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Rhetor Background

Kendrick Lamar is an award winning American rapper and songwriter who is best-known for his music that portrays the everyday hardships of African Americans in the 21st century. Born in Compton, California on June 17, 1987, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth began his rapping career at the young age of 16. Despite being a reserved child who enjoyed school, reading, and poetry, Lamar was heavily influenced by the gang violence and street activity he grew up in. He released his first song in 2003, Youngest Head Nigga in Charge, which helped Kendrick land a partnership with Top Dawg Entertainment. From then on, Lamar’s fame only grew, leading him to produce many beloved albums, including good kid, m.A.A.d city, To Pimp a Butterfly and DAMN. In 2018, Kendrick Lamar made history by being the first artist to win a Pulitzer Prize for a hip-hop album. His most recent work, DAMN., was described as “a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”

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Despite Kendrick Lamar’s style being very muted and mundane, his clothing choices are very distinct from other rappers in popular culture. Another interesting way of analyzing rhetors and their message is through body rhetoric. Palczewski’s Rhetoric in Civic Life describes body rhetoric as rhetoric that foregrounds the body as part of the symbolic act (Palczewski, 66). Some factors that contribute to this idea are gender, class, race, sexual orientation, and, of course, style. As a society, it is difficult to realize how appearances and visual rhetoric influence our thoughts and opinions. However, Kendrick Lamar takes an interesting approach to his style and how he presents himself as a rhetor. The second photo depicts a popular group of rappers known as Migos. Their group is very well-known for their flashy outfits and outrageous clothing choices. The other photos of Kendrick illustrated above show the contrast between his style and that of other famous artists. He typically wears muted colors and plain shirts coupled with similar pants and shoes. He rarely wears jewelry, which is a common element to many rapper’s styles. Even though it seems like Lamar is not making a clear statement with his style choices, the lack of distinct fashion creates an even more compelling and complex message. Because he has a more ordinary look, he stands out as a distinct artist with original ideas. His music has a lot of symbolic meaning that is conveyed through aggressive and powerful rap. Due to his poetry being so compelling and influential, he does not need to wear gaudy clothing to get his audience’s attention. This stylistic choice makes Lamar come across as a humble artist who wants to focus on creating change through his music rather than centering his career on the material things. Also, his music and message is meant to bring hope to minorities, and having a more subdued style makes him more approachable and relatable. As a man who started from nothing, growing up in Compton and experiencing first-hand black oppression, his style exemplifies how fame and the media have not changed him or made him into something he is not. The average clothes show how his appearance is not what matters and that his music is what should be speaking to his audiences. Material possessions do not need to overcompensate for a lack of originality in his music like many other artists do. Overall, the way Kendrick Lamar presents himself visually makes him that much more of a respectable artist. In addition, analyzing his style helps his fans like myself further understand him as a rhetor and appreciate what he has to offer as an artist even more.

-Autumn Sumruld

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Weaver’s Ultimate Terms: How Kendrick Lamar reclaims the N-word

 “I promised Dave I'd never use the phrase "fuck nigga"

He said, "Think about what you saying: "Fuck niggas"

No better than Samuel on Django

No better than a white man with slave boats"

Sound like I needed some soul searching

My Pops gave me some game in real person

Retraced my steps on what they never taught me

Did my homework fast before government caught me

So I'ma dedicate this one verse to Oprah

On how the infamous, sensitive N-word control us

So many artists gave her an explanation to hold us

Well, this is my explanation straight from Ethiopia

N-E-G-U-S definition: royalty; king royalty - wait listen

N-E-G-U-S description: black emperor, king, ruler, now let me finish

The history books overlook the word and hide it

America tried to make it to a house divided

The homies don't recognize we been using it wrong

So I'ma break it down and put my game in a song

N-E-G-U-S, say it with me, or say it no more

Black stars can come and get me

Take it from Oprah Winfrey, tell her she right on time

Kendrick Lamar, by far, realest Negus alive”

