Today, amid rapidly mounting hype surrounding the imminent release of his fourth studio album, Kendrick Lamar premiered a cinematic masterpiece of a music video for new single, “Humble.” The new song follows last Friday’s release of “The Heart Part 4,” which hints at a new album coming next week (“Got til April the 7th to get y’all shit together”).
The new track is a scathing warning to an unnamed “lil bitch” who needs to “sit down” and learn a little humility. Many fans on social media have already speculated that the dis is directed toward Big Sean, whose 2016 track “No More Interviews” may or may not have taken some subtle shots at Kendrick (“And I can’t lie like I like this shit like I usually do; And I’m just not impressed by you niggas rapping fast; Who sound like one big asthma attack but trash when I’m rapping it back; Who you put in your top five and claim they the savior of rap”).
While Kendrick is often noted for his unusually laid-back sound and artistry, “Humble” is a more straightforward embodiment of classic hip-hop bravado, filling the same role that “Backseat Freestyle” and “King Kunta” occupied on previous releases like good kid M.A.A.D. city and To Pimp A Butterfly, respectively. From fisheye shots of Kendrick riding a bicycle, to a sea of shaved, black heads surrounding Lamar while he delivers his bars, to a “Last Supper”-style sequence, to a shot where the MC and his people get down with their heads engulfed in flames, there is no shortage of visual complexity in the video. As he tends to do, Kendrick has given us a complex musical gem that we can’t wait to pour over and analyze in the days leading up to the big reveal on April 7th. Watch the incredible video for “Humble” below, via Kendrick Lamar VEVO:
Kendrick Lamar – “HUMBLE.”