Kendrick Lamar is undoubtedly one of the most influential artists making music today. As a multiple grammy award winner, and recipient of the pulitzer prize, Kendrick has obtained incredible levels of success and respect within a wide range of the music community. Nonetheless, he has been, and likely always will be, a recipient of hatred. On his most recent album, DAMN, Kendrick features numerous samples, including one on the track DNA. DNA is a track about pride, ancestry, power, and race shown through verses such as, “got royalty inside my DNA,” and “this is my heritage, all i’m intertin’, money and power, the maker of marriages”. Within DNA Kendrick includes a sample from a Fox News segment in which news anchor Geraldo Rivera states, “This is why I say that hip hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years,” in reference to another Kendrick song, Alright. As a hip hop artist, this comment directly contradicts the message of Kendrick’s music (one of hope, combatting- not contributing to- negative race relations, and pride), and de-validates his career. Alright, the song Rivera references in his quote, is one about hope- a message torn apart by Rivera’s claim that hip hop is doing more damage than racism in recent years.
By sampling this clip, Kendrick is able to reclaim his song Alright, and the message of the genre that he is arguably one of (if not the) most influential artists today. The irony in this sampling should not be overlooked. As an artist, Kendrick shouldn’t have to continuously reclaim the words and message of his own music, yet he is required to in order to maintain validity, and ownership over the message of Alright. Kendrick originally created Alright as a track of hope, a message stripped away by Rivera’s claim that its genre is worse than racism to modern society. This necessitates Kendrick to come back and remind us not only that Alright is still about hope, that Rivera is wrong, and also that Kendrick holds a great deal of pride in himself, his culture, and everything that resulted in the music he produces today.
Fox News Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3_hi8eWdbY&feature=youtu.be&t=56
Alright: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY
DNA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLZRYQMLDW4
Lyrics of DNA: https://genius.com/Kendrick-lamar-dna-lyrics
