“Alright” provides a moment of hope amid To Pimp a Butterfly’s battle to find higher purpose. After “u” – where Kendrick lays out his burdens – “Alright” responds by detailing how Kendrick means to escape his troubles. By trusting in God, Kendrick is able to look past his failures and have confidence that everything will be okay – “we gon’ be alright.”

On the surface, the motif is optimistic and universal, but the message is driven by specific pain and struggle. Awareness regarding the disproportionate police brutality against Black people has left many wondering if the US has made any progress toward racial equality. Rather than despair, “Alright” assures listeners that, through solidarity, “we gon’ be alright.”

The mantra made a strong impact in the 2015 summer of protest, as Black Lives Matter activists all over America chanted “we gon’ be alright” to mourn the countless black people killed by police in 2015 and provide hope for a better future.

Some took to twitter suggesting “Alright” as a “new black national anthem” similar to “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and “We Shall Overcome” – also songs of hope emerging out of periods of despair.

At the 2015 BET awards, Kendrick performed “Alright” on top of a police car, further highlighting the song’s purpose as a protest against police brutality. The powerful imagery and anti-police lyrics proved to be controversial when Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera said:

“This is why I say that hip-hop has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism in recent years. This is exactly the wrong message.”

In a video interview with TMZ Kendrick responded, driving the conversation back to the problem of police brutality instead of allowing Rivera and others to change the topic to hip-hop, by saying:

“… the senseless acts of killings of these young boys out there … This is reality, this is my world, this is what I talk about in my music. You can’t delude that. Me being on a cop car, that’s a performance piece after these senseless acts … Hip-hop is not the problem. Our reality is the problem of the situation. This is our music. This is us expressing ourselves.”

To give his message context, Kendrick worked with director Colin Tilley to create an extended music video for “Alright” – released June 30, 2015.

On February 15, 2016 at the 58th Grammy Awards, Kendrick Lamar took home five Grammys for his work on To Pimp a Butterfly. “Alright” was nominated for four awards, ultimately winning both Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.

This song can be seen as the person tired of all the crying and feeling bad for themselves. They are now ready to take action and find a solution.