Kendrick Lamar: Grammy's 2016

On March 15, 2015, Kenrick Lamar's album To Pimp a Butterfly was released and took the world by storm. The album was leaked 1 week before its official release yet still drew mass attention for being an album that can connect to many African American's identities and experiences while living in the states. Due to the quality of the album, To Pimp a Butterfly was nominated for 11 awards at the Grammys and that night took home five of them at the 2016 Grammy Awards.
That night at the Grammy's, Kendrick was also asked to perform a few songs from his album. His performance consisted of him singing "The Blacker the Berry" and "Alright". The show alone cultivated two different types of reactions; some say that it caused controversy, and others say that it was a work of art. 
Link to Performance 
At the start of his performance, Kendrick came out on stage in chains and in a prison uniform with his bandmates behind bars. After performing "The Blacker the Berry" in this attire, he moved into the song "Alright" where he sings in front of a large bomb fire with neon colors all around. During his performance, he included a freestyle verse where he references Trayvon Martin's death, "On February 26th I lost my life too, It's like I'm here in a dark dream Nightmare, hear screams recorded Say that it sounds distorted but they know who it was, That was me yelling for help when he drowned in his blood, Why didn't he defend himself? Why couldn't he throw a punch? And for our community do you know what this does? Add to a trail of hatred." At the end of the performance, there was a visual of Africa with the word "Compton" over it.
Kenrick's album illuminated what its like to be a black person in modern-day America and delivered many messages that others can either relate to or learn from. The performance itself brought in visuals of black men behind bars and then transitioned into an African themed set. This performance is labeled as "controversial" due to it allegedly "presenting reverse racism". When asked about Lamar's set, LL Cool J responded with, 
"Controversial… I’m not sure that’s the right word. Certainly it’s provocative," he said. "In this case, Kendrick came to us and said that we live in a time where these issues confront us every day and that it’s important that they be given a public forum, and he would like to use his x number of minutes to create a great performance that is consistent with his this year. It is overtly political and it is overtly provocative, and I think if nothing else it’s going to give people something to think about and talk about."
== Sources ==
https://www.theverge.com/2016/2/15/11004624/grammys-2016-watch-kendrick-lamar-perform-alright-the-blacker-the-berry
https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/16/8225901/kendrick-lamar-album-leak-itunes-pulled
https://www.inquisitr.com/2801424/kendrick-lamars-2016-grammy-performance-causes-controversy-among-white-people-like-beyonce-at-the-super-bowl/
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/grammys/6875293/kendrick-lamar-the-blacker-the-berry-alright-2016-grammys