Music Video Analysis - Kendrick Lamar - Alright

 

Analysis of song 

Analysis of video

Kendrick Lamar depicts the tale of the harsh reality that bear upon black people within many parts of America. To themes of black struggle and love and to what feels like a never ending with the police, these are the many themes that is used within alright video. 

Introduction

Within the beginning of the video, Lamar uses the establishing shot of the Oakland-Bay bridge as a framework for the subsequent visuals and messages — entirely in monochrome to contrast “black” and “white” — and messages; he also uses the establishing shot as a microcosm for American society as we explore the meaning of what it is to be black in America — contextualized by Lamar's narrative — and how he copes with his racial identity. For the next minute and a half, images of an apocalyptic Oakland are shown to the viewer in a way that suggests the end is near — a belief that Kendrick Lamar completely shares. Among these images is one of three people standing atop a police vehicle in front of the Oakland-Bay Bridge (possibly a tribute to NWA and "fuck the cops"), with a young boy in the foreground mouthing the word "alright," which resembles Trayvon Martin's facial features but is obscured by his hood. The final scene of the music video's "introduction" represents the ongoing police brutality against the black community, with a black man slammed against what appears to be the ground but is later revealed to be a wall as he is manhandled by an aggressive white police officer. Before he can put the handcuffs on him, the man flees. Just seconds before pulling the trigger, the officer pulls out his gun and mouths the word "freeze."

The song "Alright" finally starts around the 2:40 mark in the video, which is intentional. The song's message and the visuals presented during it are a reaction to the events depicted in the video's opening scenes up to this point.

Lamar's feet rarely touch the ground throughout the video; for the most part, he is flying over the streets like a guardian angel. This is not to say that Lamar is superior to his friends; he is simply keeping an eye on them. In fact, when Lamar is photographed with his friends, he is part of the crowd. Around the 4:12 mark in the video, he is hanging upside down, the only time he is physically above them — an allusion to the titular butterfly's metamorphosis.

Lamar is standing atop the same lamp post scene from earlier in the video by the end of the video. As a police car approaches, Kendrick continues to dance on the lamppost, oblivious to his surroundings. Meanwhile, the officer exits the vehicle holding a heavy rifle, but sets it aside and uses his two fingers to "shoot" Kendrick from atop the light post. This could imply that murder with a weapon isn't the only way police officers are killing black people.

This music video is a form of protest in and of itself, but it was met with unnecessary criticism and condemnation from the likes of Fox News' Geraldo Rivera, who claimed inanely that Kendrick Lamar “has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism.”

By default, mainstream media perceives rap music as violent and deviant, which diminishes cultural value and derails the artist's message.

Clearly, the music video for Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" is no exception.

Relating this video to the theory of Andrew Goodwin and vernallis' theory , the video holds a lot of key codes and conventions of a standard rap genre. For example, cars are seen drifting in the background with Kendrick looking directly at the camera. This video also has scenes of light voyeurism with a woman stood next to the car in a slow motion  allowing enough time for the audience to look but then  cutting away shortly after. the video doesnt have a real narrative but it does come off very fractured allow the viewer to come up with its own questions.it does this by showing shots that have little to no connection to each other but still keeping the same feeling with the editing as if its in all in the same world.

Medium. 2021. For The Dead Homies — a critical analysis of Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” music video. [online] Available at: <https://medium.com/@yramocan/for-the-dead-homies-a-critical-analysis-of-kendrick-lamar-s-alright-music-video-eddde3be3177#:~:text=Kendrick%20Lamar%20hangs%20upside%20down%2C%20above%20his%20people.&text=The%20message%20of%20the%20video,in%20the%20face%20of%20protest.> [Accessed 12 May 2021].

Lusane, C. (1993). “Rap, Race, and Politics”. Race & Class, 35, Pg. 1,8.