Sign up now
Australia Shopping Network. It's All About Shopping!
Categories

Posted: 2016-02-16 06:04:11

It's doubtful the Grammys have seen a more aggressive, impressive, abrasive performance than that delivered by Kendrick Lamar at this year's awards.

Host LL Cool J had promised Lamar's performance would be controversial, and the acclaimed artist – who had collected five Grammys before his moment in the spotlight – didn't disappoint.

Lamar shuffled onto stage dressed in prison garb, his hands cuffed in front of him, a clear reference to the high incarceration rates of African-American men in the US penal system. He was joined by chains to more black men, a reference to the chain gangs that were still common in some southern states of the US as recently as the 1990s.

Kendrick Lamar pulled off one of the strongest performances at the Grammys yet.

Kendrick Lamar pulled off one of the strongest performances at the Grammys yet. Photo: Fox8

The imagery was striking, but entirely in keeping with Lamar's willingness to confront the political as well as the emotional reality of being a young black man in modern America. The music followed suit, a wild jazz-metal mash-up of some of the tracks from his best-selling album To Pimp a Butterfly. The Blacker the Berry – a song that directly addresses white fear of and prejudice towards black men, often focused around myths of sexuality – was in there. So too was Alright, a nominee for Song of the Year (an award that went to Ed Sheeran – arguably the whitest man in the auditorium – for Thinking Out Loud).

Advertisement

There were dancers in African tribal markings and costumes and a huge fire as Lamar's routine joined the dots between the African and the American components of the African-American experience and, finally, a map of Africa projected behind him – in white – stamped with the word "Compton", for the predominantly black and poor suburb of Los Angeles where the 28-year-old musician was born and raised.

The links Lamar drew between America's shameful past and its tortured present clearly resonated with the audience, which gave him a standing ovation.

  • Taylor Swift opens the 58th Grammy Awards with <i>Out of the Woods</i>.
  • Lady Gaga pays tribute to the late David Bowie at the 58th Grammy Awards.
  • Kendrick Lamar performs a medley of tracks from his album <i>To Pimp a Butterfly</i> at the 58th Grammy Awards.
  • Adele performs <i>All I Ask</i> at the 58th Grammy Awards.
  • Hollywood Vampires (Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper and Joe Perry) perform <i>As Bad As I Am</i> and Motorhead's <i>Ace of Spades</i> at the 58th Grammy Awards.
  • The Weeknd delivers <i>In the Night</i> on stage at the 58th Grammy Awards.
  • Alabama Shakes perform their award-winning song <i>Don't Wanna Fight</i> at the 58th Grammy Awards.
  • Andra Day on stage for her performance of <i>Rise Up</i> at the 58th Grammy Awards.
  • The Eagles (Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh) and Jackson Browne pay tribute to the late Glenn Frey with <i>Take It Easy</i> at the 58th Grammy Awards.
  • Demi Lovato, Lionel Richie, Meghan Trainor and Tyrese during the Lionel Richie tribute at the 58th Grammy Awards.

Whether deliberately or not, the performance also gained a little something from the fact it was bookended (more or less) by a song from the stage musical Hamilton, and the presentation of an award to the show.

Hamilton is about the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States.

A white man born out of wedlock in the West Indies, Hamilton rose to serve as Treasurer to George Washington and remained an opponent of slavery throughout his life.

Karl Quinn is on Facebook and on twitter @karlkwin

 

 

 

 

View More
  • 0 Comment(s)
Captcha Challenge
Reload Image
Type in the verification code above