Earlier this week, the pundits over at FOX News took offense at Kendrick Lamar and his performance of “Alright” at the BET Awards, ultimately concluding that Lamar and hip-hop are worse for African-Americans than racism. Naturally, Lamar responded to Geraldo Rivera to set the record straight about his music.
In an interview with TMZ Live, Lamar said, “How can you take a song that’s about hope and turn it into hatred?” He continued, saying “The overall message is ‘we’re gonna be alright.’ It’s not the message of ‘I wanna kill people.’”
The full interview elaborates on the situation, saying that his performance on a vandalized cop car was just that… a “performance piece.” Lamar talks about going from the street to the studio, and encouraging youths towards positive acts in the full clip. His conclusion: “Hip-hop is not the problem. Our reality is the problem of the situation.”
Check it out below: