Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’ and Protest Music Right Now 🔗 🎤 🎶 🎵 ✊🏽

As weeks of unrest became a yearslong struggle for transparency amid mounting cases of unexplained incidents of police brutality, “Alright” grew a strange aftertaste. The sentiment suddenly felt premature, like the big hit landing too early in the live show. The world the song envisioned seems far away, though not out of reach. The moment requires a different kind of protest song. Rappers are putting in work; there’s a new one out almost every day, from sources both expected and unexpected.