#26

#26. Kendrick Lamar - Alright (#37, 2015)

6th of 2015

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Sometimes we just have to take a step back from what we're doing and recognise what's most important. It should come as no surprise given the nature of this blog that I'm someone who takes a certain interest in these kinds of meticulous rankings of popular music. It's fun, it invariably shows a side of your personality, and it's one of the more direct ways to show your appreciation for that which provides some warm and fuzzy feelings for you. That's how I see it most of the time, and I've often dabbled in watching a lot of YouTube content to this effect even if I find myself disagreeing with a lot of things.

What I tend to find with doing this is that there's an odd layer of privilege that seeps out of the process. By positioning yourself as the grand inquisition of pop music, you can transform any expression of creativity into merely being seen as a product made to entertain you, specifically. As I got older, I found myself increasingly weary to this notion, wanting more and more often to just take myself out of the conversation because I just didn't think I needed to weigh in on everything. In doing so, you can also save face by avoiding weighing in on topics that you're sorely not ready for, and that's when the privilege really starts to show. Unless you are the most ardent follower of everything in the world around you, you're eventually just going to start cutting corners, as enthusiasm gives way to the feeling of keeping up with music being a job, and one with a routine that encourages you to cut corners. I always felt a bit dumb when I'd keep up with music, but nothing else, so whenever a big movie had a soundtrack hit, often one woven into the film itself, I never instinctively thought I should watch the movie first. Much easier to complain that the song in isolation makes no sense if you haven't seen the movie.

Sometimes, it just ends up being bigger than the music itself and I have to question what I'm even doing. When I first listened to Kendrick Lamar's album "To Pimp A Butterfly", the song "Alright" was far from a highlight for me. My attention got largely as far as Pharrell's repetitive hook and feeling like it didn't stick the landing at any point. I was a little surprised that it started having some measure of chart success at the time, but conceded that it was probably one of the more single-ready choices on that album. There'll be two more songs from the album on the list so I'll probably talk about it more then.

Not long after it was released as a single, "Alright" became an anthem for Black Lives Matter. Many videos exist of protesters chanting out the song's chorus on the streets. Once you're at that point, it just feels weird to even think of it in its original context. We're talking about a matter of life and death for many people, and rising tension in a socio-political world that only gets increasingly heated as a consequence of both the people in power and the people who vote them into power. It's something I just find impossible to ignore, lest I shield myself in my own world of no consequences, no fear of discrimination and no direct influence to dissuade me from this way of thinking. So many of the worst parts of our world stem from that notion from people who can't get themselves to care about anything that doesn't affect them personally. It's why we do sometimes need that annoying voice in our head to remind us not to be that complacent.

In that sense, it became difficult for me to not align myself with the sentiment of "Alright". Whether it was intended as a protest song or not, I think the framing of the message is important. It's not a song about lamenting the present or future, but rather looking at it with hope. To see it in action as part of a protest is all the more effective. It's one thing to say things will be good, but it's another to actually go out of your way to help see that future out.

On the other hand, "Alright" is just incredible in its own right anyway. Shocking to say that a song on "To Pimp A Butterfly" is produced to its absolute limits but it's just enrapturing at every point. From Terrace Martin's saxophone to Kendrick's thrilling raps, there's just a sense of urgency to the whole thing. I don't think it really matters what I think, but I've no problem heaping all the praise I can onto it.