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The Butterfly Effect

Page 25

by Marcus J. Moore


  Chapter 7: “We Gon’ Be Alright”

  “I kind of had”: Kory Grow, “See Kendrick Lamar Perform Death-Defying Stunts in ‘Alright’ Video,” Rolling Stone, June 30, 2015, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/see-kendrick-lamar-perform-death-defying-stunts-in-alright-video-74253/.

  “I knew it was”: “Kendrick Lamar Talks to Rick Rubin About ‘Alright,’ Eminem, and Kendrick’s Next Album,” GQ, October 20, 2016, https://www.gq.com/story/kendrick-lamar-rick-rubin-gq-style-cover-interview.

  “Once you get an image”: Andres Tardio, “Exclusive: We Got All the Answers about Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’ Video,” MTV News, June 30, 2015, http://www.mtv.com/news/2201127/kendrick-lamar-alright-video-colin-tilley/.

  “We needed an anthem”: Kory Grow, “Riot on the Set: How Public Enemy Crafted the Anthem ‘Fight the Power,’ ” Rolling Stone, June 30, 2014, https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/riot-on-the-set-how-public-enemy-crafted-the-anthem-fight-the-power-244152/.

  Freddie Gray was arrested: Natalie Sherman, Chris Kaltenbach, and Colin Campbell, “Freddie Gray Dies a Week after Being Injured during Arrest,” Baltimore Sun, April 19, 2015, https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-freddie-gray-20150419-story.html.

  the body of Sandra Bland: Katie Rogers, “The Death of Sandra Bland: Questions and Answers,” New York Times, July 23, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/23/us/23blandlisty.html.

  “Our mere existence”: Sharon Cooper, “Sandra Bland’s Sister: She Died Because Officer Saw Her as ‘Threatening Black Woman,’ Not Human,” USA Today, May 13, 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2019/05/13/sandra-bland-sister-police-brutality-policing-the-usa/1169559001/.

  In late July 2015: Dusty Henry and Alex Young, “Cleveland State University Conference Attendees Chant Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’ in Protest against Police,” Consequence of Sound, July 29, 2015, https://consequenceofsound.net/2015/07/cleveland-state-university-protesters-chant-kendrick-lamars-alright-in-protest-against-police/.

  “You might not have heard”: Andrew Barker, “How Kendrick Lamar Became the Defining Hip-Hop Artist of His Generation,” Variety, November 2017, https://variety.com/2017/music/features/kendrick-lamar-career-damn-to-pimp-a-butterfly-1202619725/.

  Chapter 8: The Night Kendrick Ascended

  To solve the 2009 crisis: Farhana Hossain et al., “The Stimulus Plan: How to Spend $787 Billion,” New York Times, accessed April 3, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/44th_president/stimulus.

  “How can you take”: Colin Stutz, “Kendrick Lamar Responds to Geraldo Rivera: ‘Hip-Hop Is Not the Problem, Our Reality Is,’ ” Billboard, July 2, 2015, https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6620035/kendrick-lamar-responds-geraldo-rivera-alright-bet-awards.

  “I don’t believe in none”: Steven Horowitz, “Kendrick Lamar Addresses Backlash over Refusal to Vote,” HipHopDX, August 28, 2012, https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.20924/title.kendrick-lamar-addresses-backlash-over-refusal-to-vote.

  That December, President Barack Obama: Tierney McAfee and Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, “Kendrick Lamar Vs. Bruno Mars: POTUS and FLOTUS’ Favorite Songs, Movies and Moments of 2015,” People, December 9, 2015, https://people.com/books/barack-obama-and-michelle-obamas-favorite-songs-movies-and-moments-of-2015/.

  “I think Drake”: Keith Wagstaff, “Obama Picks Kendrick over Drake in YouTube Interview,” NBC News, January 13, 2016, https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/obama-picks-kendrick-over-drake-youtube-interview-n497571.

  “The way people look”: Adelle Platon, “Kendrick Lamar Opens Up about Meeting President Obama: ‘No Matter How High-Ranking You Get, You’re Human,’ ” Billboard, February 4, 2016, https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/6866105/kendrick-lamar-meeting-president-obama.

  He had been nominated: “Kendrick Lamar,” Grammy Awards, Recording Academy, accessed April 3, 2020, https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/kendrick-lamar.

  only two rap albums: Mesfin Fekadu and the Associated Press, “Diddy Calls Out Grammys for Not Respecting Black Music ‘To the Point That It Should Be,’ ” Fortune, https://fortune.com/2020/01/26/diddy-grammys-hip-hop-black-music-clive-davis-gala/.

