Finally, a song that’s not all about bitches, drugs and money. Kendrick Lamar has come out with a song that states so much more in a brutally honest way.
Lamar’s new single “The Blacker The Berry” produced by Boi-1da was released Feb. 9. Some comment on it saying it is “evil.” Some say it is a political statement.
This song is brash, bold, blunt and dark. Infused with aggressive metaphors about the African American race and the stereotypes that come with having dark-colored skin. It tells a story of the internal struggle of blacks who are in the center of racial tension and are seen unfavorably in American culture.
The cover art for the single is by Italian photographer Giordano Cipriana which depicts a black woman from the tribe of the Surma with her two twins suckling her breasts, taken in the Valley of the Omo of Ethiopia.
Every verse gets the ball rolling with “I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015” the song being antithetical to Lamar’s previous song “i” that carries a much different flavor and tone, clearly celebrating his black culture and love for himself.
Behind a filthy Boom-Bap beat and trance ambiance, “The Blacker The Berry” hits more on notes of racialized self-hatred and realization of the world’s view concerning African Americans.
Verses like “My hair is nappy, my dick is big, my nose is round and wide. You hate me don’t you?” And “You’re fuckin evil, I want you to recognize that I’m a proud monkey.”
These lines wire you into the mind of a black man, declaring something as bluntly as possible in derision of racial slurs and oppression to his culture and black people throughout the ages.
This song turns the tide on the clichés and truisms of African American society. It surprises perpetrators through acknowledging these truisms and clichés, accepting them, then glorifying them with a dignified rage.
Lamar’s unshakable and grit-packed voice makes references to the Aryan race. Lashing out with unapologetic voice, conviction and defiance to those in America that hate him.
“I’m African American, I’m African I’m black as the heart of a fuckin’ Aryan … I’m black as the name of Tyrone and Darius … Excuse my French but fuck you—no, fuck y’all .. That’s as blunt as it gets, I know you hate me, don’t you? I’m African-American, I’m African. I’m black as the heart of a fuckin’ Aryan.”
Unadorned, unfiltered without a sugar coat. His words scream reality. They view the world as it is, and portray it in a manner that allows insight into the world of an African American.
The shocker at the end of the song gives a revelation to why Lamar is “The biggest hypocrite of 2015.”
“So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street?
When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me?
Hypocrite!”
This is an eye-opening insight concerning the lifestyle and mannerisms he sees in the black man. While he rants on the issue of whites who have killed blacks in the past, he, at the same time, has killed those same as him, hence the hypocrisy behind his lyrical façade.