The hip-hop artist The Edge said had a “similar spirit” to U2
With his impressive longevity of over four decades in the music industry with U2, The Edge has seen many artists come and go. During that tenure, the beanie-sporting guitarist has evolved along with the times in all departments, barring his soulful spirit and, of course, headwear.
U2 themselves have traversed the musical landscape. From exploring punk and post-punk styles in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they moved to more anthemic rock sounds in their most creative mid-80s era before experimenting with an electronic sound in the 1990s. However, along the way, none of these creative junctures has lost them any fans with their status continuing to soar.
Their 1983 War album catapulted them into stardom. On this album the protest song ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ helped establish the band as being socially and politically conscious in their music, which evolved into activism outside of music supporting humanitarian causes in Africa such as the ONE Campaign.
This legacy of combining music evolution with social commentary has led The Edge to believe there is an artist who has the same spirit as them, and it’s Kendrick Lamar. He told Stereogum, “It was really just that we were fans. We were just thinking about artists we really respect and like, and he was on the top of our list. We look for artists that we feel have a similar spirit.”
Lamar is often regarded as the greatest living rapper of all time. He spent years producing music with such versatility across genres and lyrical flow that is matched with poignant social commentary on racism and addiction amongst other themes. ‘Alright’ became an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement, while ‘The Blacker the Berry’ challenges systemic racism.
His own genius may have even surpassed U2, considering he won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for music, albeit both artists can claim 22 Grammy Awards each, as well as performing for the prestigious Super Bowl halftime show. But the Pulitzer Prize win was for his 2017 Damn album which saw the two artists collaborate together on the track ‘XXX’.
Of course, it’s a track that discusses political commentary as it explores the violence and politics of the USA with references to Donald Trump and Barack Obama. It moves from the trap drum beat to the downbeat breakdown where Bono’s lyrics “this country is to me a sound of drum and bass” sandwich Lamar’s slower flow that matches the languid rhythm section.
And the collaboration didn’t end there, either. Lamar hopped onto U2’s 2017 Songs of Experience album to provide the spoken word segue between ‘Get Out of Your Own Way’ and ‘American Soul’. Lamar’s take on the Beatitudes is followed by the sample of Bono he uses in ‘XXX’ that begins in ‘American Soul’ as the U2 singer sings his support for refugees in the USA.
While it may appear there is not a lot in common between the two artists musically, it’s no surprise The Edge reveals the respect U2 has for Kendrick Lamar with the similarity in being proponents of politically conscious music that surpasses any music genre. It’s a testament to both artists’ approach to music that they found a way to collaborate.
