Sweeter The Berry Analysis

Over the course of human existence, a power system has emerged similar to that of other species; there is consistently a leader role, those who make the rules, and a follower role, those who must follow the rules. The 2015 album by hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar describes the relationship of the music industry and the black musician, a system that mirrors the human power system. Lamar’s work also explores the exploitative power that the alphas, hereby known as the ruling class, have over the black community in America through use of stereotypes. The Blacker the Berry and Wesley’s Theory both address the ruling class embracing a stereotype and devaluing a culture. The ruling class ignores the valid needs and the concerns of a culture, while attempting …show more content…
In The Blacker the Berry, Lamar speaks from his own point of view in the verses of the song, speaking of his experience as a black man in America. The song explains contrary to the dated adage “the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice”, the black experience in America is too often not a sweet one due to the stereotype Lamar and other blacks are ushered into. Oppositely, in Wesley’s Theory, the ruling class, specifically the music industry, serenade Lamar as a young, black musician with promises of luxury. Lamar reveals over the course of the song that this is only yet another tactic for control by the ruling class. Through Lamar’s address of the power system from both positions in these two songs, one can identify the important role stereotyping plays in the process. Lamar’s work allows us to examine how a majority acquires power over a minority by means of constructing their identity using a stereotype; the ruling class does this by creating a stereotype, glamorizing the perpetration, and punishing opposition of the …show more content…
The Blacker the Berry and Wesley’s Theory provide evidence as to how those at the top of the power system use stereotypes as a means to gain and keep control over those who are, as a consequence of social or historical conditions, are lower in the power system. Though Lamar specifically highlights how the ruling class has created the stereotype of the black man, glamorized it in some respects, and shown punishments for noncompliance, his message applies to a broader audience. Lamar spreads his message through his music, don’t let another party define you and use that definition to control you, “emancipation of a real nigga” (“The Blacker”), Lamar declares, calling for complete emancipation from the stereotype of a power structure that works against