Michael Mendoza
Professor Alvarez
English 105
17 April 2015
What Really Is In the Berry? Most people today like to think that the music of this generation has no meaning to it. That is wrong. Music in all genres has a deeper more meaningful meaning to it if you just scrape off its first layer and go deeper into the music. People listen to music every day in their lives to keep themselves entertained or to relate to the type of mood they are in. But how many times have you tried to analyze a song to gather the real meaning the author is trying to portray? Kendrick Lamar has always manufactured rhetorically powerful songs. From the self-loving anthem “I” to the story of coming from a crime infested city “Compton”. His music has audiences examining the outside world and themselves more and more often. On his new album, he releases a song with the most powerful meaning named “The Blacker The Berry”. The purpose of his argument being made in this song is to reach out to the readers and express the ideas against racism in our society while expressing equality for the African American race. Racism is still very present in our world today and cannot be avoided. That is what Kendrick Lamar is trying to convey in this song to all its listeners. He wants you to see his side of racism and how much hatred he has gone through just for being African American. I agree with him on all aspects that people should not be hated towards for just being African American. When this song was written, the controversial police shootings of unarmed black men were in full effect. The whole African American community was angered and in utter disappointment over the wrong doing of those innocent black men that were shot and killed. The African American people and other people fighting against injustices in society made their voices and feelings be heard all throughout the world to show support for their cause. Many people expressed their anger of the killing of Travon Martin and Michael Brown, two unarmed black men killed by police officers, by starting violent riots and looting local stores of goods. On the other hand, Kendrick Lamar expresses his anger though his music. Throughout the song, his lyrics show his displeasure with society today. He holds no constraints back and says “You never liked us anyway, fuck your friendship, I meant it” (19) which he is aiming towards past and present anti-African Americans and saying that he does not want society’s remorse for what has happened. He wanted to empower the black community to bring justice to the wrong doings going on during the time of the creation of the song. He wants to inform the people of the view of a black man in a white ruled society. He has never been the type of artist that tries to appeal to the popular demand. Kendrick makes music relating to the events that are happening all around him. It may be directed towards the African American community to empower them in their everyday lives, but his strong message being brought forth can appeal to anyone willing to listen his music. Kendrick Lamar’s authority is not only in the rap industry, but also in the whole music industry. His ethos is reinforced by his celebrity status. People are more interested in what Kendrick has to say instead of a regular person out in the streets. People perceive celebrities to be above the average person, so they are more likely to follow them in their ideals. His stance is very credible because of the hundreds of years of the African American community looks upon as to be an inferior community. “Been feeling this way since I was 16, came to my senses”, he is stating how ever since he was a young boy, he has felt the hatred towards him and other fellow African Americans. Kendrick Lamar makes the very important point of the troubles facing African Americans and America. For being one of the music industry’s most well-known artists, he is also one of the industry’s smartest artists. Kendrick Lamar’s logos