Analysis Of Kendrick Lamar 's ' The Blacker The Berry ' Essay

The documentary, “Unforgivable Blackness” directed by Ken Burns casts light on the extraordinary life story of legendary boxer Jack Johnson. The documentary is about the barriers Jack Johnson had to overcome to satisfy his hunger for becoming the best and living “The American Dream.” Johnson had humble beginnings in Galveston, Texas and it was in those beginnings that glimpses of his bright future were slowly but surely beginning to show. Through out his life, he showed independence, relentlessness, ability to improvise, call attention to himself and get around rules meaning to tie him down. Jack Johnson was a self made man who had the drive to go forward and achieve what he wanted to achieve

In her essay “Redeeming the Rap Music Experience”, Venise Berry explains her strongest points on how rap has made an impact in music; not only for being a necessary genre of music but also having effective form of communication throughout the black society. Rap has been known to be a communitive process in which their culture can express their thoughts and feelings. To Berry, rap represents itself as a symbol for those who write rap songs as if they were telling their own story about sex, violence and even racism and how they had become involved with either one. The words of rap music, such as “Nommo” for example, often express the writer's lifestyle and belief that “Nommo” has the power to change their attitude and bring other African American’s

and they keep the separation when they sees someone else that is contrast of their race. “After a

Controversial themes have always been explored in popular Black music. Because Black experiences influence Black mainstream culture (as with any culture), the social climate of historical eras influence how these themes are explored in popular culture, specifically in the form of music. The presence of controversial themes like racisms, sex and violence in black forms of music like the Blues, R&B/ Soul, Disco, Funk, and Hip-Hop are shaped by the happenings in the Black community during the time periods that each form was popular. Thus, the presence of such themes can be used to compare today’s popular culture, through Hip Hop and Contemporary R&B, with past popular culture, through

Kendrick Lamar’s song “Alright” talks about race and how African Americans are being targeted and profiled. The song tells about the gun violence and police brutality that is effecting our community, “And we hate Popo, wanna kill us dead in the street for sure, n…” (Line 35). This quote out of his song is significant because in the world we live in someone gets killed every day for the color of their skin color or a profile that someone made off assumptions. As the song goes he tell about how African Americans were discriminated. “When you know, we been hurt, been down before, n… / When our pride was low, lookin' at the world like, "where do we go, n…?”’ (Line 33-34). Throughout the years African Americans are looked down on to the point where they do not know what their purpose is. For some, living in a world where people do not want them there hurts the pride of people.

Kendrick Lamar and Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) are two very successful African American rap artists. Both have won many awards for their edgy lyrics and eye-opening videos. Lamar’s “The Blacker the Berry” and Glover’s “This is America”, are two very similar, but also different, pieces on racism in America. This essay will explore the similarities and differences in both works on the perceived racial issues in America.

An Ideological Exploration of Macklemore’s Racial Redemption As a musical genre and cultural movement, Hip Hop and Rap have been both cultural phenomena and musical genres within the United States that have reached internationally and driven conversations on sociopolitical troubles such as war, violence, and racism. Hip Hop and rap which at times have been used interchangeably, have seen drastic changes in both their reception as musical genres and have garnered vast visibility within the United States. Hip Hop and Rap artists have been integral to driving conversations that are often ignored. As musical genres, Hip Hop and Rap create a space of situated knowledge and reveal the underlying dominant hegemonic ideologies within society.

In an industry, mainly controlled by high society white men, African-American musical artists are frequently regarded as commodities, not as artists. They must adjust a requirement for artistic control and "keeping" it real" with the impediments and weights from record organizations inspired by producing deals and massive appeal. Often the message and artistic integrity of rappers can be lost amidst national marketing campaigns and concern for approval by important commercial allies. Musicians have struggled to maintain rap's potency as a form of resistance and empowerment. It is doubly injuring for dark ladies who are now plagued by assaults from outside their groups to feel the push of musical knifes to their respect from inside. Apart

Kendrick Lamar, an artist who had grown up in Compton, writes about his struggles of discrimination and growing up in a gang-filled city in the form of hip-hop. The mark of success of bearing witness through music is the inspiration of those listening

