Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers

 

Reflecting on Kendrick Lamar's recent recording, Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers, put me in mind of George Clinton's work with Funkadelic more than 50 years ago, particularly the group's second album Free Your Mind ... (And Your Ass Will Follow). Lamar's outstanding work descends from Clinton's less disciplined but equally groundbreaking albums of the 70s and 80s.

Both Mr. Morale ... and Free Your Mind ... push musical and cultural boundaries and draw beads on repressive social conventions, including religionism. For example, Lamar takes on sanctimonious transphobia passionately in "Auntie Diaries." The title song from Free Your Mind ... includes the line "freedom is being free of the need to be free. The kingdom of heaven is within."

On its face, the lyric sounds like meaningless double-talk, but I think it actually gets to the "crux of the biscuit," to quote another musical iconoclast, Frank Zappa.

No matter the concern -- physical or spiritual illness -- the goal is to be free of the need for healing. Freedom is having no need of fixing, in other words.

What's especially interesting about this is oftentimes, rather than creating freedom, this pursuit enslaves the person to the remedy -- whether its veganism or Christianity. Freedom exists only as long as the adherrent doesn't stray, which, to my mind, is the opposite of freedom.

What goes along with this is the need to free others from the scourge of their physical or spiritual unwellness. I would argue that this extends to causes like environmentalism, DEI, animal rescue, to name three worthy causes. This seems compassionate, on its face, but I think can drift into areas of control and manipulation with the zealot using shame to get others to live right.

Being inspired by the need for positive societal change is noble but it must be balanced with respect for the individual's right to remain shackled to their habits and insecurities.