Kendrick Lamar is a hip hop recording artist from Compton, California. Initially signed to independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment, in 2012 Lamar and the label signed a joint venture deal with Aftermath and Interscope Records. Lamar is also a member of the West Coast group, Black Hippy, along with fellow California-based rappers and label-mates Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul (taken verbatim from Wikipedia). In “Poetic Justice” Lamar discusses the ups and downs of his relationship with a woman named Sherane.
poetic justice (noun) – a situation in which something bad happens to somebody, and you think that this is what they deserve.
You live life on an everyday basis
With poetic justice, poetic justice
If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?
I mean, I write poems in these songs dedicated to you.
When you’re in the mood for empathy, there’s blood in my pen.
Grammar: Second Conditional
If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?
Use the second conditional for unreal or hypothetical situations in the present or future.
If + subject + simple past verb, subject + would + base verb
If + subject + simple past verb, would + subject + base verb?
- If I had $10,000,000, I would quit my job. I don’t have ten million dollars, and I probably won’t have that money soon. This situation is unreal.
- If I lived in Colombia, I would learn Spanish very quickly. I live in California with my wife. She loves California, and she will be upset if we leave.
- If I were President of the United States, I would listen to international students. I am not the President, and I will probably never be one!
- Normally, I was / You were / She was / We were / They were
- In the second conditional, always use were, even if the subject is first or third person.
Vocabulary
- high maintenance (adjective) – needing a lot of attention or effort. My last girlfriend was very high maintenance. She constantly texted me, and she always demanded expensive gifts.
- poetic justice (noun) – a situation in which something bad happens to somebody, and you think that this is what they deserve. He left his wife and children to join a band, and he died during his first performance. It’s poetic justice!
- game (noun) – one’s ability to attract a man or a woman. He has so many girlfriends because his game is tight!
- test someone’s patience (idiom) – to make somebody feel impatient. I was sitting next to a man, and his nagging questions during the flight were really testing my patience.
- one-off (adjective) – made or happening only once and not regularly. Her boyfriend is not very honest. He always has these one off romances with other women!
- taboo (noun) – a cultural or religious custom that prohibits certain behavior or beliefs. Working on a Sunday is a taboo in California.
- fatal attraction (noun) – being attracted to the wrong person for you; the consequences of an attraction will probably cause problems.
Discussion Questions
Do you know somebody who has experienced poetic justice? If something bad happened to your friends or family, what would you do? Have you ever had a high maintenance relationship? Did this relationship test your patience? Please write your comments below!
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