Kendrick Lamar’s Social Commentary
Analyzing Themes of Marxism Across Kendrick’s Discography
In our modern age, socioeconomic and racial divisions shape the way we view the world. Whether one grows up in a poorer socioeconomic class or grows up as a minority, our circumstances are greatly influential in how we interact with others and view society throughout our lives.
Grammy-winning artist Kendrick Lamar communicates across his discography implications of class, interpellated ideology, and oppression throughout his songs. He achieves this by describing his upbringing in Compton on To Pimp a Butterfly, his violent experiences throughout his teenage years on good kid m.A.Ad city, and his life experiences and growth as a whole on DAMN.
Kendrick’s large reach to both the youth and American music-enjoyers is greatly impactful in spreading awareness of very critical issues of race and economic standing in America. Songs such as “Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst,” “The Blacker The Berry,” and “DNA.” utilize ideas such as class, ideology, and interpellation to communicate themes of class oppression and stereotypes of African Americans across the nation.
Background of Kendrick Lamar’s Discography
Kendrick Lamar’s third album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was released in 2012 and had stunning popularity, with Kendrick earning many Grammy nominations. The album is inspired by Kendrick’s experiences living in Compton, notably as a teenager, and specifically focuses on instances of gang violence, desire for wealth, and other subject matters. Track 10, “Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst,” uses its lengthy 12 minutes to describe the death of Kendrick’s brother to gang violence, with Kendrick questioning his environment and motivations. In the latter half of the song, Kendrick expounds on the ideals he and other African Americans hold and the themes of class oppression that are present in a capitalist society.
Kendrick’s fourth album, To Pimp a Butterfly, was released in 2015 and, much like its predecessor, received praise and won many awards. Kendrick relays many messages throughout the album related to gang violence present growing up, racism, and political issues. Track 13, “The Blacker The Berry,” addresses the stereotypes placed on African Americans and the hate society has for black people. He also addresses the hypocrisy of the black community for falling into the trap of fulfilling stereotypes and conforming to an ideology enacted on them by an oppressive society.
Kendrick’s fifth album, DAMN. released in 2017, and not only was it his top-selling album to date, but he also won a Pulitzer Prize for his album. DAMN. dives into Kendrick’s psyche, with many songs revolving around emotions and sins. Throughout the album, Kendrick also experiences changes in his relationship with God and his faith. Yet, Kendrick still includes themes relating to black heritage, oppression, and ideology within songs such as track 2, “DNA.” “DNA.” specifically has themes of interpellated ideology being directly related to African American culture and also describes how African Americans conform to stereotypes and ideologies.
Marxist Concepts Present Throughout Kendrick’s Music
The lyrics present within songs across Kendrick’s discography, specifically “Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst,” “The Blacker The Berry,” and “DNA.,” present themes of Marxism, specifically regarding class interactions and oppression, interpellation, and ideology experienced by Kendrick and other African Americans due to their race and socioeconomic status. As Mary Klage describes in Key Terms in Literary Theory, the root of Marxism lies in the struggle between the classes in a capitalist society, specifically between the working class of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, or the owning class. This relates specifically to the ideas presented in To Pimp a Butterfly within capitalist America and the low working class of the African American community in Compton. Another critical concept of Marxism, explored by Chris Barker in The Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies, is the idea of class, which is a group of people who share a common socioeconomic quality, whether it is being rich or poor. Barker expands on this, noting that in traditional Marxism one’s economic class dictates the beliefs and actions held by individuals of that class, hence, their ideology. Klage describes how French Marxist Louis Althusser challenges this traditional idea and explains how one’s ideology is entirely separate from one’s economic class, calling to the idea of interpellation. Klage details how Althusser describes interpellation as the idea of an ideology being created in a society, and it actively entices individuals to conform to it, totally separate from one’s economic background. Klage describes that however one interprets the origin of one’s ideology, Marxists commonly agree that culture influences one’s ideology, as cultures are separate from economic classes and can have unique ideologies. In the case of Kendrick Lamar, his African American culture works in tandem with his socioeconomic class to shape his overall ideology.
Three Key Songs in Which Kendrick Discusses Ideology, Class Oppression, and its Effects
Kendrick Lamar’s “Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst” communicates the harsh realities of his culture created by the effects of a capitalist and oppressive society. Throughout the song, Kendrick recounts his feeling of being lost in his society while recognizing the horrors he faces. His brother is lost due to gang violence, and this is directly related to the struggle for wealth in his community, which leads to crimes and gang violence being common. The lyrics “I’m on the grind for this cake, I’mma get it or die trying” describe the lengths Kendrick is willing to go to achieve wealth, and this is directly related to his ideology, which he interpellated from society. A specific example, besides the many deaths of friends and family featured in the song, is when Kendrick describes a drive-by shooting involving dope and a mother’s daughter being a victim of this act of greed and violence. The American dream is directly related to achieving prosperity through wealth for an individual, but in Compton, achieving this dream is hard for many without committing crime and engaging in violence as part of the poor proletariat. The song also describes the suppression of his African American community and how, due to their low social class and the racial discrimination they face, they are subject to the issues they face not being focused on in the wider society. Kendrick’s lyrics, “Just promise me you’ll tell this story when you make it big, and if I die before your album drop I hope-gunshots,” and the chorus, “When the lights turn off…it’s my turn to settle down…promise that you will sing about me,” describe Kendrick yearning for his story and struggles to be known.
