Thoughts on Kendrick Lamar's Grammy Performance

In this day and age are some things that I clearly don't understand...and the backlash for Kendrick's Grammy performance just so happens to be one of those things. I've seen and heard reactions from those that love and hate hip hop music and black culture, and I believe the reaction to his performance should be taken to heart by every Hip Hop artist today. The central idea across pop culture is that the music of today, especially in the Hip Hop genre, is supposed to be nothing more than entertainment for the people, and money machines for the record label. Contrary to this idea, Hip Hop music began as an outlet for the oppressed and misplaced youth of society with most contributors being minorities. Yes, hip hop was fun, and had plenty of uplifting party related tracks, but all the messages spoke of overcoming obstacles and enjoying life while they can.

There is nothing new about music that exist to press an idea or agenda forward. The history of gospel music, Negro spirituals, blues, and even Punk Rock all had messages of freedom, redemption, love, acceptance, and faith. Music is not new to being socially aware, politically engaging, or heavily opinionated. In this current day and age it seems that everyone overreacts to any artist in entertainment speaking on social issues. For example, during Beyoncé's Super Bowl performance (which technically wasn't hers) no one really paid her message any attention until they saw the "Formation" music video. Unlike other provocative acts such as Ted Nugent, Madonna, and U2 there was an outrage over everything she represented as an African American woman. If wholesome is what we are looking for in halftime performances, we would have never steered away from the college university bands of decades' past. Expressing a love for your culture should never come off as targeting other cultures, calling her performance "racist" is as far from the truth as a country artist from the south who has the rebel flag on the back of their guitar (especially since there is no documented history of the Black Panthers being exclusionary of others in their communities or ideals). What pains me is the younger generations take the information in parts rather than a whole, and use opinions to describe the directed messages and ideas of others. As much as the performance lacked racist undertones or prejudice it isn't the prime example of how black people behave. Not every black woman has hot sauce in her purse, uses the terms "swag" or "slay", or uses profanity to get a point across.

Now back to Kendrick, I find disappointment in the Hip Hop community for not understanding the full message or the magnitude of his performance. Along side an album that has been nothing more than a notion of encouragement for the African American community to strive and uplift, it seems like the call has fallen on deaf ears. His name resonates amongst the most popular in the game and he is yet to receive the sells and notoriety he deserves with To Pimp a Butterfly, even after being the highest rated hip hop album of all time. His platform allows him to take the route of fame, fortune, and media coverage (like Drake), but instead he chooses to unite the people, encourage peace, and give back to others through music and activism. The performance was liberating to those who waited for someone to use their talents for something less self serving, but was a disappointment to commercial listeners and confused prejudice Americans alike. I remember someone going as far as saying that the performance made the "Grammy's look ghetto" and that Kendrick had "no artistic talents". Is something ghetto because African Americans do it? Of course not. Is something not good because you don't understand it? Not at all. The willingness to be open minded and open hearted fled the scene as Kendrick puts on a performance that was original, creative, lyrical, and socially conscious only because the focus was on struggles of his community and his culture. For those who may ask "well why doesn't he say anything about black on black crime, or gang violence?" listen to "Blacker the Berry" or the entire album for that fact, or better yet, look up his shoe line and the reason behind it's creation.

The last track performed gave me chills as he raps about the tragedy of Trayvon Martin and how the devastation impacted Kendrick Lamar as a person. The passion came from a place that felt personal as he poured out his heart on the stage contrasting how action and inaction still equate to the same outcome. Yes, the songs were great, the choreography was energizing, but people seemed to completely miss the main idea. This was more than a nod to black history and a push for social justice. This performance was an attempt to get people to understand how African Americans feel as a culture and as a people, and without a doubt it was empowering.

We as a people cannot live in fear of one another, music itself is more than entertainment, people are more than the skin tone you see and the beats they vibe to. Injustice happens to us all, and we relate closer to some more than others, but we should never disregard the struggles of strangers by blaming and shaming, but instead attempt to understand. For those who are a part of their respective cultures, do more to be the change, or to spark change instead of just hoping and complaining about current issues. This performance is all the rights things we needed, some of us just weren't ready for it.