The lyrics above are from a verse in Kendrick Lamar’s powerful song, i. His rap articulates an important aspect of Rhetorical Studies called ultimate terms. An ultimate term is a word or name that has a great deal of power to move human impulse (Borchers, 136). The three types of ultimate terms are god terms, terms of repulsion, and charismatic. In most cases, the n-word is best characterized as a term of repulsion because it unites a culture against a group or idea. For example, the word “terrorist” has recently become a term of repulsion in the United States. When a rhetor utilizes this word, they are persuading their audience to take action to keep the nation secure from outside threats. In a similar way, when the n-word is used by white people, it is alienating black people as less than humans. Due to its negative connotation in history, it is  considered a racist or offensive term that when used is meant to exhibit hate against African Americans. However, in recent media, it has become popular to take negative words such as the n-word and “reclaim” them and their meaning. Through Lamar’s song i, he is explaining his hope to do just that. For years, this expression has degraded, shamed, and angered black people. In contrast, Kendrick desires to give the word new meaning and make it into something that is not seen as offensive. To clarify his argument, Lamar introduces the word “Negus,” which is a king or ruler from Ethiopia. Due to its similarity to the term he is trying to reclaim, he is emphasizing how little the insult should affect him and other African Americans. He describes how years of racism and oppression have tried to bury “Negus” and highlight the n-word in a negative way. But by giving the word new context, he is showing how little power oppressors really have. Through this strategy, Lamar is utilizing the ultimate term charismatic. In Borcher’s Rhetorical Theory, charismatic terms are described as words that gain their power in mysterious ways, appearing to operate independently of referential connections (Borchers, 137). In other words, their meaning is generally agreed upon by a given culture. In this case, Kendrick is declaring a new definition for the n-word, which has now been agreed upon by other black people in society. Despite reclaiming the word, it is still frowned upon for other races to utilize it. This shows how important the meaning of words and their relation to rhetorical studies are in our everyday life. Rhetors like Kendrick Lamar can create their own meaning to inspire black people who are the the ultimate benefactors from his work. However, because he is giving power to African Americans, it does not mean the reclamation can be abused by those who made the term offensive in the first place. Even though Lamar does not explicitly state this in his song, the culture we live in has made his statement clearer through their reactions to his message. The n-word will always remain a term of repulsion because the offensive history behind it will never be erased, but it is important to note how powerful figures like Kendrick Lamar can make change through his message and empower the oppressed to reclaim a word that has degraded them for years. 

-Autumn Sumruld

Lyrics Source / Book Source 

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Burke’s Pentad: Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 Grammy Performance

Watch the video HERE

In the link above, Kendrick Lamar gives an unforgettable performance of his songs The Blacker the Berry and _Alright _at the 2015 Grammy Awards. This monumental event describes perfectly Burke’s theory of Pentad in Rhetorical Studies. Pentad is understanding the various motives or situations that determine how individual rhetors size up the situations they face (Borchers, 152). It can be distinguished in five stages: act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. We utilize these terms to identify Kendrick Lamar’s motives for framing his performance in a certain way. For instance, the act, also known as what happens or takes place in the event, is Lamar’s decision to sing at the Grammy’s. The scene, the context or background of the action, includes the debut of his album To Pimp a Butterfly and the awards he received to recognize his success. The agent, the person who performs the act, is of course Kendrick Lamar and his band. Agency, which is the means through which the action took place, explains the performance itself. Kendrick and his band entered the stage wearing prison suits and chains around their wrists and ankles. Later, they broke free from the chains and danced around a large bonfire, taking elements from African culture in their clothes and stage directions. Lastly, a large image flashes across the stage, depicting Africa with the word “Compton” in the middle. The final stage, purpose, highlights why this event is important and the motives behind it. Kendrick wanted to give a compelling performance that makes his audience uncomfortable. Due to the Grammys being predominantly white, Kendrick wanted to further convey his message about African American struggle in the 21st century by creating an expressive stage performance. His strategy is to make the oppression of black people unavoidable. His music depicts this struggle, but he makes it impossible to escape his message by pairing vivid words with vivid actions. For example, in The Blacker the Berry, Lamar raps, “You hate me don't you? / You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture / You're fuckin' evil I want you to recognize that I'm a proud monkey.” Through these words, Kendrick is throwing the oppression that he and all black people around the world have experienced right back in his audience’s face. The celebrities who attend the Grammy’s are a prime example of white people benefiting from the system that the government has created. They want to reward Kendrick for his hard work as an artist, but ignore his messages about racism. In their mind, it is easier to praise an artist than to understand and fix the actual issue at hand. By designing his performance in this way, he is making his themes even more present and hard to ignore. At the Grammy’s Lamar is clearly stating that he is proud of how far he has come as an artist, but his success does not change the fact that millions of African Americans still suffer from the unfair system that was set in place for them. His ultimate goal in making such a shocking performance was to get the top 1% who attend these award shows to actually listen to what he has to say and feel inspired to make a change.

