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Deconstructing Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’

By
Mary Mandley
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By Joseph Rowan  / LifeAtStart.com Reporter

On March 15th, 2015, Kendrick Lamar released his highly anticipated album To Pimp a Butterfly.

This was his third studio album and was his second critically acclaimed among the three. The topics of his raps are focused on racial inequality, self-worth, black-on-black violence, police brutality, gang violence, and depression.

On this album Kendrick Lamar drastically changed his music style. He went from having mainstream music that tells a story, to funk and neo-soul with politically aware lyrics. He uses his music as a platform to voice his opinions and to talk about controversial topics in the United States.

In his song The Blacker the Berry, Kendrick Lamar says “ Why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the streets, when gang-banging made me kill a brother blacker than me,” which references the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman and the prevalent gang violence in Compton where Kendrick is from. To Pimp a Butterfly is a commentary on the fractured racial landscape and the racial inequality in America.

Ever since the album was released many African-Americans have died by the hands of police officers, some noticeable people who died in police custody are: Freddie Gray who had his spine broken while in police custody, Alton Sterling who was shot outside a gas station for selling CD’s, and Michael Brown who was shot dead in the middle of the street by Officer Darren Wilson, and when he was found not guilty sparked the Ferguson riots. Many people have criticized Kendrick for his views on the Ferguson riots, Kendrick stating that the neighborhood was already a “situation” and the shooting of Michael Brown should’ve never happened.

While To Pimp a Butterfly focuses on racial problems, it also focuses on Kendrick’s mental state and his soul. Some topics Kendrick mentions are family, depression, heartbreak, suicide, and paranoia. In the song u Kendrick raps about a time he broke down in a hotel room and smashed a mirror in the bathroom.

Kendrick Lamar likes to talk about social issues in his music and in interviews. When asked about the Michael Brown incident he said “When we don’t have respect for ourselves, how do we expect them to have respect for us?” He also stated the meaning of the album was not only as a social commentary but as a way to “Take (his) celebrity [status] and doing good with it. On a deeper level, how the industry treats artists, how they pimp artists out.”

Meaning that the artist has great potential and in turn is like a butterfly and the music industry is using them, aka “pimping” them. He expands on the concept of “pimping” artists out during his fictional interview with Tupac Shakur during the song Mortal Man. In my next article I’ll be doing a song analysis.

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In the arms of the panda

By
Mary Mandley
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0

By Tori St. Clair / LifeAtStart.com Reporter

If you’re anything like me, you love animals and want them to be protected and have rights.

As of Sunday, September 4, Giant Pandas are no longer on the endangered list.

The panda was moved from being endangered to being vulnerable on the Red List of Threatened Species. Giant Pandas have been endangered since 1990, but populations have risen 17% in the wild in 2004-2014.

This is thanks to two things: A huge decrease in the illegal poaching of them, and a huge expansion of their habitat. China now has 67 panda reserves, which are similar to a U.S. National Park. The Panda Reserve System was created in 1992 and increased available habitats for them.

The Chinese government has been working to help pandas for 30 years, not letting them go extinct. Since the 70s it has been the main focus of conservation groups to preserve them.

But the bad news is, because of climate changes, more than 35% of the pandas bamboo will be eliminated in the next 80 years. Which means the pandas are still at risk for extinction.

So in conclusion, long live pandas!

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A huge success for Klei Entertainment

By
Mary Mandley
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By Dom / LifeAtStart.com Reporter

In 2013, the game Don’t Starve was released, a hit survival video game that struck many as addicting and a game everyone should try.

The game is about a scientist named Wilson who finds himself in a dark world and must survive as long as he can. The game includes different statuses that you must keep check on to keep him alive; for example he needs to keep his hunger up so he in turn doesn’t starve.

Don’t Starve was Klei Entertainment’s first game in the survival genre. The game was influenced by another hit game known as Minecraft.

The game was also influenced in a Tim Burton artistic style. The game received positive reviews mainly for its original style, music and variety of ways for the player to die. The first Don’t Starve game was less enjoyed in terms of permanent death and high level difficulty.

The game designers took this into consideration and created another version of the game, newer and refurbished called Don’t Starve Together. This one is a bit different, Wilson now has new and unique allies to play with during his own survival. This game had the same concept of the original but new things to build, new people to play, and online server games.

Now people can join each other’s servers by playing with friends or joining a public server. You can also change the difficulty of the server and what spawns into the game and so forth. Each server build is completely unique and randomly generated. I personally enjoy the series, it offers a lot of free opportunity and imagination.

There’s little rules and guidelines which means more time to use your brain and own creative mind.

I strongly recommend people to try this game if you are a fan of Minecraft or if you’re interested in survival games that keep you on the edge of your seat with the surprising amount of variety in the game.

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The perks of being minimalistic

By
Mary Mandley
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0

By Kayce Lopez / LifeAtStart.com Reporter

The true definition of minimalism goes by what happened in the world of art, meaning simple creations of sculptures, music, or literature. A minimalistic lifestyle holds the same definition, just applied to modern life. Simplicity itself is often sought out by anyone who’s overwhelmingly busy, or who strive to keep things uncomplicated. Most people don’t grasp the idea or pin it as unnecessary and bland. The concept can be beneficial to all types of lifestyle’s and mindsets. Here are three easy minimalistic changes you can implement into your everyday routine. Doing these things will give you more space and energy to have and do things that really matter.

I. Maintain a Healthy Diet
Cut down on foods that are processed and cooked for long periods of time. You should cut out meat if you can or want to, but make sure to get other sources of protein. Doing this will give your body more energy to do the things you want.

II. Stop Multitasking
Chronic multitaskers have increased levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which can damage the memory region of the brain. Single-tasking, although slower than what you’re use to, is less straining for your mind.

III. Get Rid of Stuff
Clean out your closet and get rid of clothes you don’t wear and will never wear again. Having less clutter in certain areas will both make it easier to do simple tasks, like finding a good outfit, and inspire you to keep other things less cluttered as well.

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