Introduction
Popular music, and rap music in particular, has always played a major role in addressing social and economic issues of the mankind. Many rap songs were written with the idea of reflecting topical problems and making people think over the ways to resolve them. Kendrick Lamar’s music has stood apart from most modern rap artists, who read about fame, money and women. Lamar’s songs, accompanied by well-chosen music, have raised such issues as the pursuit of one’s dream, life in the ghetto and racial discrimination. Written in response to racial prejudices many Afro-Americans have faced, Lamar’s music has been instrumental in dissipating these prejudices and fostering reconsideration of many racial issues. This essay hypothesizes that Lamar’s music has conducted to a significant progress in abolishing racism by cultivating tolerant and sympathetic attitude in the society towards Afro-American population.
Musical Discourse and its Participants
Any music is a discourse where the singer impresses his or her ideas on the audience by choosing memorable rhymes and musical accompaniment. The participants of this discourse – the singer, the musicians and the audience – are involved in the exchange of ideas conveyed in songs on the part on the singer and in the audience’s response. Rap as a musical trend allows singers more room for self-expression as rappers can read a lot more text that can usually be sung in a traditional way. This peculiarity makes rap more influential in conveying ideas and thoughts to the audience.
The power dynamics is inherent in the relationship between musicians, the music industry, and listeners. The music industry is where trends develop; rap is usually associated with a wide range of topics covered and a flow – the presentation, the very manner of rap performance, the style of reading. It is a fusion of intonation component, such as voice, semantic accents, and pauses, and music that includes rhythm and tempo. The flow of each rapper is unique, and it can also change from track to track: the more diverse and multifaceted the flow is, the more interesting it is to listen to the artist.
Musicians’ task is this relationship is to call the audience’s attention to social and economic problems, offering a unique vision of the ways how these problems can be resolved. Lamar in his songs has repeatedly read about the difficult life of Afro-Americans, vividly portraying their pain at the unjust treatment and complex choices they face (Arroyo). The musician makes each track and performance similar to a confession and exposes the soul to the audience. In combination with the narrative, this creates a mind-blowing effect, thanks to which Kendrick can be called not just a performer, but a herald of modernity. Lamar’s songs create a power balance shift from rap music that outlines racial problems to the audience who absorb these ideas and execute their new vision in real life. Thus, many of his ideas about racism and Afro-American culture have found ways in the hearts of people, due to which the attitude to Afro-Americans and the perception of this population group began to change.
Kendrick Lamar: A Voice of Afro-American Movement
Born and raised in Kapton– a small town in California infamous for its poverty and high crime rate – Lamar as an Afro-American has experienced all the difficulties his race has faced. Inspired by the legendary 2Pac rapper “California love”, Lamar has become a strong advocate of Afro-American culture and heritage, exposing the naked underside of racial prejudices that have reigned in the society (Driscoll et al., 2019). In his tracks he depicts the desperate living conditions of Afro-Americans, criminal activities that abound in black districts and absence of governmental support for many families.
In his songs, Lamar has repeatedly called the audience’s attention to police’s brutality toward Afro-Americans. During his concerts, Lamar gives way to anger and rage at the deaths of Afro-Americans at the hands of the police, igniting the audience with the injustice of the state of things. One of Lamar’s songs – “Alright”– has become a symbol of Black Lives Matter movement. The song portrays the struggle of Afro-Americans against oppression, depicting their pain and bravery; despite all the difficulties Afro-Americans endure, the song is seen as a herald of hope that claims that everything will be ‘all right’ (Carnes, 2020). McKinney says that ““Alright” has been widely accepted as one of this generation’s most important protest anthems” (McKinney, para 5, 2020). Sung at the demonstrations and perceived as a symbol of struggle, the song has paved the for the reconsideration of many racial issues.
Another topic widely covered in Lamar’s songs is that of institutional racism and political decisions that may lead to it. Few other rappers can boast such a depth and diversity of material as to read about the impact of political decisions, and speak of presidents and their consideration of racial issues. Lewis (para 10, 2021) says that Lamar portrays “institutional racism as slavery” showing in his songs the outrage and anger of Afro-Americans when they have to deal with governmental institutions hostile to them.
Lamar depicts the punitive culture adopted through centuries to arrest Afro-Americans on the slightest pretexts, while the policemen, even if they kill Afro-Americans, do not get the punishment such acts deserve. Though Lamar’s politics aren’t ideal, “making the effort matters to him” (Lewis, para 11, 2021). Moreover, Lamar closely follows Afro-American political thought in the country. As Lewis says, “Kendrick’s varied viewpoints in the years since he’s been elevated into a generational voice reflect the mercurial fluctuations of a heated debate in a black barbershop” (Lewis, para 11, 2021). Thus, voicing his concern with the political decisions in relation to Afro-American movement, Lamar makes his contribution to the fight against racism across the USA.
