It was a hot summer night. I was in my room listening to music to clear my thoughts. I was on Pandora, and I came upon a song that was called “Poetic Justice”. I really liked the song so I went on You-Tube and started to listen to more of his songs. Also my older brother likes his music too so that's one thing my brother and I have in common. Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born on June-17-1987 (age 28), and was born in Chicago. Then he moved to Compton California. After he started to write stories as a child he added some lyrics about the rough streets he grew up in. At the age of 16 he dropped a mix-tape called “Youngest Head Nigga In Charge,” that drew a lot of attention in his Native Southern California community. He’s also a christian. His top 5 favorite artist are Tupac Shakur, Jay z, Notorious B.I.G, and Eminem. Also Tupac has not only affected him as a rapper, but he impacted him on an everyday way of life. His album To Pimp A Butterfly is about life as an African American person, and also how Compton shaped him into the person he is today. Kendrick Lamar uses allusion throughout the song to convey the message that people should get/have justice for past racial injustice.
By using allusion. Kendrick helps the listeners understand that you should not let society become racist, and that browns and blacks will be alright. In the third verse Kendrick uses “Behind my side we looking at you from the face down,” in this line. Kendrick Lamar alludes to “Behind my side we looking at you from the face down,” which means to the countless killings of black,brown people by police officers.The killings he's referring to are to the previous killings that the police did in the past.(ex. Trayvon Martin,Alex Nieto, Mike Brown,etc) This reveals the theme that people should get justice for past racial injustice, by the government, and that their not doing anything to change the problem.
He uses allusion again. Kendrick says “What do you want, a house,or a car 40 acres and a mule.”(verse 7 in the song “Alright”) Which is about that the government did not hold up to their promises and also about former enslaved African Americans freedman. This reveals the theme that people should get justice for past racial injustice, because the government did not hold up to their promises. For example, it's like the government was going to do something but they didn't. Also that history is going to repeat itself again. Its really sad to think that we still have discrimination in our society to be honest.
The greatest significant strength of “Alright” would be the music video, which deliberately combines the verse with tragic visuals. For example Kendrick relies on heavy symbolism-police killing blacks and browns, police officers, cop cars, and also Compton the streets he grew up in to tell his overall message. One specific image is the police cars, and officers are shown killing innocent black individuals. In the video the police cars and officers shows about police brutality is still going on in our society,also that their is still discrimination. The visual presentation left me thinking that history is repeating. Also to keep calm,because as a black,brown individuals that we will fight together to end discrimination, and we will be alright. This strengthens the song,because it shows how police are messed up, and that their supposed to make us feel safe, but they're killing us slowly one by one. While the song has a power-full message, I am troubled by the way Kendrick he used the shot, by how a random boy got shot in the beginning of the video, then at the end he gets shot. I think they should've made it clear to what that part meant to make the song better.
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