




In Kendrick Lamar’s music video of “King Kunta”, Lamar uses his rare financial and social status come-up from the city of Compton to bring his old community together. The residents of Compton, California, a poverty and crime-stricken city, have little to celebrate about on a daily basis as they have more to fear about. In the video of “King Kunta”, the appearance of Lamar sitting on a king’s throne with members of his community dancing to the music while the lyrics of, “now I run the game, got the whole world talkin’, King Kunta” are heard, it is immediately felt as if Kendrick Lamar is being celebrated as a social figure. Similarly, while the same lyrics are sang in another part of the song, Kendrick Lamar can be seen on the roof of the Compton Fashion Center with citizens of Compton below him dancing. Lamar knows that is people look up to him, and he does the best that he can to give back to his community.

The first appearance of Lamar’s king-like status is in fact when he is dancing on the roof of the Fashion Center. Kendrick is above everyone else, which is a common motif for someone who has a higher status than others. However, instead of abusing his financial and social status, the members of his community are dancing with him to celebrate his music and the work he had to put in to get out of poverty. It seems as if the citizens of Compton are looking up to him rather then Lamar looking down on the citizens since they are showing jubilant emotions and dancing to the music. 

Secondly, the appearance of the king’s throne in which Kendrick is sitting on with others huddled around him, again, dancing to the music. Something that stood out to me was that there was a young child standing in front of Lamar with expensive glasses and gold chains on. Kendrick Lamar seems to be a role model to this child, which means that there are definitely more children and other people from the city of Compton that look to Kendrick Lamar as a role model. Yes, Kendrick knows that he is the “king of Compton”, but he also knows where he came from and what his artistic work means to the people of his community. He gives people of Compton an example of how to make a difference in the world. 

At the end of the music video, Lamar is seen leaving his old house and getting in his car with the king’s throne sitting in the driveway. Here, it can be implied that he will be back soon and that it will still be there when he returns. Again, Compton is a crime-stricken city, but Kendrick seems to have no worries about anyone taking his throne when he is gone. Everyone from Compton knows who Kendrick Lamar is, and know how much he means to their city.

I think that this visual texts would still appeal to the eye without the written text. Just the sight of a community dancing around Lamar brings a sense of joy to the audience. However, if the written text was very negative, the visual text could be critiquing or making fun of whatever the written text is about. There is no way that one could look at this video and have a negative outlook on the topic since everyone is enjoying themselves, and frankly, it would be very difficult to find another piece of written text to accompany this music video. 

This image of Lamar being a king is powerful in the sense that people love him. One of Lamar’s main themes in most of his songs is spreading love or identifying hate and criticizing it. This music video is clearly accompanied by the first theme of spreading love. The written text works hand-in-hand with the visual text. In the lyrics where he refers to his life before fame, the video shows shots of low income housing and the streets of Compton where Lamar used to walk. Then when the lyrics talk about how he “runs the game,” that is when Lamar’s community is shown around him and celebrating. There is the sacred idea of coming up out of poverty that appeals to the eye, and that is another powerful message that lies within the song. 

Demar DeRozan, Tyson Chandler, James Harden, Serena and Venus Williams, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar- the list is not very long, but there are a number of influential people who started their lives in the city of Compton. All of these people, however, share on thing in common. They came out of poverty by dedicating their lives to something that they love. All of these people are not just celebrated by Compton, but are celebrated by the whole world. Again, this is another thing that appeals to the human eye. Lamar was a “poster child”, straight-A student, who used his talents in what he loved to get himself out of poverty in order to show his community that anyone can be him. A quote from a different song by Lamar is, “Build your own pyramids, write your own hieroglyphs.” Anyone can make it out of poverty if you work for it, and I think that is what people love about him the most. He is a true role model that loves his city and its people. 

There are many underlying messages that you can take from Kendrick Lamar’s music video. However, it is very difficult to pull something negative out of it. Kendrick is trying to spread a loving vibe with this song, and he has done a very good job of it.  One of my favorite Kendrick Lamar quotes is, in fact, about spreading love, especially in today’s world where low-key and not so low-key racism have a big impact on our daily lives. Lamar says, “Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different, they are one and the same.” As an African American, Lamar obviously has seen and heard more negative things toward his race than I have, but this message of how everyone is created equal shows his passion for spreading love, and I think that Kendrick should be celebrated more as a peace spreader than a musical artist.


