Humble by Kendrick Lamar

Video Notes: 0:00-0:30- Kendrick is in a cathedral all by himself and dressed as a pope and begins to sing. He is also seen on a table with a lot of his cash and playing around with it as girls next to him are managing his money at the same time.

0:30-1:00- Kendrick is now seen singing in a hair salon, with a big head of Kendrick with a small body, biking on a miniature globe of the world. He also is seen on top of a car hitting golf balls with his club in an abandoned area under a bridge. At 1:00, he is seen singing with a bunch of African Americans with their heads facing down.

1:00-1:30- As the song continues, the African Americans around Kendrick begin to lift their heads to sing the lyrics together. Images of Kendrick sitting at a table that seems to represent the Last Supper appear as at 1:30, Kendrick is seen with African Americans with ropes covering their heads on fire.

1:30-2:00- He continues to sing with ropes on fire next to him on people’s head, and it then shows a girl with and without makeup and her body, unfiltered. At 2:00, Kendrick is seen at a place that seems to be where the so called, “hood,” would be, with his posse in the background.

2:00-2:30- Kendrick is seen in a car and he gives the spread over to a person that seems to be his friend in the car next to him, and then he is seen in what appears to be his house with police lights glaring at his house. He is then seen singing with the African Americans from before, but now they all have suits on and look very professional and fancy. Images of him in the pope robes in a cathedral and the last supper appear again.

2:30-3:03- Images of Kendrick singing with the African American with their heads facing down appear again, as it also shows him with the African Americans with their suits on and the place where his posse would stay in the, “hood.” The Kendrick on the globe riding a bicycle appears again and then it goes to the hair salon with the girls having their braids lettered on the back of their heads to spell out, “HUMBLE.” After that, the video cycles throughout all the scenes Kendrick was throughout the entire video such as being surrounded by African Americans with their heads facing down, being dressed up in the pope robe in a cathedral, the table at the Last Supper, on top of the car swinging golf balls, and the ending scene is the African Americans with suits on, walking down a staircase and Kendrick is the last one standing, staring into the camera.

Conclusion: The genre of this song is primarily hip-hop and rap, and it is evidently trying to depict Kendrick as the god of rap and further shows the portrayal of African Americans among society and the media. He indicates that he feels as if he is on top of the rap world by singing in a pope robe, and acting as, “Jesus,” in a setting awfully similar to the Last supper. He also shows the different ways that his race is portrayed throughout the media and society, and how racist this world continues to be. He is seen singing with many African Americans with their heads face down which caught the eyes of many. He also uses drastic visuals such as the his race next to him, tied up with ropes on their head that are on fire. These depict the harshness and the cruelty that continues to exist toward African Americans, even today. He is targeting the majority of society as he is attempting to bring awareness to this problem within society, that should have disappeared over a half century ago. Throughout the entire video, Kendrick is trying to spread the message that the persona of African Americans within the media, is totally messed up and he attempts to bring awareness to this issue through the use of volatile visuals.