“We Cry Together” by Kendrick Lamar (ft. Taylour Paige)
The fact that African-American couples face challenges in terms of perpetuating romantic relationships is a fact that has been well documented by both the entertainment industry and Black academia. And with “We Cry Together”, what the listener is treated to is a delineation of the types of issues which tend to define that reality.
Or more specifically, said outline is presented in the form of a heated argument between the male and female vocalists, who are taking on the role of such a troubled couple. With the exception of the intro and the outro, the entire piece is based on their diss-laden disagreements.
However, taking the title and intro into consideration, the underlying message behind it all is that this is not an ideal modus operandi. But outside of that the N- and B-words are thrown around quite liberally on this piece – and not in a general-colloquialism type of way. So ultimately, if not for the fact that this is a K-Dot track, even considering the title and intro, it would be hard to believe there’s any type of useful message behind this song.
And apparently, what this track is intended to point to is the notion that neither party truly emerges victorious from a messed up romantic relationship. Instead, Kendrick and Taylour are actually ‘crying together’. But the way their mutual frustration is manifested is not through constructive conversation, as the outro appears to recommend. Instead, the situation is more like they’re trying to prove who can hurt the other’s feelings the most.
Who is Taylour Paige?
Taylour Paige isn’t a musician but primarily an actress. She traces her come-up to the dancing circuit, being a former student of Debbie Allen. In fact by the looks of things “We Cry Together” is the first time she participated in a song.
Credits for “We Cry Together”
The writers of this track are Kendrick Lamar, Florence Welch, Bēkon, The Alchemist and J.LBS. The latter three artists are also its official producers.
The reason Welch is credited is because “We Cry Together” samples a track her act, Florence + the Machine, dropped in 2018 titled “June”.
Release of “We Cry Together”
On May 13th, 2022, Kendrick’s fifth studio album officially hit the ‘net. The album, which is titled “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” is a product of the following record labels:
- Aftermath
- Interscope
- Top Dawg
- BMG
“We Cry Together” is part of this album. Actually it is one of the album’s outstanding tracks. Other outstanding ones include:
