Analysis Of To Pimp A Butterfly By Kendrick Lamar

In the essay, “Hip-Hop’s Betrayal Of Black Women”(221), by Jennifer McLune, she vents her feelings regarding hip-hop songs that are rhythmically diminishing the value of black women. She provides example on how the lyrics are being voiced and how hip-hop artists do not seem to care. Kevin Powell in “Notes of a Hip Hop Head” writes, “Indeed, like rock and roll, hip-hop sometimes makes you think we men don’t like women much at all, except to objectify them as trophy pieces or, as contemporary vernacular mandates, as baby mommas, chicken heads, or bitches” (221). There have been apologizes for what the rappers have said but nothing to resolve the dehumanization of black women. McLune informs the readers that hip-hop singers belittle black women and make them invisible. Jay-Z, a popular hip-hop artist is brought to center stage by McLune. The essay shows the example of a part of Jay-Z song that says, “I pimp hard on a trick, look Fuck if your leg broke bitch hop on your good foot” (222). This lyric is a perfect example of how hip-hop artist have no remorse in the words they sing. The hurt feelings and loss of self-esteem black women suffer, is of no concern to the rappers. McLune expresses that those who are underground hip-hop artist follow the footsteps on being sexist and using crude words in their lyrics just because they yearn and dream of being in the spotlight. Upcoming rappers want to be loved like Jay-Z and other famous notorious rappers.

Ludacris does a remarkable job of portraying his message about the struggles that some adolescents are faced with. “Runaway Love”, by Ludacris, featuring Mary J. Blige (2007), represents the theme of struggle through hip-hop and rap music. It is about little girls who are “stuck up in the world on their own.” They have to take care of themselves because the people they are around do not care about them. They range from nine to eleven years in age, and their goal in life, at such a young age, is to run away from home. Ludacris is trying to get the listener to realize the struggles that even children have to face because adults are not the only ones who have problems, like most people believe. He is very successful in

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.

The case I chose to write about is Pharrell Williams hit 2014 "Happy". The song was released in 2013 and has accumulated over 46 million views on YouTube since then and has won various awards and nominations as well as appearing in the popular animated movie Despicable Me 2. Although the case as of now has not been taken to court, the track’s rhythm sounds oddly familiar to a song written by Marvin Gaye in 1965 titled “Ain’t That Peculiar”. The family of Gaye has had previous issues with Pharrell and other popular artist plagiarizing as well. In 2013 the family sued artist Robin Thicke and Williams for their song “Blurred Lines” on the grounds of copyright infringement for sounding almost exactly like Gaye’s song “Got To Give It Up”. Early

“Wouldn't you know, We been hurt, been down before. When our pride was low, lookin' at the world like "Where do we go?". And we hate "Po-Po," wanna kill us dead in the street fo sho… but we gon' be alright” (Lamar). Even Kendrick states how the black community is taught to hate the Police. Kendrick knows that this has been going on since the beginning of time.

Intro: Kendrick Lamar Duckworth's work is the product of his life experiences. Through his personal life and the constant pain and pleasure discussing personal struggles and triumphs, Lamar was able to rise above the expectations of failure through his music, a product of the ghetto where his heroes are the musicians who escaped. Thoughtful details about Compton childhood baby born in poverty, gang war, and the crack epidemic where there can be a different path. Lamar's music reaching out, narratives on how he didn't give up. His work demonstrates the struggles black people faced in the past as well as today in regards to racism, discrimination, and police violence.

In my opinion, Kendrick Lamar, an award-winning rapper and songwriter, has one of the best abilities to describe his distressed and abused lifestyle in Compton, California. He is not your original cliché artist who does not speak about anything meaningful. Kendrick, also known as K. Dot, is one of the most well known and most respected rappers in this era. Not only does he speak about his gloomy past, but he also speaks about his fortunate future. His ability to give detailed representations of his struggles and his story telling allows me to, metaphorically, enter the mind of Kendrick Lamar.

The newscast interjecting Kendrick saying “ this is why I say Hip Hop is damaging young African Americans” is an argument against rap music and the culture it instills. Kendrick then shows he against this by saying he rather die than to listen to what critics people have to say. He then poses a rhetorical question to his critics saying “tell me something” “you m* can’t tell me nothing” saying they can’t judge what he does unless they been in his shoes. Loyalty and Royalty in his DNA can be connected to Kendrick being loyal to his people . Ultimately, DNA summarizes what it means to be an African American in the culture today no matter what part of the

‘I make money moves,’ Cardi says in her song Bodak Yellow. Welp, not everyone agrees that this song made all of the money moves that it could have. Social media, as it does, began criticizing the artist, Cardi B, for not securing an endorsement from Christian Louboutin before giving them so much love in her song. Here are a few things about this. Many artists shot out brands that they love simply because they love them.

