All great performances succeed in relaying a larger meaning to the viewer.   Visual style is typically the difference between a unique performance and an average one.  In order to succeed in producing this extensive meaning, visual motifs are a necessity.  Using personal interpretation, one is able to successfully dig deeper into a visual text’s context.  Kendrick Lamar is an African American rapper who is well known for his points on contemporary political issues.  Through his music, videos, and performances, he is always able to provide his standpoint.  In his 2016 Grammy performance, he uses numerous powerful visual motifs in order to argue a point.  The motif that seems to be vital was his use of handcuffs.  He, and his backup dancers were all in handcuffs.  The use of this motif was to contribute to a larger meaning.  Also, the change of scene in the performance provides a powerful standpoint to the national issue.  Using the surrounding area, color schemes, lyrics, and the filmic methods being used, this greater meaning is attainable. 

The common thread that Kendrick Lamar employs throughout his art is justice.  In his Grammy performance, he definitely is able to provide an argument.  At the beginning of his performance, he walks out onto the stage with him and his backup dancers in handcuffs.  His chains are rattling on the ground, and there is slow and sad music playing out of a saxophone.  It begins with a close-up of him, while his backup dancers dance.  The lights were very dim, and created a very sad and dark mood.  There doesn’t seem to be any guards in the area, just the inmates.  All of the dancers are African American, which is a key point in his argument.   Kendrick is also at the front of the stage, which places the focus solely on him for the time being.  The handcuffs in Kendrick’s performance were under his own control.  All of the African American men on stage had control over their own destiny.  The men are also all chained up together, symbolizing the fact that they stand as one, and that they are all in this situation together.  Whilst rapping, Kendrick has a solemn look on his face, like something is bothering him.  He is also twitching each time the beat hits.  Kendrick Lamar’s body placement, language, and the surrounding area creates a very dark and negative connotation to his performance.

 He and his backup dancers were then able to remove the cuffs themselves.  This performance was an argument to the police brutality issue that had hit America.  Kendrick was arguing that the real issue is the fact that African Americans are locking themselves up.  They’re constantly fighting, and killing each other, and blaming the police.  This is why his first statement is calling himself a hypocrite.  He states, “I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015.”.  He finds himself a hypocrite because of the fact that the black community is constantly fighting the police and their brutality, when in reality they are the ones who are exhibiting brutality to each other.  They blame white people for the brutality displayed towards the black community, however they are also killing each other.  The way they treat each other is widely hypocritical. The handcuffs were all taken off on their own, displaying that they are able to fight the common brutality trend in the nation by fixing their own ways. In a way, they hold the key to their own future, not anybody else. To further support this argument, at the end of the song Kendrick Lamar performs, “The Blacker the Berry”, he states, “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street, when gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me? Hypocrite!” Kendrick is basically explaining that he has killed black people before, but what right does he have to be mad at whites, for doing the same.  However, the end of the first part of the performance shows Kendrick and his dancers as illuminated skeletons dancing.  This was used to symbolize equality.  It showed that we are all the same on the inside, skin color is only an appearance. Kendrick Lamar’s politically charged Grammy performance provides an argument, while using various visual motifs to assert his stance in that argument.  

The next scene transitions into the past.  It previews numerous men, all black, dancing around a raging fire.  Most are in tribal attire, however, Kendrick and his backup dancers are still in their jail outfits.  The lyrics Kendrick is singing are the most important part of this scene.  He is repeatedly saying, “We gon be alright.”  This part of the performance seems to symbolize how the black culture has evolved and will continue to.  He is also stating how, regardless of how his people are going to be treated, they will always hold true to their culture, and come out okay.  Kendrick Lamar brings his performance back to the roots of African culture, to prove that African American people will continue to progress, despite negative influences.  

In art, motifs are an element of a larger image.  They are typically repeating images that contribute to a deeper argument.  Kendrick Lamar uses visual motifs beautifully in his performance.  Using other visual aspects, and his lyrics, he is able to communicate his message to the crowd.    There was a bit of irony in the performance, in that the crowd was mostly white.  This was a very interesting aspect of the performance.  Kendrick Lamar’s use of visual motifs, like handcuffs, provided an excellent argument to the highly controversial topic.  His politically driven performance ends with an image behind him that shows an image of Africa and its labeled “Compton”.  This was a very powerful way to end the performance.  He was basically stating how black people dominate Compton.  I think it goes deeper than that, I think he was trying to say how there was a lack of infrastructure and laws.  He is basically stating that Compton is as lawless as Africa is.  