The beat Kendrick Lamar kept for six months before writing to it: “I didn’t have the words”
Kendrick Lamar is among the greatest rappers of all time, but not every lyric comes to him instantly. One of the most potent songs of his career sat on his hard drive for half a year because he couldn’t find inspiration for it right away.
The Compton rapper released his To Pimp a Butterfly album in 2015, which is often considered the best album of his career for its jazz-rap qualities. It birthed one of the biggest protest songs of the 21st century, ‘Alright’, through its association with the Black Lives Matter movement, with many people chanting the powerful lyrics through the streets.
Produced by Pharrell, ‘Alright’ won ‘Best Rap Song’ and ‘Best Rap Performance’ at the Grammy Awards in 2016 while receiving two other nominations. A track that might appear natural to Kendrick took a while to come to mind.
“I was sitting on that record for about six months,” he told acclaimed producer Rick Rubin for GQ. “The beat’s Pharrell. And between my guy Sam Taylor and Pharrell, they would always be like, ‘Did you do it? When you gonna do it?’ I knew it was a great record—I just was trying to find the space to approach it.
“I mean, the beat sounds fun, but there’s something else inside of them chords that Pharrell put down that feels like—it can be more of a statement rather than a tune. So with Pharrell and Sam asking me, am I gonna rock on it, when I’m gonna rock on it, it put the pressure on me to challenge myself. To actually think and focus on something that could be a staple in hip-hop.”
He added, “Eventually, I came across it. Eventually, I found the right words. You know, it was a lot going on, and still, to this day, it’s a lot going on. And I wanted to approach it as more uplifting—but aggressive. Not playing the victim, but still having that, ‘We strong’, you know?”
Kendrick explained that Pharrell and Taylor, an executive from Sony Music, knew the song would end up being something special long before he realised. “I didn’t have any words,” he admitted. “P knew that that record was special. Sam knew that the record was special. They probably knew it before I even had a clue.
“So I’m glad that they put that pressure on me to challenge myself. ‘Cause sometimes, as a writer, you can have that writer’s block. And when you like a sound or an instrumental, you want to approach it the right way. So you sit on it. I remember hitting P on a text like, ‘Man, I got the lyrics.’ And typing the lyrics to him. He’s like, ‘That’s it.'”
The inspiration for the song started with Pharrell’s lyrics on the hook. “P had the ‘alright.’ That’s him on the hook. And just saying the ‘alright’ phrase—what does, ‘We are gonna be alright’ represent?” he said. “I’m glad that sparked the idea, ’cause that song coulda went a thousand other ways.”
‘Alright’ has amassed over 906 million streams on Spotify, and the equally powerful music video has 187 million YouTube views. 10 years after its release, the song stands the test of time and remains a standout in Kendrick’s catalogue.