Back in 2015, Kendrick Lamar released his critically acclaimed masterpiece To Pimp A Butterfly. One of the standout songs from the project is "Alright" which proved to be a unifying anthem among fans and listeners and landed on many best songs of the decade lists for the 2010s. The music video attached to the song was controversial in some conservative circles for its depiction of police. A sample of Fox News criticizing a live performance of the song that recreated visuals from its music video eventually made its way into Kendrick's song "DNA."
Back in 2022, a lawsuit was filed with the songs music video right at the heart of the issue. The suit claims that in 2020 a teacher in a Connecticut middle school showed a documentary called Hip Hop: Songs That Shook America in their class. The video for "Alright" is included in the doc. A student with a parent who is a police officer claims that watching it caused them emotional distress. The claim argues that "the video depicted officers as murderers and contained other shockingly violent scenes and controversial statements about police officers." The town is now settling the lawsuit and paying $100k as a part of the settlement.
Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" Video Leads To Lawsuit
Kendrick Lamar's beef with Drake dominated the past month in hip-hop. That isn't likely to slow down any time soon. Two songs from the beef "Not Like Us" and "Like That" have spent time at the number one spot on the Hot 100 this year. They're both still high on the charts as well. The former is at number two and the latter still in the top 15. "Not Like Us" in particular has been popping up all over the place in the weeks since it dropped.
What do you think of the music video for Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" leading to a lawsuit after a teacher played it in class? Are you surprised the school district is paying $100k to settle the case? Let us know in the comment section below.
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