put it that way to start with? Idk, I love when people hide stuff in the album but this just feels pointless.
AlexMacIsKING it's likely because he wants people to see the two paths, and if he placed it in the true order it would be harder to grasp that there was a path of the order we were given
Then ppl was theorise that it can be played backwards lol.
damn backwards is nmad
Good Kid nmaD City
Not an Instrument eleborate. Please
Niggas always mad 😉
@@notaninstrument7707 ITS ALL CONNECTED MY THIRD EYE IS AWAKENING
@@jessicakilpatrick2008 sorry just saw this 2 years late but he made another album called Good Kid M.A.A.D City that’s the joke
If you played good kid mAAd city and to pimp a butterfly alphabetically. The two albums comes into one full rounded story. Try it it out mind blown.
3:14 I thought he was going to say "14 tracks...carried out over wax"
Zeniithe wonderin if I'm livin through fear or livin through rap
Where??
Guys don't listen to Anthony. Just remember that he gave damn a 7...
NEVER FORGET..
I know right. He was too generous
It deserved a 7, it's overrated as hell.
it deserved a 4 at best. If you're gonna give a reason not to listen to Anthony, my advice: MBDTF
I'm like Damn is meh. I liked To Pimp a Butterfly better
mangolollipop noshit
maurien moret Oh yeah, cuz GOD. was a masterpiece amirite?
I kinda feel sorry for the guy, everyone just bashes him because he didnt make another TPAB
Only basics like Damn better
Because it's almost background noise by comparison
He finally fixed the lag in the audio. Thank you melon you are now jesus
If its meant to be played backwards then why would he put each song in that order?
Steve Reyes I honestly have no answer, but it’s definitely meant to be played backwards
Because BLOOD. works as a better outro than intro since he dies and DUCKWORTH. works better as a intro since it’s about his youth or before his birth or whatever it is about
That’s was my interpretation
Lmfaoo how the fuck is Anthony gonna tell kendrick what his albums about ?
i think the reason for kendrick placing a fullstop after each track on the album is to say that each individual song is a single story by itself
“Is it wickedness, or weakness?”.
If you play the album from start to finish, he goes on to the path of weakness, the undoing of the deadly sins.
If you play the album from the back end to the start, he goes on to the path of wickedness. On the song FEAR, just for the sake of it let’s interpret that his father did die…Kendrick goes on to the path on the undoing of the best parts of him as he’s growing up. The narrative is there, you’re just ignorant if you don’t want to acknowledge it. Now if that’s something you don’t care about after you try to see it through those lenses, that’s different.
Instead of going from lust to love, etc he's going backwards(love to lust) into a darker state of mind where, in the end, gets shot. Even uncle carl in FEAR. warned him about this. If you listen normally, kendrick listens to him and lives, if not, Kendrick ignores him and dies. You're very welcome
Love it or hate it, it's undoubtedly one of the most important albums of his year.
These Bitches Want Nikes well so is more life I don't really think that's a big accomplishment
These Bitches Want Nikes saturation 2?????
Lol, "Guys, you haven't fucken discovered fire here". Lol , that killed me, how am I still alive?
LMAO. i love these videos man
I personally feel that the wickedness/weakness idea is flipped when you play it forwards or backwards. That's just my opinion.
still a 7
"but guys, you haven't discovered fucking fire here" lmaoo never change
THANK YOU!
7 backwards would be a 1 right? 😨
Oh no the moustache is back
Playing any album backwards won't have the same effect.
I think your missing the polarity theme of the album, the tracklist is set in polar opposites. So going one way is more a story of enlightenment, the other the opposite.
When Exmilitary came out I burned it to a CD (no aux in car) and windows media player scrambled the track listing but kept Beware as the first track I can't unhear that track order.
I'm waiting to That's The Plan Review this meme
Listen to Drake's Nothing Was The Same backwards.
Great start. Great finale. The middle is just meh.
I've been knowing this ever since I first heard the project. When you listen to the album from the end it flows better.
Wow i totally couldnt have just read the fucking article myself. You really added so much to it
Real fans listen to DAMN. on shuffle the story is amazing
Kendrick is just caught up in his own hype. What a bunch of pretentious bullshit.
rt
I agree.
Yup
scovell7 he loyal now
scovell7 sadly. Though i think interviews are milking so much this topic. DAMN. is a cool album, but some of this "interviewers" are fuckin cancer.
Yup, bunch of pretentious shit nowadays in the press, and sadly kendrick got caught by this "cancerous articles".
Awe. I listened to it forward like I always do. I have been bamboozled.
He never said it HAD to be played backwards or should only be played backwards. Only that it can indeed be listened to backwards. Idk why y'all so offended.
If DAMN. is a 7/10, is .NMAD a 10/7??????
Melon? More like m&m Doctor Phill.
"my new computer has no audio jack", sounds like you got a Mac you silly Melon you.
So, like I know my comment is like 3 years late but is no one going to comment on Kendrick’s life as he does let people know his survivor ptsd is forever apart of him? Like from end to start that his dark inner thought of his mind and then from the start to end it’s about him living from those experiences and trying to stay humble? It’s a duality of his inner most thoughts and his story. In my humble opinion the albums a 10/10
I'm loving this album more the more I look into it, I've heard many theories. What I'm sure of is that when played forward it's a bit of a sad, yet satisfying story in which he becomes a better person and may or may not die at the end. In reverse, his habits keep getting worse and eventually he tragically dies from something (I don't know what the blind lady represents)
if this is true damn will now be a 10/7, anthony was right all along
Does this mean DAMN is a 10/7 ???
My homie gave me a leaked copy of the album the day before came out, and IT WAS IN REVERSE ORDER WHEN I OPENED IT.
I think Kendrick realized the importance of singles to win a grammy and that's pretty much the motivation behind DAMN.
7 backwards is a 10
MELON JUST TAKE THE L AND MOVE ON. I KNOW IT MIGHT BE HARD TO THINK YOU CAN ACTUALLY BE WRONG BUT YOU WERE, YOU ARE.
lol
How can an opinion be wrong?
This was smart by Kendrick, he got people talking about his album again with very little effort. 10/10 marketer.
if you watch all of TND vids backwards a melon turns into Fantano