




In Kendrick Lamar’s music video Alright he shows the violent environment of crime-infested cities. Before he became famous he suffered from discrimination, but now that he is famous he still wants to shine light on the racial discrimination. Although the start and end of the music video is portrayed in a dark tone, Kendrick Lamar connects with the people and brings them hope in this shot of the music video Alright through the contrast of black and white, the excited mood, and his position in the crowd.

One of the most obvious elements of this shot is Kendrick Lamar in all white, contrasting the crowd behind him who are all wearing black, in order to symbolize that he is bringing light to a dark subject. The music video is shown in mostly black, gloomy tones to illustrate the violent environment that these people live in. In this particular shot Kendrick Lamar is shown contrasting the all black crowd with his bright white outfit, which shows that he is trying to change the outlook these people have surrounding the issues of police brutality and racial discrimination. The group in all black is reaching up to Lamar, which represents that he is the guardian angel that this group needs. The bright white outfit that Kendrick Lamar is wearing symbolizes the hope and joy that he is trying to bring to this group of people, and the group in all black symbolizes the violence that these people have to live through. After watching the first section of the music video the audience can infer that it is hard to be happy and optimistic in the circumstances that these people have to endure each day. The group is still wearing all black in this shot, but they are smiling and dancing, which shows that they now have hope.  If it was not for his optimism the group of people would not be as positive as they are depicted here. There is nothing but joy when Lamar is with his people. Through the use of black and white Kendrick Lamar is depicted as a guardian angel who shines light on the dark issue of police brutality and racial discrimination.

In this shot people are more excited in comparison to the rest of the music video, which shows that Kendrick Lamar brings them hope. The enthusiastic mood is shown in this shot through people dancing and smiling while supporting the rapper. The audience sees how excited this group of people are to fight discrimination, which symbolizes his goal of connecting to the people by bringing them joy. Before this shot, the large group of people are not excited, but here the audience can see that they all look unstoppable. This symbolizes the goal that Kendrick Lamar wants to accomplish of bringing joy and hope to the people who are immediately affected by police brutality. By reaching out to this community of people and shining a light on the issues that are relevant, Lamar accomplishes his goal. Although there is no immediate stop to police brutality and racial discrimination the audience can easily understand why Kendrick Lamar made this video. The viewer can infer that Lamar knows that the issues are still relevant by the use of two unarmed men being shot at the beginning and end of the video, but he wants to help the people affected by these problems by spreading joy and bringing hope, which is the main goal of the video. In this shot people are shown lifting their arms up similar to how Christians show God their reverence and adoration during church. This shows the audience that Kendrick Lamar is a moral leader who has many followers, just like Jesus. This group whom supports Lamar’s tactics of combating police brutality, similar to Christians who praise God, have problems they must deal with. Kendrick Lamar wants people affected by police brutality to have a different way of living, other than always being worried about major issues, which is comparable to how God gives an alternative way of living to people who must live in a sinful environment. The group dancing in this shot is thrilled to have a leader that they can connect to. The use of an excited mood in this shot reveals how Kendrick Lamar plans on solving the issues of police brutality and racial discrimination.

Kendrick Lamar’s positioning shows how he still connects with the group, even though he is famous now, and as the center of attention how he brings them hope as a leader. Before this shot he is shown floating around the city gathering followers. Now that he has a group the audience can see that they fully support him. This is shown by him being the center of attention, which makes him look like a leader. Immediately the viewer looks at Kendrick Lamar, who is the focal point, and they notice how happy he is. Then the eye gets drawn to all the people wearing black. This group is just as happy, and they are all supporting the leader. The positioning of Kendrick Lamar being on top of the group is not meant to depict the rapper as being better than the group wearing all black, but it does illustrate that he connects with them and wants to help, even though he does not live in a bad area now that he is rich. Even when Lamar makes it out of the struggle and is wealthy and famous, he still comes back to his roots to bring hope to his people. Kendrick Lamar wants the audience to realize that he connects with the group of common people who live in a crime-infested city because if he did not relate to the problems these people have to deal with then it would not make sense for him to be their leader. The positioning used in this shot shows the close connection that the famous rapper has with the common people, which is used to gain support for his ideas surrounding the ideas of police brutality and racial discrimination. 

Kendrick Lamar supporting and being supported by people who live in a crime-infested city demonstrates to the audience how he effectively spreads joy and hope. The contrast of different groups, people smiling and dancing, and Lamar being positioned as a leader shows the connection that he makes. Even though this shot’s tone is joyful, racial discrimination and police brutality are still relevant issues that affects everybody, which is shown by Lamar being shot down at the very end of the music video. Kendrick Lamar wants the audience to recognize this, which will effectively bring anyone who views this video to a hopeful mindset, which is depicted in this shot.

