Kendrick Lamar galvanizes Grammys with politically charged performance

After a funereal first two hours, rapper Kendrick Lamar blew the roof off of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Monday night with a high-octane performance of three songs songs from his 11-times nominated album To Pimp a Butterfly. The performance, which like Lamar’s music was studded with strong allusions to racial inequality, the prison-industrial complex and black identity, drove the audience to its feet.

The performance by Lamar, who was introduced by actor Don Cheadle as the author of “a hip-hop masterpiece”, was the night’s highlight. Walked onstage while shackled in chains with a prison-set performance of The Blacker the Berry, a celebration of black identity - “Everything black, I don’t want black / I want everything black, I ain’t need black / Some white some black, I ain’t mean black / I want everything black”, Lamar shifted to an African motif for a well-applauded rendition of Alright, joined by drummers and dancers in front of a bonfire the size of a house.Lamar then debuted a new verse which alluded to the death of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old fatally shot by George Zimmerman in 2012; it included the line ““On February 26th I lost my life, too.” He ended the performance with an image of the outline of the African continent beamed high above the stage, with the word “COMPTON” written on it. At the time of his performance, Lamar had won best rap song, best rap performance, best rap/sung collaboration, best music video and best rap album.

Lamar’s third studio album incorporated free jazz, spoken word poetry, and funk in a deeply political record that debuted at the top of the charts in both the US and the UK. The album, preceded by lead single i, addresses topics ranging from police brutality to black-on-black violence and earned Lamar his first two Grammy awards at last year’s ceremony.