Unveiling Racial Resilience

A Multimodal Analysis of Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright”

“We gon’ be Alright”, a chant expressed by many amongst the Black Lives Matters movements against police brutality in the United States of America. In 2015, Kendrick Lamar released the single “Alright” aiming to convey a hopeful message of resilience in the face of racial adversity (KendrickLamarVEVO, 2015). The music video, directed by Colin Tilley and The Little Homies, serves as a multimodal culmination of various rhetorical devices that were utilised to transduce Lamar’s interest into an apt text inspiring countless of people for years to come. Racial Resilience is an ideology of resistance against the more commonly known term: racism. To gain a deeper understanding of the ideology Racial Resilience, an extensive analysis of Lamar’s music video and “Alright” lyrics was conducted. The findings of this analysis are presented in this paper with the aim of both understanding the ideology at hand as understanding the use of rhetorical devices in a multimodal text.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY

Racial Resilience: A Conceptual Odyssey

1.1  Defining a Survival Technique

Resilience is defined as “the ability to thrive or succeed in the face of exposure to adversity, challenges, or demands” (Spence et al., 2016). “Racial Resilience” is a reaction towards racial discrimination people encounter in their geographical (or even digital) society. To stand up against those wrongdoings that occur on disparate levels, people of color endure in a constant struggle of repression by embodying pride for their heritage and/or dispute those who profile people based on their physical appearance.

1.2  Lamar’s Narrative

Lamar’s “Alright” finds itself being a visionary exploration of challenges countless African American encounter on a daily base. The text centers around systemic racism in the U.S.A., accompanied by aspects such as police brutality and socio-economic disparities. The main message being the community’s perseverance despite adversity, captivating this idea of “racial resilience”. Lamar states repeatably throughout the song “We gon’ be alright”, further emphasising this message.

Resonance of Symbols: Multimodal Significance

2.1  Lyrics as Linguistic Devices

Lamar employs written language to delve into the challenges faced by African Americans. His metaphorical language paints a vivid picture of these struggles, further emphasising on the narrative that resonates with his target audience. Lines such as “Wouldn’t you know, we been hurt, been down before” (KendrickLamarVEVO, 2015) captivate the historical struggles of the community, an evocative choice of linguistics to convey a resilient spirit.

When Lamar states, “I’m fucked up, homie, you fucked up” he aims to bring across the socio-economic disparities of his community within the U.S.A., transcending a quite literal representation. The use of direct language in lines such as “And we hate po-po” (police) rather contradicts the metaphorical linguistics he used before, fabricating a contrast that contributes to a highly multifaceted linguistic approach. By doing this, Lamar can convey both deeply personal aspects as well as the sociopolitical (police brutality).

Finally, language like “I keep my head up high”, “I cross my heart and hope to die”, and “But if God got us, then we gon’ be alright” further emphasises on the message of staying resilient no matter what.

2.2  A Visual Tapestry

Beyond the written word that Lamar offers in his lyrics, the visuals in “Alright” offer a symbolic tapestry that amplifies the ideology of Racial Resilience. Throughout the video are a lot of gritty aerial shots, capturing the rough reality of city-life. The cinematography becomes a symbol for challenges faced by African American communities in the U.S.A. while grounding the narrative of disparities in the socio-political context.

During a recurring sequence of shots, Lamar is seen floating through these landscapes, a visual symbol of escapism and transcendence. It suggests the longing of a life of liberation from struggles he and his community have to face, rising above adversity.

Through signifiers of costumes and customs, police people are represented various time in the video. Lamar is shown confronting a police car, while in another shot children are dancing on top of the vehicle. This in terms reflects peaceful community members being proactive yet joyful despite the ongoing threats of police brutality aimed at the community.

As the video concludes, these projected elements all come together in a final sequence. Lamar is seen on a lamppost (rising above adversity) in a robust and gritty atmosphere (socio-political context). He dances joyfully (resilience) as a police officer shoots him down without an apparent reason (police brutality). The entire sequence further enhances the idea of triumph through struggle.

2.3  Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

As stated before, a prominent prospect in Lamar’s “Alright” is the repetition of “We gon’ be alright”, which is not a mere rhythmic tool to enhance a refrain. It is rather a rhetorical device, utilised to reinforce a collective belief of hope and determination. It further on transduces the interest of the sign maker into a compelling catchphrase. Making the multimodal text easily recognisable and memorable.

Beyond the refrain, the repetition of “I love myself” embodies the strategic rhetorical device as self-affirmation. By repeating it over and over, the theme of perseverance amidst societal challenges contributes to the overall message of resilience within the community. This dual repetition that can be found in both individual as collective contexts, contributes to the song’s multimodal impact by rallying for self-empowerment and resilience throughout a large community.

2.4  A Harmonic Discourse

While the lyrics and visuals might be the most prominent and recognizable rhetorical devices in Lamar’s music video, the harmonic elements of the text contribute substantially to the overarching multimodal discourse. The song opens with slow, melancholic beats, which can be perceived as having a reflective tone. This deliberate rhythm in terms mirrors the reflection on the historical struggles faced by the African American community in the United States of America.

Furthermore, Lamar uses his vocal ability to shift in harmony. By shifting in his cadence and tone he offers emotional fluctuations within the lyrics that help emphasise the intended meaning. For instance, during the lines “I’m fucked up, homie, you fucked up” his vocal tonation gets rather intense, symbolising the pain and frustration often associated with socio-economic disparities. Conversely, the melody rises during lines such as “We gon’ be alright”, offering a sonic uplift that resonates with being resilient, hopeful, and determined.

Final thoughts: Empowering through Multimodality

Kendrick Lamar complements the multimodal experience of his audience by crafting a musical discourse that contributes to the idea of Racial Resilience in his song and video clip of 2015’s “Alright”. By using a range of modes and rhetorical devices, Lamar expresses his stance among topics such as socio-economic disparities and police brutality aimed at the African American community.

Lamar succeeds to give meaning through modes such as the written word, visuals, repetition, and harmony. He and his team succeeded in terms of meaning making as they created a recognizable and memorable multimodal text in racial liberation movements. The recognizable catchphrases, vivid symbolism, and strategic use of musical composition form a shared language for those who advocate against various forms of injustice, fostering a sense of solidarity.

However, it serves an even higher purpose. Lamar not only addresses the racial disparities that cause the need for Racial Resilience as a concept. He portrays a need for collective identity and community members coming together. Emphasizing the strength found in unity. This collective resilience serves as a powerful message to Lamar’s audience, and those beyond that. Lamar and his team made a multimodal text in a way that contributes to the bigger picture. By using rhetorical devices in a strategic and well-though-out way, his multimodal text serves as a mirror reflecting those societal issues that have a heavy emotional load to them. It urges the members of a society to confront those uncomfortable truths that cause a lot of controversy.

The enduring legacy that “Alright” left behind since releasing, lies not just in the musical, entertaining, and visual brilliance. It lies within its ability to spark conversations, help igniting movements, and inspire a global commitment to justice through resilience. As society continues to deal with (systematic) issues of racial discrimination and oppression, multimodal texts as that of Kendrick Lamar serve as beacons of empowerment in the darkness of dominating, distressing ideologies such as racism.

With that being said, as long as we stay resilient against those who do wrong, we gon’ be alright.