The one song Kendrick Lamar called the “biggest in the world”
It goes without saying that Kendrick Lamar is one of the biggest musicians in the world. As celebrated by the public as he is held in awe by even the fiercest of critics, the Pulitzer Prize winning rapper has single-handedly elevated the hip-hop genre. Musically, even his earliest albums proudly displayed his prowess, blending genres of jazz and classical music with traditional hip-hop sounds to highlight the intensity of his delivery.
And lyrically; what is there to say that hasn’t been already? As much of a poet as he is a rapper, Kendrick’s lyricism ranges from exploring spirituality and racial identity to the nuances of community and masculinity, taking themes often discussed in the genre, but rarely with as much sensitivity and depth. Even his diss tracks feel unprecedented in their lines; his 2024 summer hit ‘Not Like Us’ had people dropping their jaws in shock across the world at his trademark brazen wit.
Yet there is one song that stands above the titans of his discography. Kendrick’s 2015 single ‘Alright’, from his landmark album To Pimp a Butterfly, is one of the most definitive tracks of the 21st century. It experienced two lives of sorts. One when it was first released, where it both charted and received accolades from magazines and the Grammys alike; and another one five years later.
It became an unofficial anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, when student protesters chanted the chorus in a manner akin to a rallying cry. Kendrick spoke with Variety magazine about the song’s second life.
“What makes a hit record?” he said. “Because it has some kind of numbers behind it? Is it the amount of streams or the amount of sales or the amount of spins on the radio? Nobody can really justify which one it is, because I’ve heard hundreds of records from inside the neighbourhood that were quote-unquote ‘hit records’ and never stood a day outside the community.”
He then made the argument that at the time, ‘Alright’ was “probably the biggest record in the world”. A fair assessment to make, given its role as a protest song during one of the biggest political and social movements of the USA in the 21st century.
“You might not have heard it on the radio all day, but you’re seeing it in the streets, you’re seeing it on the news, and you’re seeing it in communities, and people felt it.”
Upon release in 2015, it received immediate acclaim from critics. Yet it was evident Kendrick had always planned for it to be bigger than just a darling of the industry: even five years before the Black Lives Matter movement, he aligned his song with the Black American cause, performing it live for the first time at the BET Awards while standing on a police car flanked by a huge, battered American flag.