Kendrick Lamar’s song “The Blacker the Berry” from To Pimp a Butterfly conveys themes of class oppression by a predominantly white upper-class society, the society’s ideology created against working-class African Americans, and the interpellation of the ideology by both Kendrick and other African Americans. Early in the song, Kendrick describes the stereotypes and oppression he and his people face from an oppressive white upper class, “My hair is nappy…my nose is round and wide…you hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture.” Kendrick elaborates upon this by describing how the oppression by society leads to an influence on his actions, with the lyrics, “You sabotage my community, makin’ a killin’, you made me a killer.” This reflects the concept of interpellation alongside class interactions as defined within Marxism. The oppressive class takes advantage of the poorer African American community and also enacts the influence of their own constructed ideology for the poor African Americans that call out to them. The oppressive society describes the violence of the poor African American class, and Kendrick describes how he falls victim to it and interpellates the ideology by answering society’s call to violence for his community. Furthermore, he compares his skin tone to that of “the heart of a ******* Aryan,” calling out the oppressive white class. Kendrick also falls into the stereotypes enacted onto him, including the things he is “supposed” to eat and drink and the media he consumes (like watermelon, fried chicken, Kool-Aid, and BET), shaping his ideology through the interpellation of a warped ideology created by individuals not even from his own culture and class. When stereotypes and assumptions like these are used repeatedly, they shape an ideology to which many African Americans end up conforming by fulfilling the twisted, prejudiced view of those who enacted these false characteristics in the first place. He ends it with a powerful statement, describing, “Why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street? When gang banging make me kill a ***** blacker than me? Hypocrite!” Kendrick ends the song calling himself out for being a hypocrite, for crying for the teen Trayvon Martin, a victim of police brutality, when he interpellated to an ideology that leads him to end up being a killer himself. The lyrics present within “The Blacker The Berry” call out both Kendrick and other African Americans who fall victim to the interpellation of a negative ideology constructed by an oppressive upper class, which consists of a predominantly non-African American society.
Kendrick’s track “DNA.” off of DAMN. describes the qualities that make him up, which reflect the culture present in his community due to an interpellated ideology brought about by the effects of capitalist society and class oppression. Kendrick describes how he has “cocaine quarter piece, got war and peace inside by “DNA.,” which describes how his “genetics” are made up of drugs and gang violence. As we know, these types of things are not genetic factors, but he describes them as though they are because these qualities are so common in his poor African American community that it has unfortunately become a part of their culture. Later in the song, Kendrick weaves a sample from a news segment describing the damage of rap, “This is why I say that hip hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years.” The issue here is that the origins of popular rap music would include themes of oppression and violence, which were due to discrimination and the struggles of the poor African American community, being like the proletariat. Near the end of the song, Kendrick describes the things that give him pleasure, similar to in “The Blacker The Berry,” “Dodgin bullets…sex, money, murder — these are the breaks.” Kendrick reiterates his solidified ideology, still maintaining the same beliefs from his previous albums, which are a direct attempt at achieving wealth and prosperity, which are characteristics common to the higher class of the bourgeois.
Kendrick, Race, and Society
Kendrick’s thought-provoking social commentary throughout the album brings up important issues in our society, specifically through the eyes of Kendrick through various points in his life. Kendrick describes themes of class oppression and interpellated ideology throughout his discography, which is relevant to our modern-day society. Understanding these real-life issues allows us as Americans to take action to prevent a generation of future Kendricks who are victims of interpellated ideology and oppression. Now more than ever, it is important for us to understand these themes in order to combat systemic racism and class oppression and have the opportunity to be well-informed advocates for change.
Additional Sources Used in this Article
Kendrick Lamar. “To Pimp a Butterfly.” Top Dog Entertainment. 2015.
Kendrick Lamar. “good kid m.A.A.d city.” Top Dog Entertainment. 2012.
Kendrick Lamar. “DAMN.” Top Dog Entertainment. 2017.
Mary Klage. “Marx, Karl.” Key Terms in Literary Theory. 2012. Found on Credo Reference.
Chris Barker. “Class.” The Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies. 2004. Found on Credo Reference.
Chris Barker. “Ideology.” The Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies. 2004. Found on Credo Reference.
Mary Klage. “Althusser, Louis.” Key Terms in Literary Theory. 2012. Found on Credo Reference.
Mary Klage. “Interpellation.” Key Terms in Literary Theory. 2012. Found on Credo Reference.
Mary Klage. “Ideology.” Key Terms in Literary Theory. 2012. Found on Credo Reference.