-Autumn Sumruld

Video Source / Lyrics Source / Book Source

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The Pulitzer Prize: Is the institution trying to take his power?

The Pulitzer Prize is an award for an achievement in American journalism, literature, or music. Thirteen are given each year. There are fourteen categories of Pulitzer Prizes in journalism. There are seven categories of Pulitzer prizes in Letters, Drama, and Music, only one of them being for music. Winning a Pulitzer Prize grants the winner fifteen thousand dollars. Pulitzer.org shows 2018’s winner as DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar. The details it gives say, “Recording released on April 14, 2017, a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”

It is interesting because Kendrick Lamar’s album is fighting societal norms and the institution. He is speaking truth to the world, and telling like it is. It is interesting that now the power in the world is basically saying “good job, we love what you’re doing.” As much of an honor as it must be, it must also be frustrating. Rather than fixing the current racial issues, the power is rewarding someone for speaking up about it, but not doing anything else.

-Katie Granger

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“And for every lyric he has about earning his fortune, there’s usually sure to be one about the evils that wealth -- and shameless attempts to get it -- brings. His raps are filterless; he tells it like it is.” (billboard.com)

VIDEO ANALYSIS

This video starts out with Kendrick dressed as the Pope standing in a godly light. It seems that he is showing that God and religion are involved somehow. Next scene, he is scene laying on a table of money. This is him showing both sides of his life - the church and the trap. In this scene, he is surrounded by money and beautiful women. There are a few smaller scenes that pop in and out - Kendrick at a hair salon, Kendrick riding a bicycle through a fish-eye view, Kendrick hitting golf balls off of the roof of a car. The fish eye view may relate back to his previous album where he takes his audience through Compton. This shows that he’s still there with the people. No matter how big he gets, he will always be from Compton and that will always be a part of him. Then, he stands in the center or a large group of bald, black men. The next scene seems to be a remake of the Last Supper paintings. For the next verse, Kendrick stands literally on fire with men who have ropes tied around their heads in all around him. The next scene he speaks against photoshop lyrically while displaying on screen a woman, split in half. One half of her remains photoshopped, covered in makeup, with a smooth ponytail. When she crosses to the left, the makeup comes off. Her hair is down and curly, her face shows some light acne, and she is no longer airbrushed. The next lyric says, “show me something natural like a-- with some stretch marks”, which is what appears next on screen. In the next scene, “Lamar spits, "I don't fabricate it / Most of y'all be fakin’ / I stay modest 'bout it / She elaborate it / This that Grey Poupon, that Evian, that TED Talk / Watch my soul speak / You let the meds talk.” It’s a not at all subtle jab at the bevy of cough syrup-drinking, pill-popping rappers who rhyme about their supposedly awesome lives from the bottom of a Styrofoam cup. In the video, he hilariously says this while spreading mustard on a slice of bread in the back of a chauffeured convertible” (billboard.com). After this, he is seen through a window with a bunch or red sniper dots on his white sweatshirt. He raps through it and doesn’t freeze. 

LYRICAL ANALYSIS

A lot of the video, however, doesn’t seem to relate to the lyrics very much. The first verse of the song has Kendrick reminiscing over the life he grew up with. He grew up eating ‘syrup sandwiches’ which likely refers to the low cost food he ate in his poverty stricken neighborhood. ‘Crime allowances’ likely refers to the money he got, which came from crimes, whether it be money he was given from family drug deals, or fake money. He also mentions that he can “buy yo’ a** the world with [his] paystub” which refers to all the money he makes.

