Reviewed by Ramona Prioleau

The music video for the 2017 track “HUMBLE,” by Kendrick Lamar was nominated for eight awards at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, and it won six of them. As the video for the debut single of the rapper’s first music in months, the track and the video took the hip-hop world by storm, getting fans all over the world excited for Lamar’s upcoming album DAMN. Featuring Lamar rapping in a number of contexts that emphasize the song’s themes of religion, braggadocio, authenticity and class, the video is a powerful watch that keeps casual and die-hard fans alike coming back to this day.

There is more inventive film-making in the three minutes of “HUMBLE” than there is in most blockbuster movies today. Crazy camera angles, difficult-to-master zooms, pans, and glitches, and world-bending fish-eye lens shots are just a few of the interesting and fascinating techniques that directors Dave Meyers & The Little Homies use to take “HUMBLE” to the next level. There’s also a lot of creativity to be found in the framing, which in some cases is imitating and replicating various Catholic and religious art. There are also references to other rap and pop culture events, making watching and re-watching the video a sort of I-SPY event for Easter eggs. The video jumps from scene to scene, set-piece to set-piece, with an ever-constant forward thrusting energy. Never too fast, but never too slow to lose attention, “HUMBLE” is an action-packed right from start to finish.

The video is rich in symbolism, but never didactic. It invites viewers to draw their own conclusions, to bring their own sets of biases to the art, and then walk away with whatever they find there. It’s a trait typical of Lamar’s music, a razor thin margin between ironic and direct, between preachy and accessible. It pairs well with the forceful yet also relaxed nature of the track itself and makes “HUMBLE” one of the most exciting, engaging hip-hop music videos in recent memory. M

Mar 2023