Kendrick Lamar planned visually his Grammy performance accordingly to give his audience a lasting impression on his view of racial divides and police brutality. It introduce his audience in to his realm of thought, he likes to call "Kendrick" was to march out on to the stage as a chain gang with his background performers and rap his first part of his show. Clearly he approaches racial issue as a evident issue, therefore he referred to his internal bondage as like a chain gang member. This visual tie hits the heart, especially elderly members of the African American community because they have parents that have experienced, heard about it, or experienced it themselves. While bold, it also proves that Kendrick's mood might be set at taking aim at the evils of the racial tensions, referring back the days of pure cruelty. Kendrick's transitions his tactical schema into more of remembrance of the beauty rather than the bleak picture of African American history. As he goes into rapping his song "Alright" the scene is of an campfire setting, maybe referring to how slaves would gather around singing spirituals. His wisdom of pairing the song and comparing to a Negro spiritual is rather correct because "Alright" has garnered so much attention over the past year that it has become the chant for the young BLM movement. He ends it of with the picture of Compton in the middle of the continent of Africa which symbolizes that he and those that agree with his message have not forgotten who they are, and it is not possible for him and supporters of the BLM movement to back down cause the work of those that have paved the way for the present generation will not go in vain.
I completely agree with your last sentence; it resonates with me a lot as my religion has the same torturous history, as do many religions. I agree that the Black community needs to keep their history in mind in order to motivate their future endeavors in their movement. - Gujri
ReplyDeleteThe visual elements in this song were truly effective for the message that he wanted to say. He delivers it in a way that appears to see so obvious so as to ensure that no one missed out on his message.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how you interpreted the fire at the end of his performance. I thought it was more of a reference to African Heritage and tribes originated there.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I also like the way KL incorporates a variety of styles here. He begins with an old school jazz riff, that repeats through the piece, and harkens back to late 60s Miles Davis or Coltrane. I also wonder if this multiplicity of styles is meant as a representation of the complexity of the African American identity he discusses throughout the song (explicitly in its opening).
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching Kendrick Lamar's performance because so much thought went into the visual aspect of his performance. The visuals effectively related to the message especially in the beginning of the performance when the setting was in a jail.
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