John Noire believes that this song basically states no matter how much an African-American is well put together it seems as if they will always be judged by his or her skin color and features. He states, “If 2014 showed me anything, it was that no matter what I wore or how well I spoke, there was always the possibility I would be a victim of racial profiling and police brutality due to the color of my skin” (Noire), and this is exactly how Kendrick Lamar

Racial Discrimination is dreadful. It’s a social conflict against those who are a slightly different based on appearance. It has indeed become a well-known issue, which has created problems throughout the world. This issue is so distributing that it has incredibility-impacted society, especially influenced artists to incorporate the current issue into their songs. For instance, artists like Kendrick Lamar have expressed the issue of racial discrimination. In his song “The Blacker the Berry” from his album To pimp a butterfly (2015), he speaks about the racism and stereotypes from his own experiences. The song is about the frustration with how African Americans are treated due to the racism. This hip-pop song enhances the message through the use of Lamar personal life experiences as well his way of rapping with the intense beats. This demonstrates the seriousness of his message he wants the listener to grasp. Bob Marley has a song dealing with racial discrimination called “War” from the album Rastaman Vibration (1976). The song heavily emphasis the overall issue that has to with racism and achieving peace in society. Bob Marley mainly focuses on the lyrical power that is expressed through melodic in “War”. These songs were initially made for the purpose to inform the listeners of their lifestyle through racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is a huge issue, which causes serious damage to the victims.

Unlike many other mainstream artists, Kendrick Lamar attaches great importance to the lyrics of his songs. Lamar’s song “DNA”, released last April, became a real breakthrough in the world of hip-hop music. In this song, Lamar reflects on various social issues faced by the modern African-American community of the USA. The song’s lyrics, as well as the music video, portrays the most common stereotypes and biases labeled to the African-American community. The central aim of the song is to sarcastically demonstrate the image of African-Americans as they are viewed by biased media. By the use of symbolical sarcasm and double meanings, Lamar underlines the acuteness of the race inequality that remains existing in the modern America.

After the performance, DeGeneres and Lamar had a conversation that was not hard to discern as scripted. DeGeneres points at Lamar and says, “It really is amazing that you’re from Compton, right?”, after bringing attention to the state of California’s recognition of Lamar as “a positive influence”. “Yeah,” he replies. “From Compton,” she reiterates. “You are…(proof)… that it’s possible to…more than possible, to get out, in a safe and sober way.” Lamar credits his parents, saying, “they put something in my heart to do something more than what I was raised around.” This conversation can be treated as a collaborative performance, as DeGeneres and Lamar are using their collective role of spectacle to manipulate an audience into shattering their two-dimensional view of Compton and its people. It is a step in the direction of America’s recognition of the violence that goes on in Compton, not as a disease that needs to be eradicated, but a wound that must be healed. In his song Ab-Soul’s Outro, Lamar raps, “We might not change the world, but we gon' manipulate it/I hope you participating…” The conversation will be shown on video as documentation of a performance, in one of the “rooms” created by temporary walls in Gallery 2, and an information panel in the room will suggest ways views can find out more about Kendrick Lamar and his current role in

For example when Kendrick says“And I can see power steerin', sex drive when you swerve I want that interference, it's coherent, I can hear it, that's your heartbeat, it either caught me or it called me” (Lamar 3) he means his girl is in pain from situations in her life and finds a solution in alcohol, but endrick believes his love and affection is enough to fulfill her life needs. When he raps“it’s coherent i can hear it, that's your heartbeat, it either caught me or it called me” he means that his significant other caught him in a love at first sight trance. Kendrick also uses metaphors when he raps “read slow and you'll find gold mines in these lines” he is comparing the lyrics that are so precious to him to the rare metal gold, comparing them both in personal and monetary

“The Blacker the Berry” by Kendrick Lamar was released February 9th, 2015. This incredibly racially motivated song has created controversy throughout America because it tackles racism, hypocrisy, and hatred head on. Although Stephen Best argues that the past defines the present without question, and Hartman believes that many important African American stories have been silenced due to lack of evidence, Kendrick Lamar’s song “The Blacker the Berry” complicates and adds to their arguments by introducing a certain level of hypocrisy that forces the listener to understand a much more complicated moral position than is generally allowed, perhaps an inevitable one.