Format Digital download | Length 5:28 | |
Released February 9, 2015 (2015-02-09) Genre Conscious rap
hardcore hip hop Label Top Dawg
Aftermath
Interscope Writer(s) Jefferey Campbell
Kendrick Duckworth
Zale Epstein
Alexander Izquierdo
Brent Kolatalo
Stephen Kozmeniuk
K. Lewis
Matthew Samuels | ||
"The Blacker the Berry" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on February 9, 2015 as the second single from his third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly. The song features vocals from Jamaican artist Assassin. It shares its title with the novel The Blacker the Berry by American author Wallace Thurman, which deals with similar themes of racism. The album version of the song also features additional vocals from neo soul singer Lalah Hathaway.
Contents
Composition
"The Blacker the Berry" is a racially charged song, noted for being a departure from the "self-love-promoting" "i", a single released in late 2014. The song features a "boom-bap beat", with lyrics that celebrate his African-American heritage, and "tackles hatred, racism, and hypocrisy head on." Lamar introduces the themes with lyrics such as; "Came from the bottom of mankind / My hair is nappy, my dick is big, my nose is round and wide / You hate me don’t you / You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture / You’re fucking evil / I want you to recognize that I’m a proud monkey / You vandalize my perception, but can’t take style from me."
The song's hook is performed by Jamaican dancehall artist Assassin, notable for performing on Kanye West's 2013 LP Yeezus, whose lyrics similarly address racial inequality, specifically against African Americans.
The song, however, contains a deeper meaning of the dangers of hypocrisy. Every verse in the song begins with "I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015", followed by Lamar stating issues of racism in society. The final lyric — "So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street? / When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me? / Hypocrite! " — reframes the meaning of the piece, and demonstrates an internal struggle within Lamar and the African-American community about issues of racism and events such as the death of Trayvon Martin. Lamar notes the hypocrisy of black men mourning Martin's death while also themselves committing violent acts against black men, forcing the listener to consider the complexity and perhaps inevitability of the hypocrisy discussed throughout the song.
Critical reception
"The Blacker the Berry" received rave reviews from music critics, who widely praised the production and Lamar's racially charged lyrics. Steven J. Horowitz of Billboard gave the song four-and-a-half stars out of five, writing that "Lamar swings at racial injustice, letting rage break his usual cool veneer". Pitchfork named it their "Best New Track", with reviewer Jayson Greene saying that the song "might be [Lamar's] most focused and upsetting performance."
Live performance
Lamar performed a medley of "The Blacker the Berry" and "Alright" at the 58th Grammy Awards. Following an intro from actor Don Cheadle, the rapper marched out onstage in chains with a backdrop imitating a prison for "The Blacker The Berry" before creating a bonfire for "Alright" and wrapping his set with an illuminated image of his native city Compton in the outline of Africa. In the untitled freestyle finale, Lamar references Feb. 26, the date of Trayvon Martin's death in 2012. "On February twenty sixth I lost my life too / It’s like I’m here in a dark dream / Man hear screams recorded / Say that it sounds distorted but they know who it was," he rapped.
Artwork lawsuit
On July 10, 2015, a lawsuit was filed by photographer Giordano Cipriani, stating that Lamar and the song's associated record labels (Top Dawg, Aftermath, Interscope) used a photo of his without permission or payment. The photo in question features a mother breastfeeding two children. Cipriani states that he had taken the photo in 2011 while he was in Africa. He is also demanding $150,000 for each time the photo was used.