The Blacker the Berry - Kendrick Lamar

Analysis by Bradley Robinson

Note: This song (and review) contains explicit language.



Since the release of Kendrick Lamar's album, To Pimp a Butterfly,one of the most debated tracks among black rights activists and music critics has been "The Blacker the Berry." Critiques have ranged from calling it a "misguided intention," to saying it is an introspective expression of internal strife brought on by a racist culture, from "the last line of the new Kendrick joint is the same jazz Darren Wilson supporters were spitting at protesters," to Lamar "account[s] for white outsiders' many stereotypes and transgressions against blackness; and for the abundance of self-esteem crisis within blackness itself." Certainly the song certainly leaves listeners uncomfortable, trying to sift through hard questions about institutionalized racism and it's effects. Though some have interpreted the lyrics as a misguided attempt to talk about race, at heart it is a profound song about internal strife, institutional racism, black pride and hypocrisy. In essence, it is an excellent reflection of the causes the Black Lives Matter movement are fighting for and the conflicts in identity among African-Americans that they are trying to reconcile.




Musical Elements:

From the get-go, the instrumental backing is a foreshadowing of the uncertainty to follow in the lyrics. While the song is clearly in Bb (there is a pedal in the organ), it's not clear what mode it is in. In the guitar,  the leading tone moving leading to the root. The piano (that is barely audible), is most likely derived from the Locrian mode, as it plays the repeats the first three notes of the scale throughout the whole song. The organ, though, goes up nearly all the notes of a minor scale, but which it is never is revealed because the 6th is left out.

After laying the track that will be present throughout most of the song, Lamar begins his rhythmically dynamic rap. It is scathing and powerful, and conflicted. But following his rap, some of the dark ambiance created by the instrumental back is lifted with a jazzy sound. The dirge-like church organ is replaced with the soothing sound of a Fender Rhoades, and the heavily distorted guitar disappears to be replaced by alto saxophone and background vocals. Yet even still, uncertainty is felt in the saxophone despite its simple riff.



Analysis of Lyrics:

As in many lyrical masterpieces, it pays to focus on the literary structure of the rap. Each verse begins with "I am the biggest hypocrite of 2015," but then follows with Lamar speaking of institutionalized racism and an identity struggle. Throughout each verse, there is a juxtaposition of harsh criticism towards those in power against the assertions of pride in his blackness. He says "You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture. You're fuckin' evil!" but then follows that with "I want you to recognize that I'm a proud monkey." In the second verse, he says "I mean, it's evident that I'm irrelevant to society. That's what you're telling me, penitentiary would only hire me." Later in the verse he brags about his material success and proclaims: "black and successful, this black man meant to be special" He is demonstrating that he has pride for his heritage and has overcome many obstacles, but that he still holds anger towards the continuation of institutionalized racism in America. He is recognizing, in part, that he is lucky to have found success in a society that makes it so hard for him to do so simply because of his skin color.

Yet the most hotly debated and confusing verse is the final one. As in the first two, it begins with "I am the biggest hypocrite of 2015," but Lamar has not yet revealed what he means by this. He evades this by beginning decrying (again) the pervasiveness of racism and generational hatred. He then invokes stereotypes of black pride ("So don't matter how much I say I like to preach with the Panthers ...., or celebrate February like it's my birthday, or eat watermelon, chicken and Kool-aid on weekdays...") then asks "So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street, when gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me?"

In this moment, the words "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice," transform to a disturbing description of crime, and the word "hypocrite" takes meaning. Some have interpreted this as a reaffirmation of racist iterations by Fox News hosts (and others) that distract from critiques of police brutality against the African-American community by bringing up of black-on-black crime. Yet these critics seem to miss the brutal irony in his statement: "I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015, Once I finish this, witnesses will convey just what I mean." While gang-banging is bad, the previous lyrics have conveyed that this violence has its roots in institutionalized racism with his statement "you made me a killer, emancipation of a real nigga!" When one compares his act of killing one individual (whether or not he really did this) to his description of cultural and racial genocide, it is hard to even consider that he (and those that protest violence) is the true hypocrite.



Relation to Black Lives Matter:
While the song has been critiqued by some activists for supposedly pandering to a naive sort of racism, it is an interesting window into the identity and political struggle the movement faces. There are some (a very small group by all accounts), that have called for violence against police and other that have looted in the wake of the protests. With these actions garnering attention from media outlets (especially Fox News), the message and identity of Black Lives Matter has been lost to many. While many are peacefully protesting police brutality, their motives are questioned because of the actions of a few. Just as Lamar portrays himself as a hypocrite, many see the movement as the whining of criminals. Yet when broken windows and a few acts of violence are compared to brutality against blacks and institutionalized racism, it is difficult to take those that criticize the movement as reasonable. Those that perpetuate racist stereotypes are the hypocrites, not Lamar.