JOHANNESBURG – Kendrick Lamar released his song ‘i’ in declaration of taught self-love and self-appreciation.
Now the lyrics to his fast-tracked album are being used in a slower poetic prose for an advertisement to destigmatise and raise awareness of people who are afraid to speak about depression, something Lamar omits to in his song too.
The ad, ‘Find Your Words’ for Kaiser Permanente, trails a young sorrowful looking boy walking through his neighbourhood while reciting Lamar’s lyrics as a poem, powerfully ending with ‘I love myself’. Its aim is to start conversations about depression as people still feel unsafe to speak about it.
Last year the Compton-born rapper opened up to MTV about his experience with depression and suicide that he expressed in his song ‘u’.
“I’ve pulled that song not only from previous experiences but, I think my whole life, I think everything is drawn out of that. Even situations from [first album] Good Kid M.A.A.D City. Nothing was as vulnerable as that record. So it’s even pulling from those experiences of coming up in Compton. It’s pulling from the experience of going through change and accepting change — that’s the hardest thing for a man, accepting change.”
