The music video “Swimming Pools” was produced by Kendrick Lamar’s Label TDE (Top Dog Entertainment) and is directed to youth and young adults. Youth and young adults are by far the most abundant consumers of Hip Hop/Rap and this music video definitely hits that target audience. This music video, considering the nature of its content, is like most of Kendrick Lamar’s work and directed more towards the young adult crowd (18-26) than the youth crowd (14-17). This music video combines a woozy/party style soundtrack with deep lyrics and provides an in depth presentation of the high points and low points of alcohol consumption. This music video also describes the different reasons for people choosing to consume alcohol. The visuals and deep meaning of the lyrics of this video fused with the outstanding and irresistible to not rhyme along with party soundtrack made this music video an instant classic with young adults and a great choice whether you’re trying to party with friends or just vibe to yourself.

The visuals of this music video demand you to consider your own alcohol use and wonder which category of reasons for alcohol consumption you fall into. This video starts out with Kendrick falling into a deep abyss quickly followed by scenes of breaking glass bottles. The video quickly pans to Kendrick sitting in the middle of an abandoned room with a liquor bottle at his feet as he describes the first reason for alcohol consumption. Depression or as Kendrick describes it “to kill their sorrows” is the first reason this video lays out for alcohol consumption. Kendrick’s flailing while falling represents the struggle to remain stable both physically and mentally that comes with using excessive amounts of alcohol to kill your pain. The glass liquor bottles shattering represent the breaking point as alcohol consumption is not a sustainable fix for dealing with emotional issues and eventually will create a worse problem than the issues you were originally dealing with. Kendrick wandering around the abandoned room filled with shattered pictures, a broken bathtub, and many half-empty liquor bottles represent the turmoil that a child who grows up in an alcoholic home goes through. Kendrick illustrates this coming from a unique perspective as he himself grew up in a home with alcoholic parents. He references his grandfather when he says “Granddaddy backstroking through Chicago”, references and images of pools come up often throughout this music video.

 This first part of the music video forces the viewer to evaluate whether or not they have used in the past or currently use alcohol as a crutch to deal with emotional problems. These first few images appeal to our emotions of both empathy and worry. It makes us feel empathetic for those who have firsthand experience with alcohol abuse while at the same time making us worry if our own use could spiral out of control and cause the same pain and problems depicted in this video to affect us. It is not stated but assumed that not only his grandfather but also his mother and father, and perhaps even uncles and aunts, had issues with alcohol abuse. The house that Kendrick walks around supports this as it is very unlikely that only one alcoholic family member could have destroyed a house containing two fully functioning adults. It is also unstated but assumed that Kendrick himself struggles with the use of alcohol. This is supported by the half empty liquor bottle by his feet when he is sitting in the middle of the empty room.

The second reason Kendrick gives for the consumption of alcohol is to fit in with the popular crowd. He describes this when he says “to fit in with the popular that was my problem”. This is depicted by a clip of Kendrick dancing that is constantly interrupted by the same scenes of Kendrick falling into an abyss as seen in the first part of the music video. The video then proceeds to alternate between scenes of nightclubs and house parties where alcohol use is very clear and abundant. These scenes are accompanied by the Bridge “Pour up Drank, Headshot Drank, Sit-down Drank, Standup Drank, Pass out Drank, Wake up Drank, Faded Drank, Faded Drank”.

The scenes of nightclubs and bars are clear examples of what the popular thing to do is, and if one wanted to fit in with the popular crowd these are places that he or she would need to frequent. The short scenes of Kendrick falling that constantly interrupt the main images represent that even if one is using alcohol to party and have a good time it can still have serious repercussions and if done frequently enough partying can transition into becoming what you do whenever you need to deal will stress or emotional issues. This section of the video appeals to the emotions of both enjoyment and worry. The images appeal to enjoyment because a lot of us like to go out and party and have a good time, while at the same time it appeals to our emotion of worry because many people worry that their frequent partying could possibly transition into a more serious issue of alcohol abuse. The chorus and scenes of clubbing and drinking in this music video would function very differently if they were used in a Hip Hop/Rap song strictly about partying and having fun as many mainstream Hip Hop/Rap songs are about. The underlying tone of alcohol abuse affects the chorus and club scenes significantly. If you had not 

heard verse one and verse two the images of people partying, along with the hook and bridge would only function as a presentation of people going out and having a good time. However, if they are viewed within the context of the entire song it shows Kendrick’s criticism of binge drinking and alcohol abuse.

The third portion of this music video talks about how many people surpass their limits when drinking and also the confidence and “freedom” that alcohol bestows on the user. This part of the video also depicts how alcohol is often used as a tool to help hook up with the opposite sex. The video depicts Kendrick along with an attractive woman dancing in an octagon type structure constructed of bright white poles. Kendrick’s dancing in this scene is much more wild than it was in previous scenes of him dancing. Once the hook hits, it once again shows Kendrick falling back and eventually landing in a swimming pool. 

The lyrics let us know the bright white poles are supposed to symbolize Kendrick’s conscience “Okay, now open your mind up and listen to me, Kendrick, I'm in your conscience, if you do not hear me then you will be history, Kendrick”. His conscience is letting him know that he is at his limits, and if he does not stop drinking he will soon die and become history. Kendrick’s erratic dancing inside of the octagon symbolizes how alcohol lowers inhibitions, boosts confidence, and gives the user a sense of freedom. The attractive woman in the octagon represents how many people use alcohol as a tool to hook up. This is stated in the lyrics “I see the love in her eyes, I see the feelin' The freedom is granted as soon as the damage of vodka arrive This how you capitalize This is parental advice”. The sense of freedom alcohol gives its users is also mentioned in those lyrics when it says that whenever alcohol starts to affect your central nervous system (or as Kendrick calls it the damage) the sense of freedom arrives.

One scene that is repeated throughout the entire music video is Kendrick falling back into an abyss and eventually landing in a swimming pool. This scene is accompanied by the lyrics “First you get a swimming pool full of liquor, then you dive in it Pool full of liquor, then you dive in it”. The swimming pool symbolizes excessive drinking and how some people drink so much it seems like they could fill a swimming pool up with alcohol. If you listen closely you can hear that the sound “die” is emphasized in the word dive. The sound die being emphasized symbolizes that if someone drinks an extreme amount of alcohol it is very likely that they will die. This scene appeals to our emotion of uncertainty as it depicts Kendrick falling into a black abyss for a long period of time, and we don’t find out that he eventually falls into a swimming pool until the very end of the music video. The uncertainty is there to represent that when binge drinking the line between life and death can be very small, and you can never be certain which side of the line you will fall on.

