yaygiants16 reviews The Blacker The Berry by Kendrick Lamar

yaygiants16 Aside from Money Trees, this is one of my favorite Kendrick Lamar songs, and I'll explain why. Even though Black Lives Matter used Alright as their anthem, they should've chose The Blacker The Berry. Lamar's emotion pours out like it never did before, spitting lines about racial hate, and self-hate, as well. This song gets into so much deeper passion than Alright wished it could've reached. The amazing thing about The Blacker The Berry is any lyric from the song can stir up so much conversation and controversy. Let's analyze this song completely, and just for a warning, this may make you feel uncomfortable, whether you're black or white.

"Everything black, I don't want black, I want everything black, I ain't need black
Some white some black, I ain't mean black, I want everything"

In Desiigner's song Panda, he brags about having black and white cars and flashy materials. Lamar predicts that black people like Desiigner don't want [to be] black, despite buying black items.

"Six in the mornin', fire in the street, burn, baby burn, that's all I wanna see
And sometimes I get off watchin' you die in vain, it's such a shame they may call me crazy"

He's currently witnessing a protest outside in the morning that involves fire and explosions. Perhaps it's the BLM incident where they destroyed a whole city over a young black man's death. For the people who listened to the full album (To Pimp A Butterfly), notice how Lamar's Depp, auto-tuned singing represented "Lucy" (Lucifer, the devil)? Maybe he's singing from the perspective of the devil, since he usually wants to see fire and death. However, many Catholics shame him, and call him crazy.......

"They may say I suffer from schizophrenia or somethin'
But homie you made me, black don't crack my n****"

The term "Black don't crack" is used mainly by blacks, to express how they appear to age slower than whites. Some could argue that's correct. But the way he sings it in that tune could have a different context, one that is unknown.

"I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015, once I finish this, witnesses will convey just what I mean
Been feeling this way since I was 16, came to my senses, you never liked us anyway, f*** your friendship, I meant it"

Lamar boasts his hypocrisy by saying the majority of whites never truly liked black culture. Hypocrite talk! He clearly felt that way since the age of 16, so you know it's something real, and not just a mental phase teenagers typically get. He is saying this so critics, like me, can interpret him fully. What I'm getting out of The Blacker The Berry is anger, resentment, depression, and, of course, hypocrisy. I find Lamar trapped in a tight place, to where he has to let his emotions flow out, no matter how mean they may sound. While he is trapped in that place, he encounters evil, as I mentioned before. This is pushing him back from becoming the opposite of a stereotypical black man, like President Obama. That is road he wants to drive down. The Blacker The Berry gives the impression that there is no answers, just questions ("So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the streets, when gang-banging make me kill a n**** blacker than me?"). Alright, I would review the song's entirety, but I'm trying to keep below 1,000 words. So I will leave saying this: The Blacker The Berry is tight, and has one of the most embracing messages of 2015. To read the rest, here's the link: http://genius.com/Kendrick-lamar-the-blacker-the-berry-lyrics

Comments

I did say I would analyze the song completely, didn't I? Ahh, I'm going to have to make a Pt 2. - yaygiants16