Behind the Music

The song I have chosen to examine this week is “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar. The song appeared on his 3rd studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly, which received high regards by critics. I’ll most likely reference another one of the songs on the album within the next couple weeks. It is full with great meaningful lyrics.

The song begins by Kendrick saying that all his life he’s had to fight through hard times. He says that his life is tough and the listener’s life might be tough too but it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day God will make sure that they are alright.

Kendrick talks about he knows that he is only valued because of his talent and the money he brings in. He knows that if he were just any other African American on the street he would be just as susceptible to discrimination and brutality by police. He says his life if different because of his fame. Though he uses drugs and has many sexual relations, these aren’t what he pursues in life. He wants to gain money and make his name go down in history. He says that he knows his mother would not be proud of his actions but he knows that karma will come around to him. When it does he will accept the consequences but make sure that his friends don’t suffer for his mistakes.

Kendrick then goes on to talk about how the African American community has struggled throughout the years. During the slavery era they were taken from their homelands to the other side of the world and stripped of all their freedoms. Now they still face discrimination and have to constantly worry about encounters with the police that could end fatally. Even though this song was recorded over a year ago we still see instances of police using excessive force especially in encounters with men and women of color. This has caused a huge distrust of police in many of these communities. He says that at the end of the day people do what they have to and God will make sure they are alright.

His next verse talks about consumerism in America. He acknowledges that he can see all the evil around him whether it be illegal activity or the act of being a consumer but he just ignores it and continues to make money. He references his greed and how he will never be happy with the money he makes. He says that he is not a man of talk but instead of action. This causes him to progress as an artist and improve. He goes on to say that he knows his place as a black man in America and feels that if he acknowledges his good actions and his sins then god will take care of them.

A constant theme throughout the song is acknowledging the good and the bad in the world especially within yourself. He knows that he is not someone who can easily be loved which he struggles with throughout his life. Everyone wants love but even if they don’t find it, they’ll be alright.

In honor of Kanye West’s visit to Penn State I have decided to dedicate this week’s blog post to the man, the myth, the legend, Kanye West. The song I will particularly be focusing on is “New Slaves” which appeared on his album Yeezus. 

Kanye first line refers to his mother being raised in the era of segregation. He says this to give people a context of how he was raised. If your mother grew up during that time then obviously she told stories, making Kanye aware of racial disparities from a young age. When he began moving into the clothing industry everyone assumed someone else was doing the work and he was just putting his name on it. Even though it was in fact him doing most of the work on the clothes he was still constantly criticized for one thing or another. He feels as though the critics unless he went and picked the cotton that went into the clothing himself as his slave ancestors once did.

Kanye then goes on to talk about how African Americans are perceived as customers in retail. He says that there are two ways that blacks are viewed. One of them is the low income stereotype which he explains as “don’t touch anything in the store.” People see blacks and assume they can’t actually afford any merchandise so they don’t even want them touching it as they don’t see them as a potential customer. On the flip side of that, when someone sees an African American they know has money, they urge them to keep purchasing because they believe that they do not know how to handle money and will just waste it.

He then goes on to say that Blacks used to be the only slaves but now anyone in our society can be a slave no matter what ethnic background except this time they are slaves to big businesses. America especially is so centered around consumerism and we have become slaves to these corporations. Whether it be the newest Jordans, the newest iPhone, or just a tall iced caramel macchiato from Starbucks. Its always about having the newest thing or being part of the current trend. While this is all happening we are just putting more and more money into the pockets of the people in the top one percent.

Kanye talks about how people constantly criticize him for his rants and his lack of a filter but he doesn’t let the criticism get to him. He refuses to stay quiet because he sees the problems and wants everyone else to as well. He can see that race is still a major issue relevant in America and he will continue to point out the issues. He even goes on to say that he wont let whats being done to his people continue. One thing he does specifically mention is the issue of privately owned prisons. He says that the continual imprisonment of African Americans just funds the corporations that control the prisons making it the same as slavery: the white man profiting off of the imprisonment of the black man.

Whether it be as prisoners or consumers Kanye is urging everyone not to become one of the “New Slaves.”

This week I have chosen to continue to analyze Childish Gambino’s “Hold You Down.” My focus is specifically on the second verse.

Gambino begins by referring to people commonly telling him that he is different from anything they’ve ever heard before. He implies this is due to his ability to appeal to white audiences. He commonly says in his music that he was referred to as an Oreo (black on the outside, white on the inside) growing up but it now has come to his advantage because he is not seen as threatening. He is commonly seen as just a nerdy black kid (he’s 32 but still looks young) who raps. His non-threatening appearance and sound is very attractive to not only African Americans who encompass much of the hip-hop fan base but also to whites. In talking about appealing to the maximum sized audience, he says the same reason he is popular is “the same reason Will Smith always opposites latino girls.” He uses this comparison because in Hollywood they commonly attempt to not make movies “too black” by adding another ethnicity keeping away from being labeled a “black movie.” Latinos are commonly the go-to for adding diversity to a movie.

He then goes on to talk about how its really unclear if our culture is steering away from racism or not. He hints at how in mixed company people tend to be politically correct but who knows, out of that setting, how people really feel. He feels as though it will always be hard to make non-minorities understand how existent racism is to this day. Some people feel as though just because they watch shows like The Wire, they understand the lives of African Americans everywhere when really they don’t.