The song “Streets of New York,” sung by Kool G Rap, fits into the three-step process of Blues and talks about the social issues for African Americans during the 1980s. In Understanding Black American Aspects in Hip-Hop Cinema, the Blues music “appeared after the Civil War and reconstruction. Its presence coincides with a time of broken promises of citizenship and with lynching, hangings and burning of Black people by white mobs (Page 4, Sanchez).” This song was created to make people aware of injustices and accept the fact that these problems were happening in the black community in the Bronx. Some of the social issues he talks about include people devoting themselves to drugs, domestic abuse at his apartment complex, gambling, and crooked

Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics are often blunt, explicit and harsh, that’s what we know him for - but in the second single “The Blacker the Berry” of his album “To Pimp a Butterfly”, he’s even more aggressive than he use to be. While being a masterpiece of a political statement, “The Blacker the Berry” is most of all a rant at 2 communities - the white community and the narrator’s own, the black community. The narrator shows a lot of black pride by shouting an influential African-american guy in Michael Jordan out, but he also discusses what he thinks is double standards within the US society.

In Kendrick Lamar’s “Poetic Justice” he discusses the importance of self love and the love he has for another being. Kendrick also discusses the relevance of communication in relationships, specifically the importance of him how he feels throughout his song work and art. A repetitive theme is confessing a love for a certain female, both Drake and Kendrick express how they feel attracted to their romantic partners throughout their respective verses in “Poetic Justice”. The focal point of Kendrick Lamar's “Poetic Justice” is that communication saves relationships when problems arise and that his artwork helps him speak to and show love for his significant other. Kendrick Lamar grew up in southside Los Angeles California, his father was a member of the street gang “Gangsters Disciples” and Kendrick himself has connection to the “Bloods” street gang.

“To Pimp a Butterfly” initially received very mixed reviews. Some called it overwhelming and harsh. Others labeled it as on of the most innovative and refreshing rap albums in years. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph called the album a "bravura masterpiece," describing it as "dense, intricate … a poetic narrative built around a long dark night of the soul." The general populous greatly enjoyed the album, as it sold over one million copies. It also reached #1 on the Billboard Top 100 albums. In addition to being successfully marketed, “To Pimp a Butterfly” won numerous awards and accolades, including the Grammy for Rap Album of the Year. He also received his second nomination for Album of the Year, but lost to Taylor Swift’s “1989.” But some critiques did not believe that “To Pimp a Butterfly” deserved such high praise. Clover Hope of The Muse claimed that the album was overwhelmingly black. Although she greatly enjoyed the album, she was left with a deeper impression she has yet to figure out. “This is a special album, and that won 't change. But I already need a break from it. I gotta get away from it. Its blackness is way too vast,” she said in her review. Others have felt similarly, claiming that his political message is overbearing at times. It’s easy to see how these critiques could make these arguments. From start to finish, “To Pimp a Butterfly” deals with struggles faced by many African Americans. In almost every song of the album, Kendrick raps about police

On February 15, 2016, Kendrick Lamar took the stage at the 2016 Grammy Awards show. Shackled in chains, he moved lethargically across the stage in a prison uniform. Words began to stream out of his mouth and I imagined the elephant that filled the room as an unapologetically black male made a statement to the world about African American oppression in the United States. Kendrick Lamar’s showcase included an intricate set that addressed social issues such as mass incarceration with song, “The Blacker the Berry”, while keeping hope towards better days with song “Alright”. The elaborate performance on February 15, 2016 would be a performance that will go down in history. An artist used his platform to discuss important issues in the United States to a diverse audience. With so much passion invested into the song, it was almost impossible to pick any other song besides “The Blacker the Berry”, as it discusses a wide range of issues within the United States, especially related to the black body.

To begin I’d like to mention that I love Kendrick Lamar; to me he is a lyrical genius especially in an era where rap has changed to an even more violent tone. Most people could all agree that he is the most stimulating and uplifting rapper for this current generation. Hip-hop seemed to need Kendrick Lamar and as we can tell his positive influence is spreading across the nation as he recently won a Grammy topping even more known rappers such as drake. In this day and age most successful rappers make a living and fan base off of negative and criminal action. Despite that Kendrick Lamar tries to spread positivity in his music and motivation for people who aren’t living the in the happiest of moments. This was