The piece of music I choose is “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar and it focuses on the Black Lives Matter Movement. Many of his songs from his album “To Pimp a Butterfly” had become anthems that reflect on the modern social justice movement. This song became very popular in our generation and its chorus became very important to have that hope for things to get better. The chorus consists of a rallying cry of protestors in the United States. They said, “a kind of comfort that people of color and other oppressed communities desperately need all too often: the hope-the feeling- that despite tensions in the country growing worse and worse, in the long run, we’re gon’ be all right”. The song itself reflects on the Black Lives Matter community, their protest to fight for equal rights, and most importantly for them to have a voice and not be harassed for their opinions. Many also speak out through this song about the treatment they have involving police brutality especially the student activists at Cleveland State University. The song was known for its beat as well while Lamar worked with Pharell Williams to put together. The dah dah dah sounds in the song is actually Williams disembodied voice, which is constantly played throughout the song. He wanted for the beat to not just be a tune but a statement to be told. It contains rap and complex rhythms and references to Jazz which was started in the South in black communities. A set of skittering drum beats and jazz horns, timbres in the saxophone, and piano. make this music piece stand out as well. This is where he decided to bring back the struggles of the modern black experience in America as well as the years that passed. Slaves would sing songs to keep their heads up with the struggles at the time and now four hundred years later people still need that music to heal. It was written in terms of positivity with a backdrop of civil unrest. This piece is a part of the Hip-Hop genre, but I wouldn’t necessarily say the genre itself is political. The song itself is a mix of R&B, dance-pop influences, and the 1990s deep house music.

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