The chorus, which basically repeats “be humble” and “sit down” over and over. The Rolling Stone interviewed him and asked about HUMBLE., “who are you talking to in the chorus - yourself?” to which he replied, “Definitely. It's the ego. When you look at the song titles on this album, these are all my emotions and all my self-expressions of who I am. That's why I did a song like that, where I just don't give a fuck, or I'm telling the listener, "You can't fuck with me." But ultimately, I'm looking in the mirror.” This somewhat can be connected to the God aspect that Kendrick Lamar has. He definitely views himself as someone to look up to and admire. In an article that I read, someone referred to him as a prophet, which seems quite fitting. However, he knows all of his influence and he knows that he has a lot that many people don’t have, which is why he is telling himself to be humble. 

The second verse of the song starts by saying, “who dat n***a thinkin’ that he frontin’ on Man-Man” which refers to Lamars nickname from his parents. They called him “Man-man’ because he always seemed to much older and more mature than others his age. This is also the verse where he challenges the media to portray women in their natural state by saying that he’s so sick of the photoshop. He mentions Richard Pryor and a natural afro. Due to social expectations, many black people - especially women - go to great lengths to straighten their naturally kinky hair. Not only is he asking for natural beauty here but also he affirms black beauty. This is where, in the video, he has a model cross from one side of the screen where she is photoshopped, to the other, where she is in her natural state.

In the next part of this verse, he mentions the Affordable Care Act and Obama, though it can be covered up if you’re just listening. The line is “I blew cool from AC, ayy, Obama just paged me.” He then mentions Grey Poupon, a gourmet mustard from France that is mostly associated with wealthy white men. We see this in the video, it’s what he passes from his car window to a friends.The last part of this verse he says, “watch my soul speak, you let the meds talk,” which references how many rappers and artists these days rely so heavily on prescription medications like codeine, Xanax, and Percocet. Kendrick is saying that he doesn’t rely on substances to make meaningful music. He has a history with promoting sobriety, and this is likely another reference to this.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

It is important to look at the discursive and presentational forms here. The music video for HUMBLE. takes the discursive words and uses them as a base while overlaying the story through the video. Although the video shown and the words spoken are not the same the entire time, it’s important to look at how they relate and how Kendrick Lamar uses both to make meaning.

In chapter two of Palczewski’s piece, titled “Rhetoric in Civic Life”, it states, “Evans and Hall argue that it is impossible to understand a contemporary culture without analyzing visual, because a study of any contemporary media product - any television show, movie, advertisement, web page, blog, or magazine - would be “incomplete” if you only analyzed the words, or if you interpreted the “images as if they only functioned as artifacts to be read rather than as sights and often exhibitionist performances to be looked at” (63). It is important to look at both the language that is spoken in Lamar’s HUMBLE. as well as the images that are displayed throughout the video. Together, they construct a message and put through what Kendrick Lamar is trying to say. He is a being of power, and he creates meaning of the world he sees around him.  He gives that meaning to us through music - both the lyrics and videos. 

Many interpretations are possible from both the videos and lyrics. If you don’t know much about Kendrick Lamar. Some lines in the song don’t make sense unless you know about his past, or know of what something means, like Grey Poupon or ‘man-man’. Other things are up to interpretation, such as the line about the ACA, which could be interpreted to mean nothing. 

-Katie Granger

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On March 16th, 2015, Kendrick Lamar released his critically acclaimed third studio album

To Pimp a Butterfly; a social commentary on politics, the Hip-Hop industry, and most importantly, black identity in the twenty-first century. Lamar useshis album to satirize various African-American ideologies while criticizing the continued marginalization of blacks by the government via the American socioeconomic system.

This album came a few years after his album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. In that album, he talks about being raised by the streets of Compton. He survived those streets, and he tells stories of fitting in, smoking, drinking, home invasions, avoiding police, etc., in Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. He had to do all of this to protect himself from his surroundings.  And in this album, he still is that good kid coming from a mad and dangerous place. He was able to protect his true inner identity, his talent, his poetry, his thoughtfulness. All of these qualities are what helped Kendrick get out of Compton and out to find success and fame.

His fifth album, DAMN. came out on April 14th, 2017. NPR said in an article, “It's clearly made for such a time as this — one in which politics and personal accountability are colliding with unprecedented force.” Each song on the DAMN. album brings forth a different message, showing something new that Lamar wants to teach and tell about. The songs on this album are titled things like PRIDE. and HUMBLE. and FEAR. which seems to speak a lot about their message.

-Katie Granger

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