He goes on to tell a story of how a kid said that Gambino was not Black because he had a dad. This line really hits me every time I hear it. A large problem seen in urban and poverty-filled communities is the absence of a father figure. Now reasons for the father leaving can vary between everything from incarceration to plain negligence. Many attribute the circle of crime and poverty to the absence of a father figure in many homes but it has slowly turned into a full scale stereotype. Gambino says that even if you aren’t the best father you should still give it your best effort. He then references the fathers of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods who were known for being terrible fathers but they still helped their son achieve greatness. Imagine all the naturally amazing baseball players that are probably out in the world but never had a father to play a game of catch with. Not to say that you can’t make it without a father but as many people know, fathers typically are the ones who push the idea of sports. Gambino feels that we are all warriors but we all need senseis (fathers) to teach us how to fight in life and guide us.

Gambino then goes on to say that he is not looking to change the entire hip hop culture but instead just wants to change the way people view race.

 

 

The song I’ve chosen to analyze this week is Childish Gambino’s “Hold You Down” from his 2011 album Camp. Camp was Gambino’s first studio album and debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200. The song is hits a lot of different topics so I have decided to split the song up and analyze it over 2 two weeks starting with analyzing just the first verse.

The song begins with Gambino telling a story about how he was bullied in the 7th grade because of the clothes he wore. His family was not in the best economic situation so when he asked his mom for a new jacket she said she would get it for him on sale. Like any child, he did not want to be bullied so he went to his school’s lost and found, and took a Tommy Hilfiger Jacket that did not belong to him. He was soon disappointed when people realized that the jacket was not his so he took it off.

This story may seem like just another story about a kid trying to fit in but it says a lot about how economic struggles can play an impact on kids early in life. In this instance Gambino felt like he had to steal just to fit in. This alludes to the fact that poorer children might begin breaking rules early in life, not because they are bad people but because they feel as though they have to.

The next line is actually very important when looking at Hip-Hop as a whole. Gambino says, “Listening to ‘Sky is the Limit’ on my walkman // thinking if Biggie can make it through it, man then I can.” This line is so important because it represents what Hip-Hop was intended to be. When kids listen to older people who they look up to, and hear them talking about the same struggles they experience then it gives them the feeling that they are not alone. Many lower income children feel as though they are alone and their life is particularly bad. Hearing someone else talk about what you are going through lets you know that you are not alone. Other people have gone through the same thing and survived so it is inspiration to keep striving for better.

Gambino moves on to talk about when he was a kid how he wanted to be one of the cool but his “persona was always more of that Arthur Ashe” referring to the tennis player who was the first African American to win singles titles at Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open. He wasn’t a tennis player but he was the nerdy black kid who was around predominantly whites a lot because his parents would drive out to the suburbs to go to a better school.

This put a gap between him and his fellow African Americans in his neighborhood. When he would go to the barber shop, which is commonly a staple of the African American culture (though there are some parallels in Latino culture), he would feel as though he wasn’t “hood enough” because of his formal speech and him not going to school in his neighborhood. He then goes on to say “we all look the same to the cops, aint that good enough?” which discusses how though he may not talk the same he does face a lot of the same issues.

His last lines talk about how he feels that the black experience fails to be acknowledged which is a lot of what the Black Lives Matter movement is about: acknowledging the problems that exist. He feels as though white kids get to have a choice in life as to who they want to be whereas blacks are commonly generalized and have less ability to be individuals in society.

This is all only the first verse. How Gambino can talk about so much in so little time amazes me.

The first song I have decided to take a look at is J Cole’s “Love Yourz” from his album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which was the first rap album in 25 years to go platinum with no features. J Cole is a rapper originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina who has come to be known for his expertise in storytelling. The album was named after his childhood home and portrays his struggles growing up, moving to New York City, and his struggles with fame. Love Yourz was the second to last track on the album and focused on the importance of appreciating what you have.

The song begins with the hook which is a repetition of the line “No such thing as a life that’s better than yours.” This is Cole’s main point that within each verse he reinforces through his experiences. Cole wants the listeners to understand that money and fame aren’t everything. Through his experiences he realized that even when he was at the top of the charts and had all the money someone could possibly need, he wasn’t happy. At a point in the song he even says he thinks “being broke was better.” He says that he doesn’t mean disrespect to those struggling but as a person who was there once and experienced it all he feels as though he has figured it out. He emphasizes that no matter how much money you have, its about having the people you love close to you that really matters. You need to love and appreciate everything you have and not what you do not have.

The line “Compared to some of my niggas down the block, Man, were blessed” especially sticks out to me. The neighborhood I lived in was a rough neighborhood and I know that I have a lot more than most of people in the neighborhood so I am truly blessed. There is always someone more worse off than you so its important to appreciate what you have.

Now on a more personal note, this song released at a time when life wasn’t going the best for my family and I. My house had recently been burglarized and set aflame and my family lost a lot. I personally lost many of my clothes and a collection of sneakers that was worth a couple thousand dollars. In addition to that two of my dad’s brothers were fighting to stay alive in the hospital which really just brought down the entire vibe of my household. To top it all off I was also going through the roughest breakup I had experience yet. I began feeling like “the world must really hate me” but then I heard this song. I realized yeah maybe things haven’t been going my way for awhile but hey at least I have two parents who love me and a bright future ahead of me which isn’t something that most people can say. I think that a lot of times we tend to think about the about the bad in our lives and lose sight of how lucky we actually are. When life brings me down I just plug in my headphones and remind myself that “there is no such thing as a life that’s better than yours.”