Just a week following his release of his long awaited single, “The Heart Part 4,” Kendrick Lamar shook the world with the release of his newest single, “Humble”, which was accompanied by an extravagant video with gorgeous and even more controversial visuals.
Although there were a lot of conspicuous lines and moments to process in the video, what truly stood out is Kendrick’s obvious preference and appreciatation for natural beauty in black women. One of the most notable lines in the song is in the second verse, where he raps, “I’m so f–kin’ sick and tired of the Photoshop/ Show me something natural like afro on Richard Pryor/ Show me something natural like ass with some stretch marks”. The visual during this line featured a split screen where on one side, we see half of a woman’s face (model @naddybrat on IG) who is wearing make up, with her hair slicked back, dressed in seemingly expensive clothing and jewelry. On the other side, however, we see the other half of the same woman, only she is wearing no makeup, hair is natural, and has on a basic white tank top. There’s also a brief shot of the woman’s buttocks with unconcealed stretchmarks.
There were a lot of mixed emotions due to this line. Many women appreciated the fact that Kendrick put a spotlight on women that are natural, being that most rappers only seem to care for the women who resemble the typical Instagram model. Many other women, however, were furious and dissapointed at Kendrick’s remarks, feeling as though he was demeaning women who aren’t so natural in order to uplift the women who are. This sent Twitter on a tyraid. One side arguing that Kendrick is misogynistic and the other side arguing that it’s simply, “not that deep”. There was also another argument branching off of the hair texture of the woman in the video, saying that natural women are only appreciated if they have loose curls and European-like body and facial features.
Kendrick Lamar’s next album is expected to release this Friday, April 7th, as referenced in his last single, “The Heart Part 4,” where he closed out his last verse with, “Y’all got till April 7th to get y’all sh-t together”. With all the talk and controversy about his last 2 singles, we can only imagine what is to come with his upcoming project.
Below are a few of the many reactions to Kendrick’s new release.
Chech it out for yourself right here and let us know what you think!