“The Blacker The Berry”: A Hymn to Afro-American Identity
Lamar’s song “The Blacker The Berry” is perhaps the best embodiment of his pro-African American position. To the accompaniment of the gloomy and hard beat, which is a modern cross between the classic beat and the West coast hip-hop of the 90s, Kendrick pours out all his outrage against racial prejudices. The character of his verses is a collective image of a frustrated and desperate Afro-American citizen who is tired of being silent and challenges the injustice done to his fellow men (Moore, 2020). Lamar claims that America is still reaping the fruits of a system that was based on segregation and discrimination of certain segments of the population half a century ago.
The song is full of images, metaphors, and allegories carefully arranged throughout the text. Kendrick begins each verse with the phrase, “I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015” and warns that the true meaning of these words can be understood only after listening the song to the end (The Blacker the Berry – Kendrick Lamar & National Symphony Orchestra, 2015). In fact, the first two verses lay down the foundation for one of the Lamar’s strongest statements. Lamar carefully selects stereotypes about African Americans and makes an unexpected move, turning them in his favor. “I’m a proud monkey” he says, challenging all those who are use offensive racial cliches (The Blacker the Berry – Kendrick Lamar & National Symphony Orchestra, 2015). He admits that Afro-Americans have big noses and many of them live in poverty, but, notwithstanding that, he is proud of his race. In this regard, “Blacker The Berry” is a real anthem of a black man and a manifesto against racism. Kendrick says how important it is to love oneself in spite of cliches and stereotypes, and not allow others to use hatred to destroy the culture to which one belongs.
The refrain “The blacker the berry the sweeter the juice” perfectly complements this concept (The Blacker the Berry – Kendrick Lamar & National Symphony Orchestra, 2015). Kendrick wittily refers to Wallace Thurman’s novel “The Blacker The Berry: A Novel of Negro Life”, an important work of the Harlem Renaissance. And if in the original this phrase served to create a positive perception of black skin color, here the rapper remakes it to fit modern realities. “The blacker the berry the bigger I shoot”– is a perfect illustration of the stereotype that blacks often carry guns and are criminals (The Blacker the Berry – Kendrick Lamar & National Symphony Orchestra, 2015). And in the context of racial profiling and violence by white police officers, these words become even more relevant. Lamar draws parallels between the enslaved past of African Americans and the current state of affairs, referring to the fact that they achieved everything in spite of the previously dominant superiority of the white race.
The dynamics of the song is loud and powerful with a crescendo closer to the end of the song. The pace of the song is medium at the beginning and speeds up as the song progresses to portray the suffering of Afro-Americans and bring the message home to the reader. The instruments used are strings and percussion, among which are drums and guitars; layered beats are quite pronounced in the song. The melody first travels up till it reaches crescendo; and after then quickly diminishes. The texture of the song is polyphonic where words are pronounced to the accompaniment of music but do not exactly follow it; the timber is very good. Brassy and hollow instruments create echo and reverb effect of the music. Lamar’s voice, clear at the beginning, turns to raspy and throaty as the song progresses to portray his own deep emotional involvement with the situation he describes.
Conclusion
Kendrick Lamar is one of the outstanding musicians of the 21st century, whose original manner of performance and perception of current events allow him to create really special music. In his songs, Lamar raises a painful and still relevant topic for the black population of the country – racism and racial prejudices. Vividly portraying the pictures of the police’s arbitrariness and Afro-American ghettos, the singer calls the audience’s attention to this problem. Lamar has become an icon of Black Lives Matter Movement for his active role in promoting Afro-Americans’ rights. Being proud of his roots and Afro-American heritage Lamar says that people should not strive to become someone else to fit the stereotypes, but must unite to fight prejudices and labels.
References
Arroyo, Karla. “What’s Kendrick Lamar cooking up? 5 times his songs addressed BLM”. CultureHub. Web.
Carnes, Aaron. September 8, 2020. “How Kendrick Lamar Became a Muse of the Black Lives Matter Movement”. Goodtimes, Web.
Driscoll, Christopher M., Monica R. Miller, and Anthony B. 2019. Pinn, eds. Kendrick Lamar and the Making of Black Meaning. Routledge.
Lewis M. M. “Why Kendrick Lamar is the Most Political Rapper in Modern-Day Pop Culture”. Literary Hub, Web.
McKinney, Jessica. “The History of Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” as a Protest Song Danhof, Clarence, Complex. Web.
Moore, Marcus J. 2020. The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America. Simon and Schuster.
Discography
“The Blacker the Berry – Kendrick Lamar & National Symphony Orchestra”. YouTube. Web.
“Kendrick Lamar – Alright”. YouTube. Web.