Hello, welcome back to protest anthems. The podcast about all things music, social justice, and protest. Today, Emily Blumetti discusses Kendrick Lamar’s song X-rated (XXX.), the eleventh track on his album DAMN. The song was released in April of 2017 just a few months after Donald Trump’s inauguration. As Emily points out, the song brings his audience more awareness of many social justice issues that black people face everyday. As well as, government corruption and gang violence.
Hi! I am Emily Blumetti and today I want to discuss the infamous Kendrick Lamar and his protest anthem called XXX. This song was released in April of 2017, just a couple months after Trump’s inauguration. This song brings his audience more awareness to many social justice issues that black people face every day. It also brings awareness of government corruption and gang violence.
Kendrick Lamar began rapping at age 15 in Compton, California, a crime-ridden neighborhood. He originally went under the name K.Dot but was influenced to change that as he became more popular. He released multiple mixtapes that gained the attention of Dr. Dre which led him to join Top Dawg Entertainment Record Label. SInce joining the label he has released a couple albums since 2010. Since joining this label, he has created numerous albums which include Overly Dedicated, Section.80, good kid, m.A.A.d city, To Pimp a Butterfly and his most recent release, DAMN. which our featured song for this podcast appears on. All of these albums have a common theme being social injustices. DAMN. actually helped Kendrick win a pulitzer prize.
In the song XXX., Lamar addresses our country’s institutional racism. Lamar hints at this during the intro saying U2’s Bono introduces the song and other parts as it continues. According to Bustle.com, “The collaboration might seem surprising at first glance, but the rapper and the rock band actually overlap quite a bit when it comes to activism and speaking truth to power.” It is an unexpected collaboration but the pair killed the song together.
The song is saying you’re lucky if you find success, comfort and happiness while living in America. The song continues by saying can you help me understand why things are the way they are and why I and so many other black men in America cannot have the same experience.
This is a question so many people in America and even around the world have. Why are people treated differently because of the way they look? Their education lacks, their housing lacks, and many other things because of the color of their skin. According to Ira Glass from This American Life , “The US Department of Education put out data in 2014 showing that black and Latino kids in segregated schools have the least qualified teachers, the least experienced teachers. They also get the worst course offerings, the least access to AP and upper level courses, and the worst facilities.”
Lamar actually addresses this issue in XXX. by rapping:
Lamar implies that kids are more interested in becoming rappers and famous than being educated. The kids aren’t excited about school and it has a lot to do with the type of school they attend.
Ira Glass also says, “The other thing about most segregated black schools, Nikole says, is that they have high concentrations of children who grew up in poverty. Those kids have greater educational needs. They’re more stressed out. They have a bunch of disadvantages. And when you put a lot of kids like that together in one classroom, studies show, it doesn’t go well.”
Nikole Hannah Jones who is featured on This American life says, “If you’re surrounded by a bunch of kids who are all behind, you stay behind. But if you’re in a classroom that has some kids behind and some kids advanced, the kids who are behind tend to catch up. These kids in these classes in schools of concentrated poverty don’t have that. They don’t have that effect of kids who can help boost them. Everyone’s behind.” The system fails these kids before they even start. This is heartbreaking. There is a need for change in the education system and not many people are aware of that nor are they doing anything to help.
In addition to somewhat segregating schools, the government has been known for “redlining.” For those of you who don’t know of this term, Richard Rothstein says, “The term “redlining” … comes from the development by the New Deal, by the federal government of maps of every metropolitan area in the country. And those maps were color-coded by first the Home Owners Loan Corp. and then the Federal Housing Administration and then adopted by the Veterans Administration, and these color codes were designed to indicate where it was safe to insure mortgages. And anywhere where African-Americans lived, anywhere where African-Americans lived nearby were colored red to indicate to appraisers that these neighborhoods were too risky to insure mortgages.” An NPR article states, “(Redlining) was in something called the Underwriting Manual of the Federal Housing Administration, which said that “incompatible racial groups should not be permitted to live in the same communities.” Meaning that loans to African-Americans could not be insured.” This is an issue many African Americans still face. They are driven out of white neighborhoods and into a lower income neighborhoods because of the color of their skin. The redlined neighborhoods are separated from white neighborhoods by highways. This in a nutshell is institutional racism. According to reveal news.org, “This modern-day redlining persisted in 61 metro areas even when controlling for applicants’ income, loan amount and neighborhood, according to a mountain of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act records analyzed by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.”
Lamar has taken on a huge role of being an advocate for social change. He uses his past experiences in life to bring more social awareness to his listeners. He definitely takes advantage of his fame in that way.
Growing up in Compton, Lamar has witnessed a lot of things most people in the United States wouldn’t in their lifetime. According to a cover story written by Lisa Robinson for Vanity Fair, she says,” And through his music, he’s taken on the role of spokesman for a neighborhood that goes way beyond Compton. I ask him, Why you? “I put that responsibly on myself,” he says. “I knew from the jump that I thought a little bit different, people respected me, and if I let myself down, I’d be letting my guys down” meaning his hometown.
In Lamar’s song XXX., mentions a lot of the struggles Lamar has gone through or had to witness. There is a part of the song that describes a situation where a good friend asks Kendrick for prayers and advice.
It is evident here that Lamar is seen as a reliable member of their community and is always willing to help his community in any way he can. He offers guidance and spiritual advice to those who need it.
Lamar actually opened his Grammy performance with this song. He begins the performance displaying huge American flags on the screens behind him with a number of African-American men. He then brought U2 singing the intro to the song. This performance packs a huge punch with a lot of messages about social injustices. He makes sure to clarify to the audience that the entire performance is a satire. He displays it clearly on a screen above him to the entire audience.
There is a part of the performance where Dave Chappelle, a comedian, interrupts the performance saying, ( Dave Chappelle talking 3:45 – 4:04) Lamar continue by performing another song off of his album called DAMN. Chappelle returns by making a strange face at the camera, questioning whether it is safe for Kendrick to be performing this type of material on live TV. He says, (Dave Chappelle talking 5:16-5:29) He makes the audience aware that Kendrick is brave for what he is doing. He has so much courage to produce the music he does and perform it on live TV in front of a nation known for its discrimination.
Lamar is using his platform in a way that not many artists do. He has worked so hard to gain a platform like he has today and uses it for good. Groups like Public Enemy and NWA have laid down a path for Lamar to create music in this way. Rap has become a genre that allows artists to release their anger and frustration. These two groups have brought more social awareness to injustices than most artists have.
It is inspiring seeing famous celebrities using their platforms for good. Kendrick Lamar has gained a lot of fame and praise because of this reason. In fact in 2018, Lamar went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his most recent album, DAMN. It was awarded to Lamar for “The citation for the Pulitzer prize in music for distinguished musical composition by an American. that has had its first performance or recording during the year. Awarded to DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar. A virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity that offer effective vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African American life. Congratulations Kendrick Lamar!”
He is extremely creative and is always changing the game with his well-thought out lyrics. He also is educating his audiences about the injustices happening right before our eyes. He is encouraging change with his music. Lamar’s discography has music that encourages change and teaches lessons about injustices.
Although Lamar encourages awareness of these issues, my question is does he offer a solution to the crimes happening in Compton and around our country? He speaks of so many truths about social injustices but there is no advice given on how to approach these injustices or go about changes. He is known for giving back to his community but he shouldn’t have to do that. Our government should be taking care of the impoverished people and handling the crime-ridden areas. Do you think Lamar offers a call to action in any of his music? Let me know what you think!
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