Kendrick Lamar’s messages were never about the promotion of degrading a certain demographic or culture. The messages that I’ve heard from him are from an ambitious soul that longs for positive change.
Symbolism and metaphors are a hard concept to grasp but there are tools to combat difficulties. When I started listening to rap, there were certain songs that were too complex for me to understand. So I found Rap Genius, a site where each line of a song lyric is broken down to reveal connotations. During my first few years listening to hip hop, I found the site beneficial and it made me appreciate the lyrical talent that some artists possessed.
Some people argue that the site is full of faults due to misinterpretations made by users as changes are open to the public. However, artists have the ability to verify the connotations made by the public. They can even go in and change something if a misinterpretation is made. So I strongly recommend this site to people who need clarification on what they’re listening to.
With that being said, Fox News is looking for trouble. Geraldo Rivera from Fox News made some comments on Kendrick Lamar’s music video of ‘Alright’. He talked along the lines of how the song portrayed violence and fueled the hate for a culture that promoted delinquency.
If you’ve never listened to rap music and took 5 seconds to look at the video, then you might associate it to something as bad as what Rivera said. But that’s only if you’re an ignorant, close minded individual.
I was just hoping that Fox News would fact check their ideas but that’s a rare scenario. Hopefully Geraldo knows how to use Rap Genius.
Adolescentia 