  “Kenneth Duckworth and Paula Duckworth”: “Kendrick Lamar Wins Best Rap Album: ‘To Pimp a Butterfly,’ ” Grammy Awards, Recording Academy, February 15, 2016, https://www.grammy.com/grammys/videos/kendrick-lamar-wins-best-rap-album-pimp-butterfly.

  He had a performance: Micah Singleton, “Grammys 2016: Watch Kendrick Lamar’s Stunning Performance,” The Verge, February 15, 2016, https://www.theverge.com/2016/2/15/11004624/grammys-2016-watch-kendrick-lamar-perform-alright-the-blacker-the-berry.

  “We are going to make”: “Here’s Donald Trump’s Presidential Announcement Speech,” Time, June 16, 2015, https://time.com/3923128/donald-trump-announcement-speech/.

  In 1973, Trump: Jonathan Mahler and Steve Eder, “ ‘No Vacancies’ for Blacks: How Donald Trump Got His Start, and Was First Accused of Bias,” New York Times, August 27, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/us/politics/donald-trump-housing-race.html.

  In 1989, he took out: Jan Ransom, “Trump Will Not Apologize for Calling for Death Penalty over Central Park Five,” New York Times, June 18, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/nyregion/central-park-five-trump.html.

  Chapter 9: Mourning in America

  Trump was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan: Scott Detrow, “KKK Paper Endorses Trump; Campaign Calls Outlet ‘Repulsive,’ ” NPR, November 2, 2016, https://www.npr.org/2016/11/02/500352353/kkk-paper-endorses-trump-campaign-calls-outlet-repulsive.

  The Southern Poverty Law Center: Mark Potok, “The Trump Effect,” Intelligence Report, February 15, 2017, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2017/trump-effect.

  In Silver Spring, Maryland: Katie Reilly, “Racist Incidents Are Up Since Donald Trump’s Election. These Are Just a Few of Them,” Time, November 13, 2016, https://time.com/4569129/racist-anti-semitic-incidents-donald-trump/.

  “We all are baffled”: Touré, “An In-Depth Conversation with Kendrick Lamar,” i-D, October 16, 2017, https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/j5gwk7/an-in-depth-conversation-with-kendrick-lamar.

  In The World as It Is: Ben Rhodes, The World As It Is (New York: Penguin Random House, 2019).

  “We needed to do”: Andreas Hale, “Kendrick Lamar, Pluss, Terrace Martin & More On Making ‘DAMN.’ | Album of the Year,” Grammy Awards, Recording Academy, January 25, 2018, https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/kendrick-lamar-pluss-terrace-martin-more-making-damn-album-year.

  “We’re in a time”: Wyatt Mason, “Three Iconic Musicians on Artistic Creation,” T: The New York Times Style Magazine, March 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/t-magazine/beck-tom-waits-kendrick-lamar.html.

  Kendrick and his creative team: David Browne, “Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Damn.’: Inside the Making of the Number One LP,” Rolling Stone, May 1, 2017, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/kendrick-lamars-damn-inside-the-making-of-the-number-one-lp-128446/.

  “We wanted to make it”: “Kendrick Lamar on Damn., His Sister’s Car & Being The G.O.A.T.,” YouTube video, posted by “BigBoyTV,” June 29, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYFfkBSo2mg.

  “I wanted it to feel”: “Kendrick Lamar: ‘DAMN’ Interview | Apple Music,” YouTube video, posted by “Beats 1,” April 27, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwNhoyDjAPg.

  “If you had a girlfriend”: Dan Hyman, “Why Kendrick Lamar and Sounwave Camped Out in Sleeping Bags to Make DAMN.,” GQ, April 22, 2017, https://www.gq.com/story/sounwave-kendrick-lamar-damn,.

  “You wanna go get”: Ben Dandridge-Lemco, “Sounwave Explains Every Song He Helped Produce on Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN.,” Fader, April 24, 2017, https://www.thefader.com/2017/04/24/sounwave-interview-kendrick-lamar-damn-track-explainer.

  “I’ve been a massive”: Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Sidney Madden, “Here’s How ‘Black Panther: The Album
’ Came Together,” The Record, NPR, February 6, 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/02/06/582841574/heres-how-black-panther-the-album-came-together.

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  First Atria Books hardcover edition October 2020

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  Interior design by Alexis Minieri

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  ISBN 978-1-9821-0758-1

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