Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, commonly know as Kendrick Lamar, is an African-American songwriter and rapper who often writes about issues surrounding racism in America. I decided to write about him because he’s one of few rappers today that use their fame to spread awareness about pressing issues in their country and actually rap about real problems in the world. I truly believe that people should be seen as equals as I don’t really understand why external features such as the colour of someones skin should determine how they’re treated. The work that he has produced and published has really opened a lot of people’s eyes to these issues which, in my opinion, is very admirable. Lamar was born in a rough neighbourhood in Compton, California on June 17, 1987 where his family moved from Chicago to avoid the city’s gang violence. When he was eight years old, he idolized rappers Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre and …show more content…
He states “What happened to [Michael Brown] should’ve never happened. Never. But when we don’t have respect for ourselves, how do we expect them to respect us?” (Lynch). His music video for his song “Alright” from his most recent album got a lot of attention since it was filmed in the neighbourhood he grew up in and revolves around young black men trying not to get shot by police officers. The song is now known of one of the official songs of the Black Lives Matter movement and many news outlets including BET have declared it to be the official modern day Black National Anthem. He also wrote a song entitled “The Blacker the Berry” which addresses the issue of racial profiling (Lewis). He publicly denounces racist policing by prompting his millions of listeners to examine political issues. “I try to use my music and popularity as a medium for the voices of the oppressed to be heard” he stated in an interview (Lynch)