From Kendrick's Introduction To Annotated In DAMN'

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.

As the title of the paper suggests, I chose Kendrick Lamar’s song “Blacker the Berry” off the To Pimp A Butterfly album. When selecting a song, I actually took to Twitter to ask my followers what song I should write about. I personally do not listen to Kendrick Lamar so I decided to ask people who enjoy his music to recommend songs that an analysis should be written over. Several people mentioned “Blacker The Berry”. Although I did not hear the many rhymes and metaphors at first, after reading the lyrics along with listening to the song I was quick to realize how creative, witty and almost unintentional the rapping’s of Kendrick Lamar are. Another reason I decided on this song is because he raps about current violence of high profile crimes

The hip-hop genre has set standards and norms for rap throughout its development. Eminem’s “The Way I Am” and Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” are examples of well-known rap songs written by authentic rappers. These songs conform to the conventions set for rap with their structure and literary devices and deviate from the conventions with their approach toward establishing their credibility in an original and effective manner.

Cobb, Michael D., and William A. Boettcher. “Ambivalent Sexism and Misogynistic Rap Music: Does Exposure to Eminem Increase Sexism?” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, vol. 37, no. 12, 20 Nov. 2007, pp. 3025–3042., doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00292.x.

Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” sheds light on the struggle of achieving rich and fame and the trials that come with. Rolling Stone and Billboard praised the album awarding it the best album of 2015. The album depicts the difficulties of fame by putting the trials and tribulations on display; the inability for those to adjust to their new lifestyle and the potential temptations that creep in. “To Pimp a Butterfly” has been both a divisive and uniting factor in its emergence in popular culture.

In the 2015 kendrick Lamar song “u”. Kendrick describes the feelings that constantly haunt his heart and the guilt he carries everyday. Reflecting on his darkest moments, lingering pain and the details of his depression. The song “u” by kendrick uses literary tools like Soliloquy and Conflict to show how built up guilt leads to his prolonged depression.

The title alone tells the listener that there is hope for the future. The chorus states “N***a we gon’ be alright, we gon’ be alright, we gon’ be alright, do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon’ be alright,” which further reiterates that there is hope and for Black people. In these lines Kendrick Lamar is referring “we” to black people in society. Another essential line that blatantly tells the political message for this song is “if god got us, then we gon’ be alright.” This line references God, and many black people believe in God and that he is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. God is used as a reassurance to the black people that despite problems, violence, and tragedies faced there is hope. Not only was Kendrick’s feelings of hope displayed in his lyrics, but they were also portrayed in the video through numerous scenes. Beginning scenes were in black and white, and probably the most influential scene was Kendrick in a car with four police officers carrying the car acting as tires; which was glimpse of reversed roles of mainstream society. Every line to this song was a reference to a problem faced by black people in modern society, and every minute of the video had a reference to problems of the past and present faced by black

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 begins to show more depth to his seventeen year old persona, as he ponders the choice between seeking salvation or succumbing to the vices of the street. It is clear to him that getting money through illegal means easy way out, but he is unsure of what other opportunities he actually has. K.Dot shows a great sense of self-awareness in this song, when he recognizes that he desires money, because it is the lifestyle portrayed in the rap music that he listens to. While driving, Kendrick thinks to himself about the possibility of living this

Kendrick lamar’s award winning music video for his 2017 single Element shows the many experiences he faced growing up as a black man. The various symbols broadcasted throughout this music video show specific conflicts and struggle that he has dealt with throughout his life and also allowed black man that have been in his position something to relate to. He teamed up with director/photographer Jonas Lindstroem to help him convey his message but in a unique and creative way. The slow moving scenes show a softer depiction of his encounters. They give a sense of understanding which allows the viewer to be able to comprehend and absorb his message. As a whole, it was a collection of the pain, beauty, peace and violence that exists within his “element”.

In “Alright” Kendrick Lamar is speaking to the public about police brutality, or is he sending a deeper message to the people of minority. Kendrick Lamar released the song titled “Alright” in 2015. Upon release the song instantly blew up. It 's catchy and even though people got tongue tied trying to recite the song everyone knew the hook of the song which stated “We gon be alright do you hear me do you feel me we gon be alright.” I wonder did anyone catch the poetic verses Kendrick was saying before the hook. By simply watching the video you instantly think oh police brutality but I recieved a deeper message. I believe Kendrick wanted the song to inform the public about the brutality that seemed to be continuous at the time; and offer a bit of hope to those who didn’t feel there was any. That’s why the song was so famous, Kendrick performed this song on numerous award shows and talk shows because the people needed to hear it. Though some believe the song is in protest against cops or sending a bad message others believe it is an anthem for african americans.

“Momma” references when Kendrick returns home to Compton. The final track, “Mortal Man”, ties the messages and themes of the album together. After the initial song fades out, he reads the full poem that is read throughout the album in excerpts. At the end he addresses it to Tupac. The song samples an interview from when he was still alive in order to make it seem like Kendrick and Tupac are having a conversation.

Additionally, critics took note of Lamar's verse on the song "Control," by rapper Big Sean. Even though the track was written by another artist, Lamar's verse drew attention because of his challenge to several other popular names in the hip-hop world, including Drake, J. Cole and Big Sean himself. One interesting fact about Kendrick is he became an American rapper and songwriter. The good thing is that Kendrick faced the violence like a real mature kid. Not like those kinds of those kids who are under pressure quickly. So that’s mostly about Kendrick Lamar’s

Some believe that K. Dot received inspiration by a poem created by a well-known rapper, Tupac Shakur. Which it does makes sense because both the lyrics and poem have the same concept. The poem, like the song, dwell on the fact that love and personal desires are complex, intangible, and is a great struggle. Kendrick accomplishes this in a manner where a name does not have to be mentioned. This is pure genius.

He does so in several ways. The first, is that hip-hop fans immediately recognize the name “Kendrick Lamar” due to his major influence on rap over the last decade, so just by putting his name on the song, he has already established credibility withhis audience. There is also a great deal of ethos used in the song itself. This song is written from Lamar’s perspective while he’s having a conversation with another man. Since the song is written from the perspective of Kendrick Lamar, the audience gets to hear all of his inner thoughts and feelings. This helps Lamar establish even more credibility with his audience,because not only is his name on the song, but the audience experiences everything from Kendrick’s own perspective, making the message of the song seem more heart-felt. In otherwords, since Kendrick is speaking from his own perspective, the audience is led to think thatLamar truly believes the message he is delivering, and therefore dismisses any speculation that Lamar either didn’t write his own lyrics or doesn’t believe in the purpose and message of the song. Establishing credibility with the audience was crucial because it helped to enhance the overall message as well as strengthen the other rhetorical appeals used throughout the song.Kendrick Lamar has been notorious for being very open about his religion, and that aspect of his life shines bright in the lyrics of “How Much a Dollar Cost.”