Kendrick Lamar opened the BET Awards last night with a thrilling version of To Pimp A Butterfly standout “Alright” while standing on the roof of a defaced cop car, pornographically large American flag flapping behind him and lights flashing in every direction. With its strobing wordless vocal track and Kamasi Washington’s wandering sax, “Alright” was already engineered to be a live stunner. But the song’s meditation on police violence and the divine dedication to the flourishing and resilience of the oppressed—”If God’s got us, we gon’ be alright”—elevates it into a sermonic banger. It’s hard to think of a better song at a better occasion in 2015. Give it a watch below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n1bwh_vglA
