Kendrick Lamar’s new song “The Blacker The Berry” has been sizzling on the Internet since its impromptu release yesterday, February 9.
Since the infamous “Control” verse, the top Top Dawg MC has subscribed to the “less-is-more” mantra, leaving fans salivating for his every step into the studio. His latest parlay with lyrical anecdotes doesn’t disappoint as he uses his dominate platform to cast a spotlight on the ugly face of racism that still permeates our nation.
Hip-Hop needed this record and here’s ten bars from “The Blacker The Berry” that needed a deeper analysis.
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Photo: Jessica Alexander/Future Image/WENN.com
Photo: Alberto Reyes/WENN.com
“So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street?/When gang banging make me kill a n***a blacker than me?/Hypocrite!”
Photo: Columbia Pictures
“Pardon my residence/Came from the bottom of mankind/My hair is nappy, my d!ck is big, my nose is round and wide”
In the days of post-slavery, White people tried to instill fear into the public by painting Black men as over-sexualized (and unsightly) predators. Today, being a Mandingo is a gaudy claim.
Photo: HBO
“Curse me ’til I’m dead/Church me with your fake prophesizing that I’ma be just another slave in my head”
The Black Church has been known to use mental warfare on the very same people it’s supposed to be saving. You can miss Kendrick with the jig.
Photo: WENN
“You hate my people, I can tell cause it’s threats when I see you/I can tell cause your ways deceitful/No I can tell because you’re in love with that Desert Eagle/Thinkin’ maliciously, he get a chain then you gone bleed him”
Slavery has evolved, even when not directly acknowledged.
Photo: Peter Maclaine/WENN.com
“You hate me don’t you?/You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture/You’re f**king evil I want you to recognize that I’m a proud monkey/You vandalize my perception but can’t take style from me”
Flipping the n-word into a term of endearment has valid arguments on both sides of the coin. Here, K Dot proves that even the ugliest of names can be used a shield to protect one’s soul.
Photo: MediaPunch/WENN.com
“I’m African-American, I’m African/I’m Black as the heart of a f**king Aryan/I’m Black as the name of Tyrone and Darius”
Dope punchline but it also alludes to a deeper look on how hatred and stereotypes run closer than given credit for.
Photo: VEVO
“I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015/When I finish this if you listenin’ then sure you will agree/This plot is bigger than me, it’s generational hatred/It’s genocism, it’s grimy, little justification”
Hands. Up. Don’t. Shoot.
“It’s funny how Zulu and Xhosa might go to war/Two tribal armies that want to build and destroy/Remind me of these Compton Crip gangs that live next door/Beefin’ with Pirus, only death settle the score”
Black and Brown people have been at war with one another since the beginning of time. There’s a war going on in these streets, no man is safe from.
Photo: WENN
“So don’t matter how much I say I like to preach with the Panthers/Or tell Georgia State. ‘Marcus Garvey got all the answers’/Or try to celebrate February like it’s my B-Day/Or eat watermelon, chicken, and Kool-Aid on weekdays/Or jump high enough to get Michael Jordan endorsements/Or watch BET cause urban support is important…”
What makes a Black person actually Black? With no language unification like thousands of other cultures, it is the way we act that has us being judged on our merit.
Photo: Top Dawg Entertainment
“The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice/The blacker the berry, the bigger I SHOOT“
He’s just a kid from Compton who made it out to share his wisdom with the rest of the world.
