u/Italian_Bedtime

Why are they so insistent on making these videos if they aren't going to answer anything of substance or talk about actual problems?

The first half of the video is just them talking about how they design skins and voting for goddamn skins. The second half of the video is even more miserable. Only the last 5 something minutes contain community questions (if you even wanna call them that). Before that, they were just talking to parkertheslayer of all people. As if iferg in the last episode wasn't enough bs.

Now to the actual questions, wtf CODM? What was the point of this post if you guys weren't gonna answer any of the hard and real questions we asked? No answers about weapon balancing across MP BR DMZ, movement system and ttk overhauls, multiplayer spawns' shitshow, DMZ and Rebirth optimization, ranked system overhaul, bug fixes, and so much more. Not to mention zombies, I feel so bad for the 4 people that still play zombies because why is this mode still in the game if you aren't going to do anything to it.

And the actual questions they "answered" were just comical lmao.

1. Classic prestige system/changes to progression (only good question which they massacred with their answer) - "We will add 50 more levels lol"
2. Changes to map rotation in ranked (which already happens every season why is this a question?) - "uhm another never-gonna-come community poll lol"
3. More Milsim skins/themed seasons (yeah man pls answer more questions about SKINS, I LOVE COSMETICS AND SKINS TAKE MY MONEY YES) - "basically no haha"
4. Changes in the UI (who tf is asking for MORE changes in the UI??????????? Literally nobody liked the previous several changes that have happened, NOBODY wants ts man)

FOUR (if you even wanna count these as questions) total questions answered in a 17 minute video titled "Inside CODM".

Just the sheer focus these episodes have on cosmetic items over talking about the actual game and how it plays/runs is so disgusting. Anyways, not like this will change anything, watch episode 3 talk about a new mythic for 50% of the video :/

DAMN. is his most complex and interwoven album he has released so I understand people might not do the due diligence of looking deeper into it, but my god singling out the "I'm a Israelite, don't call me black no mo" line from an entire song, and the ENTIRE ALBUM as a whole is so stupid.

Kendrick's DAMN. is often described as an album about sin, fear, pride, and restoring faith; the surface level interpretation. But beneath that surface lies a far more complex exploration of human suffering, free will, destiny, and spiritual/faithful uncertainty. The album literally starts off with the line "Is it wickedness? Is it weakness?" This dichotomy serves as the lens for the rest of the album. Kendrick investigates whether suffering is caused by moral failings, human vulnerability, systemic oppression, divine judgment, random chance, or some combination of all. Why exactly are we DAMNed. But unlike other albums, DAMN. doesn't provide a clear answer to this question. (Emphasis on divine judgment reasoning)

The album's most controversial element is its engagement with Black Hebrew Israelite theology. The album presents the belief that Black Americans (and colored people in general) are the true descendants of the biblical Israelites and that their historical suffering reflects the curses described in Deuteronomy 28. In this framework, Black suffering is not random but the consequence of a broken faith in God. This DOES NOT mean he endorsed the message. The album was made at a time when Kendrick felt out of control of his own actions and suffering, and thus turning to the idea of being cursed by god to cope with his feelings.

The voicemails are not to endorse the message, but to quite literally show the impending fear, on the song FEAR, in Kendrick's mind that what his cousin is saying might be true, that the reason for his suffering is out of his control ("is god playing a joke on me" referring to him being skeptical about the black Israelite ideology because of all the money and success he has achieved despite being "cursed"). This tension is reinforced by Kendrick's own spiritual position. He is deeply religious in language but does not fully identify with any specific institution throughout the album. Christianity, Black Hebrew Israelite thought, personal morality, social realities, and existential uncertainty all compete for explanatory power throughout the album. On the song YAH, he quite literally says he isn't religious and the final verse shows his aversion to the idea that he is damned by rejecting god and indulging in sin despite him believing he is walking the earth, and in a way showing he does not care about the curse of Deuteronomy. Also, the tracklist moves away from YAH (hebrew estimation for the word God) and moves towards, well, GOD. He moves away from a religious belief system towards the more agnostic faith in simply "a" GOD. Also, "I'm a Israelite, DON'T call me black no mo." Why can't this line simply be him identifying as a child of god and rejecting race constructs? And even if he is saying he is a black Israelite, it is in reference to him being cursed and out of control of his suffering

The album's final song, DUCKWORTH, complicates every interpretation. Rather than providing a clear conclusion, Kendrick reveals that his entire existence depended on a seemingly random encounter between his father and Top Dawg before he was in control of his life. This introduces the possibility that chance, contingency, and luck play a larger role in human life than any ideological system can comfortably explain. He quite literally muddies all other beliefs at the end of the album by introducing the possibility that the universe works by randomness.

If the album were a straightforward Black Hebrew Israelite statement, Carl Duckworth's explanation of the Deuteronomy curses would serve as the conclusion (but it doesn't, it literally only exists as an artistic expression of showing that if suffering isn't chosen but instead fate, why or if anyone should bother over their own character and misdoings). Instead, the album ends with the revelation that Kendrick's existence depended on a chain of events, leaving questions of fate, free will, and chance unresolved. The Kendrick that makes DAMN, is unsure, feels lost, powerless even, and that aspect of the feeling of cynicism which under lies DAMN, is absent in his previous projects. Which is why DAMN is thematically so different from his other projects, the moral thesis here, is not straightforward as GKMC, or TPAB, it's an album that asks questions but at the end of the day has no answers. The question that starts the album is "Is it wickedness, or weakness" but we never actually learn which option was correct. Similarly, we never understand which ideology/belief/reason was the one for human suffering.

It is a deeply introspective album that is just exploring different themes and doesn't answer any questions or identify with a single theological system. It is an admission of Kendrick's personal faith and belief system being tested throughout and how he copes with it by exploring different possibilities.

Also, do ya'll think a trans accepting LGBT positive women's rights dude believes in the black Israelite ideology? Those dudes, are all extremely patriarchal, homophobic, transphobic.