The Blacker The Berry Analysis

Trayvon Martin’s death in 2010 sent shock waves throughout the black community. The circumstances of his death enraged Americans that were tired of mourning unnecessary deaths caused by racism. Trayvon Martin’s passing was so painful that musicians of many different races, backgrounds, and music genres all created songs regarding Martin. His death sparked a revolution that demanded justice for Trayvon and equality for all African Americans. In the song, “The Blacker the Berry”, artist Kendrick Lamar angrily addresses his view of racism in America. The song covers the subject of race relations in America, but most importantly it addresses Lamar’s experience and feelings about Martin’s death. For many artists, albums consist of fluffy songs about romance and relationships. Very few songs contain actual substance. However, for Kendrick Lamar, songs questioning and exploring societal issues compose most of his albums. Lamar seems comfortable discussing really complicated and difficult feelings. Some of that might be attributed to a difficult upbringing in the city of Compton. Lamar’s parents moved from

The lyrics are clear and precise. When Kendrick Lamar raps he is angry and passionate in this song. It is apparent that Lamar thinks that racism is an another issue neglected by the media in the lyrics, “I mean, it's evident that I'm irrelevant to society” Lamar addresses black stereotypes, overcoming poverty, institutionalized racism, and most his own conflicted feelings. Throughout the whole song, Lamar says he is the biggest hypocrite of 2015. At the very end of the song Lamar reveals what he means in, undoubtedly, the most controversial lyrics he wrote, “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street when gang banging make me kill a n**** blacker than me?” This line expresses Lamar’s feelings about himself, Trayvon Martin’s death, and the reason he wrote this song in twenty-three short