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Kendrick Lamar's Element Analysis

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Kendrick lamar’s award winning music video for his 2017 single Element shows the many experiences he faced growing up as a black man. The various symbols broadcasted throughout this music video show specific conflicts and struggle that he has dealt with throughout his life and also allowed black man that have been in his position something to relate to. He teamed up with director/photographer Jonas Lindstroem to help him convey his message but in a unique and creative way. The slow moving scenes show a softer depiction of his encounters. They give a sense of understanding which allows the viewer to be able to comprehend and absorb his message. As a whole, it was a collection of the pain, beauty, peace and violence that exists within his “element”. …show more content…

“From the conclusion of the Civil War to the present moment, the hegemonic system of white supremacy has represented a ubiquitous challenge for survival for members of the black community (McLeod).” A lot of his images were inspired by Gordon Parks, a photographer that was popularized during the civil rights era that captured photos of the lives of black people. Scenes like the man teaching his son how to throw a punch was inspired by a photo parks took of Muhammad Ali teaching a young boy how to fight. Although it was inspired by parks, this scene symbolizes how black men are taught to fight. In another scene, Lamar show black men throwing punches in a uniformed fashion as if it was something that is taught scholastically. Another important symbol in this is guns. There is a scene of a young dark skinned boy pointing a gun in the distance. This symbolizes how darker skinned black people are viewed as more violent than other people. He also had a scene where a black man that was beaten up by police officers. This is apparent because of the blue and red lights flashing. This was to show that when we encounter law enforcement, there is a high risk of mistreatment for doing something small like not stopping all the way at a stop

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