Jia Pan

Christina Phillips

English 102  --  020

March 10, 2016

Analysis of the Short Film "God is Gangsta"

"God is Gangsta" is a short film that features Kendrick Lamar with his two songs from his album To Pimp A Butterfly, "u", and "For Sale". In this short film, Kendrick Lamar criticizes himself through his songs for being unable to be true to himself after the fortune and fame that many, including him, have ridiculed for the change of personality like many pawns of the music industry. Reasons for the change in personality includes the gilding of the music industry; an alluring appeal of fame, wealth, and riches that it illuminates, but underneath these temptations ultimately destroys a person's personality, their true-self, and creativity. The film is divided into two scenes. The first scene features Kendrick in a state of self-loathing as he combats with himself and his decisions that he has both made in the past and current dealings with how he was been consumed by the fame and glory of the music industry. With being so tied up to the music he has forgotten his responsibility as a friend and lost his "antennas" or sense when dealing with issues back at home. In the second scene Kendrick criticizes the evil of the music industry and his dealings with them as they attempt to strip his uniqueness away. "God Is Gangsta" combines the use of religious metaphor and symbolism to help convey both Kendrick's internal struggle of being unable to become the man he wanted to be, and his decision to fight against the industry before they stripped of what's left of him that makes him distinct. 

 In the first ten seconds of the video, the entire video is muted. With the noise canceled out, the audience is then forced to focus on the picture rather than the music itself. In the short-lived silence, Kendrick is first seen almost like he was arguing with the camera and later fixating himself with what seems to be liquor. Soon after, Kendrick is seen sitting down and screaming, frantically, almost like a response one would give when struck by pain. However, in this scene, a wine cellar, along with what seems to be mahogany walls, chair, and table, surrounds Kendrick. This serves as the juxtaposition between Kendrick's conscious of characterizing himself as a failure, and the fortune and fame he has obtained. This can be interpreted from the lyrics, "Feel like you ain't shit, feel like you don't feel. Confidence in yourself, breakin' on marble floors". Mahogany walls and the surrounding items in the setting like the wine cellar were bought with his music money. With those amenities, the idea of being sad with that accumulation of money would be unheard of. However, even with the money and the expensive items he surrounds himself with could never satisfy him enough to forget about his life's regrets. The idea that not even money can buy the things needed to soothe one's mind of their mistakes. "I'll start with your little sister bakin' A baby inside, just a teenager  ...  Where was your antennas, where was your influence you speak of?" One of the many failures that Kendrick brings up as he criticizes himself for, unable to watch over his little sister who ultimately got pregnant, something he could have abrupted if he was such a great influence that the world portrays him as. Here in this scene as he sings those same lyrics, the video portrays Kendrick all over the place, almost like he was running, running away from the thoughts he was but can never escape. Again, his conscious acknowledging his ill repute of achieving fame, criticizing himself for becoming someone else that he can no longer love or accept, "Loving you is complicated", which he constantly repeats to emphasize his antagonism towards himself. The wine cellar, composed of the mahogany walls and table, can also masquerade as the music industry's grip over Kendrick. Kendrick, well known for his endeavor from Compton to fame, is signed into the music industry that promises him the riches, and fame, something that all artists has fallen victim to. Within the walls represent what Kendrick's accomplishment has brought him; the liquor, and again, the mahogany walls, and table. However, the cellar is closed in, representing both the industry's handle over Kendrick. Not only is the industry's handle on Kendrick's personal life, as he is antagonized by his peers back at home for becoming the man he and his peers have argued not to be when in hopes of becoming famous. But the industry also has a hold over Kendrick' inability to escape the appeals of fortune and fame that the music industry has used to tempt Kendrick into signing; the price of fame. In this first scene, Kendrick is struggling with the internal emotions of self-abandonment, and the outward acquisition of success unable to control either thus losing himself in liquor. Ironically the same thing he once dreamed of obtaining, a sort of physical representation that he that he has become successful, also doubles as a symbol of a tool that unveils the pain within and the regret that he holds. 

 In the second scene, Kendrick is now in the scene of a club illuminated with only the color red, giving it an almost sinister mood. In this room, naked women surround Kendrick. The room's red luminescence can serve both as a symbol of hell, and the music industry, as Kendrick uses the two synonymously. The women serves as the physical representation of sin and temptation, the same women that can be achieved and obtained through singing off with the recoding label, or in Kendrick's case, signing away his soul. This can be implied as the track in this scene constantly mentions the name of Lucy, an almost feminine alteration of the name Lucifer. Also, in this scene, which wasn't incorporated in the first scene, was the use of transitional slides with a short message written on each. On one of the transitional slides was a written message that said, "Instagram 2016: Dussy Unlimited". Here, this could be a personal observation from the writers themselves or Kendrick. Now with Instagram, an app that allows others to view other's pictures. However, on Instagram, there are also users who post enticing pictures of themselves, majority of them being females. Instagram models are what they are called. It has never been so convenient for the world as they are always on other's newsfeed, and in abundance, thus as the message conveys, "Dussy Unlimited", and unlimited amount of desirable women. As the scene goes on, more naked women are surrounding Kendrick. Here, in this scene the song says, "Lucy gone fill your pockets ...  Avoiding me? / It's not so easy I'm at these functions accordingly/ Kendrick, Lucy don't slack a minute." Here Kendrick acknowledges the efforts of Lucy as she is attempting to entice him with women, and here the women represent the physical embodiment of temptation. The constant seductive touching, and gazes, Lucy is attempting to lure Kendrick into her arms, and have him do what all artists have fallen victim to; selling of their soul to gain glory, riches and fame which she says, "And now you all grown up to sign this contract if that's possible". Another way the women were utilized in this scene was the depiction of them doing a full pat down on Kendrick. What seems to be a strip club, Kendrick sits there as he is being felt on every inch of his body, but also in a sense, almost like they were stripping something away. Going back to the idea that the women were the physical being of temptation, the products of hell, which also represented the music industry. It can be implied that the body pat down by the women can also mean the stripping Kendrick of his creativity by the music industry. Also in this scene, the religious metaphor of baptizing is incorporated. In the very first seconds of the second scene, Kendrick is being lowered into a pool of water. For the entire duration of the second scene, Kendrick is submerged in the water. This religious metaphor of Kendrick being baptized represents the decision of Kendrick of wanting to get rid of all of his sins and regret that it came with. However, Kendrick is being baptized for a the entire duration of the scene, which emphasizes the submersion of Kendrick for a longer period than the average time it takes to be baptized. Here, the emphasized baptizing of Kendrick represents the amount of sin Kendrick has retained, thus an extended time submerged. Finally, at the end of the scene, Kendrick is seen crossing a bridge, an internal bridge between his true self and the person he was to become if he continued to become a pawn of the music industry. However, it's not clear which way he's walking toward or from. In this scene, Kendrick is seen attempting to liberate himself from the temptations that has changed him which Lucy offered him, freeing himself, however the sins he has committed resulted in him submerged in the water he was baptizing himself in, for a longer period of time than average, in order to rid of all of the endless amounts of sinning he has done.

. In this short film "God is Gangsta", Kendrick is in a constant battle between his friends, as they critique him for becoming the man that they once ridiculing others for becoming slaves of the industry. He criticizes himself for being the one thing he hated about music, a pawn and becoming only a figure for others to profit off of. Thus, to rid of his past and the path he has chosen before, he chooses to baptize himself because unlike the industry, God has his back, thus the title, "God Is Gangsta". 

Works Cited

Lamar, Kendrick. "God Is Gangsta." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 13 Jan. 2016. Web. 10 March. 2016.
