"DAMN." consists of the overarching Christian theming from the previous Kendrick albums, but also introduces Kendrick's belief that he is an Israelite along with all people of African, Hispanic, and Native American decent. The song "Fear" claims that discrimination against minority populations in the United States is divine punishment from God.
"Verse two says you only have I known of all the families of the earth Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities So until we come back to these commandments Until you come back to these commandments We're gonna be in this place, we're gonna be under this curse Because he said he's gonna punish us The so-called Blacks, Hispanics, and Native American Indians Are the true children of Israel We are the Israelites according to the Bible The children of Israel, he's gonna punish us for our iniquities For our disobedience because we chose to follow other gods That aren't his son, so the Lord thy God chasten you So just like you'll chasten your own son He's gonna chasten you because he loves you So that's why we get chastised, that's why we're in the position we're in Until we come back to these laws, statutes and commandments And do what the Lord said, these curses are gonna be upon us We're gonna be at a lower state in this life that we live here in today In the United States of America I love you, son, and I pray for you God bless you, shalom" (Duckworth, 2017)
"DAMN." feels like a rather jarring change from Kendrick's theology in the two previous albums. Instead of focusing on themes of forgiveness, he focuses on themes of pain and condemnation. Therefore, "DAMN." is a rather appropriate title for this album.
The Hip-Hop analysis website Genius conducted a study of Kendrick's theology in his most recent album and came to the conclusion that Kendrick is primarily referencing the God of the Old Testament or what some people nickname: "The Angry God." The song "FEAR." Even ends with several men chanting "God damn us all." Genius comes to this conclusion based off the line from the song "YAH" which states: "and Deuteronomy say that we all been cursed." The author then recites the law passed on to the Israelites by Moses after their 40 years of wandering the desert.
"The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me. The Lord will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish." (Deuteronomy 28:20-22 NIV)
Kendrick even mentions in the same song that he wishes to longer be addressed as black since he is really an Israelite. Genius then addresses its response to this lyric:
"It might sound like Kendrick and his cousin are endorsing the views of the Black Hebrew Israelites, who believe that Black people are the literal genetic descendants of the Bible’s Israelites. This could be, but considering that Carl mentions worshipping God’s son and Kendrick’s sincerely professed Christianity, it’s unlikely that he’s suddenly made the conversion to that belief." (Ganz, 2017)
It then goes on to cite the abolitionist preacher Absalom Jones, the founder of the Black Protestant Church. He didn't believe that he was truly an Israelite by blood, but rather was able to compare his own situation of slavery to that of the Israelites when they were in Egypt. Therefore, Genius does not believe Kendrick aligns with the Black Hebrew Israelites, but rather "seems to interpret current events and history as evidence of God’s wrath, but the ultimate story is one of God’s mercy and justice" (Ganz, 2017).
