RECLAMATION OF AFRICAN IDENTITY; KENDRICK LAMAR'S GRAMMY PERFORMANCE

"I'm African-American. I'm African." - Kendrick Lamar

At the 58th annual Grammy Awards, Kendrick Lamar shook the stage with a powerful, compelling performance which rendered him a long, standing ovation. With his album, To Pimp a Butterfly introduced by actor Don Cheadle as a "hip-hop masterpiece", Lamar emerged on the staged, sweating, shackled in chains with other Black men, in what was clearly a prison setting. Performing renditions of "Blacker The Berry" and "Alright", his performance and energetic lyrics were loaded with pro-Black, social justice-centered symbolism and more than timely, racial socio-political themes.

Using African traditional dances, imagery and aestheticism, Lamar's performance was uncut, unafraid and unequivocally unapologetic; and based on the some of the faces in the crowd, maybe a little too much to handle. The conclusion of his stage act was embroidered with the resounding presence of an image of Africa, black and bold, with the word "Compton" -- Lamar's hometown -- stamped in the middle of the continent.

While Lamar's in-depth artistry has rendered him to be, by many, one of the most prolific hip-hop artists of our time, it is his attention to grander, global narratives and how he so eloquently bridges the gap between historical and contemporary issues which makes him stand apart from his peers in the rap game. In this case of connecting such affairs, Lamar's performance, in a Pan-African context, speaks to an ancestral call-to-action for many people of color -- and that is the reclamation and resurgence of African identity.

Although the use of African thematic elements or the multi-faceted is not new to hip-hop or to Lamar's music -- as he cites that TPAB was heavily influenced by his 2014 to South Africa -- his Grammy performance took the African Diasporic tie to a whole another level. During his performance, Lamar transitions from a jailhouse scene, with his chains removed, to an African-infused set with a bonfire roaring in the background; as he, and the other inmates, dance alongside in unison with what is perceived to be his African sistren and brethren.