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The Blacker The Berry Analysis

1110 Words5 Pages

A few years ago, I turned on the radio and a very catchy song started to play. I did not bother to recite the lyrics nor analyze it. It was just very catchy and I felt ecstatic to the tune. People I knew that liked the song did not really care for the meaning of it since the beat sounded cool and the use of explicit lyrics made it even more appealing. It wasn’t until years later when I realized that the same exact song titled “The Blacker The Berry” by Kendrick Lamar had a deeper meaning behind the loud beats. For quite some time, he has been making songs of the same lyrical meaning and I finally figured that he had been trying to put the message out to his fans and listeners for a while now. My new way of appreciating music now has a higher standard because I often tend to analyze lyrics to see if …show more content…

During the Ronald Reagan presidential era, there was a large surge of crack cocaine being distributed around South Central Los Angeles. The influx created an exposure to these “affordable” drugs and almost anyone could easily get their hands on them. Crack, in particular, can make a sane person go mad overnight and it did not help that many were mixing the substance with Marijuana. With highly addictive substances flowing through the streets, many younger individuals were exposed by either making a profit with a local gang or consuming the substance. What made matters worse is when the neighborhoods became extremely territorial between rival gangs. Events that took place in those neighborhoods resulted in hundreds, if not, more deaths inside of these areas. Murder and drug trafficking became frequent regardless of President Reagan’s infamous war on drugs campaign. Another line in Lamar’s song states, “You sabotage my community, makin' a

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