Social Injustice In Kendrick Lamar's 'Alright'

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Recommended: Hip hop and race relations in America

Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed album To Pimp a Butterfly finally achieved the attention it deserved when it won the Grammy for “Album of the Year”. The album reflects on the struggles that both Lamar faces as a black artist and to the struggles of social injustice that all people of color face today. Although the provocative album cover (a group of young black men sitting on top of a dead white judge) depicts a powerful feeling of anger that is prevalent and connects it to an important justice issue, there is no better example of what Lamar’s argument is throughout the album than in the song “Alright.” Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” provides hope to the people fighting for social justice with his personal experiences, examples of racial …show more content…

Throughout the entire song, Lamar uses God and biblical references to reassure people about the current divide in the United States. His use of religious references gives people hope and helps people relate to each other. Lamar suggests that if God and religion is with you it can be a spiritual path to help people feel better, or at the least an inspirational belief that everything will be …show more content…

During the 2015 BET Awards, Lamar performed the song on top of a police car, solidifying the song’s purpose as a protest against police authority and brutality. The next day Fox 5 News aired a segment on the performance and in the editing of the video they highlighted certain lyrics such as: “We hate po-po, wanna kill us dead in the streets fo sho’; My gun might blow” leaving out other crucial lyrics and context to understanding the song. This gave the impression that maybe Lamar’s “gun” would kill a police officer, when in fact he’s talking about killing himself. One of the anchors described Lamar’s performance as “damaging to young African-Americans” and “giving exactly the wrong message.” Lamar responded to the comments in another interview by saying “Hip-Hop is not the problem. “Our reality” is the problem of the situation. This is our music.” He explains that he was rapping about “hope” not “violence.” The messages he sends through hope are within God and using God as a source of relief and belief that eventually, everything will be alright. Lamar insists in the interview that the album is about hope, and that you cannot deny that there are instances of social injustice that or that the judicial system is racially biased. But at the end of the day you cannot take away their hopes and privilege that “we gon’ be

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