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Kendrick Lamar · S6 E4
HUMBLE.
A church, a last supper, and the biggest hit of Kendrick's career. Sit down. Be humble
Two words. That's all it takes. Kendrick Lamar says "be humble" and the entire planet listens.
Kendrick Lamar, Michael Jordan (official video, 2010). Seven years before HUMBLE. made him the biggest rapper on Earth, Kendrick was already comparing himself to the greatest competitor in sports history. This is where the confidence started: a kid from Compton who believed he was destined for a throne he hadn't built yet.
Michael Jordan, Kendrick Lamar (2010)
From Overly Dedicated. Kendrick picks the most intimidating name in competitive history and claims it as his own. The beat is hard and direct, built for a declaration, not a story. Listen for the difference between the hunger here and the command on HUMBLE.: same confidence, completely different weight behind it. In 2010, Kendrick is promising. In 2017, he's collecting.
Sources
Kendrick Lamar. "Overly Dedicated." Top Dawg Entertainment, 2010.
The Biggest Song
HUMBLE. was released as DAMN.'s lead single on March 30, 2017. Within weeks it became Kendrick's first number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song that finally crossed him over to pure mainstream dominance wasn't a pop collaboration or a love ballad. It was Kendrick sitting at the Last Supper, dressed as the Pope, telling everyone in the room to sit down.
Sources
Billboard Hot 100 chart history, April 2017
“The whole concept of the video was about false idols. I'm sitting at the table like Jesus, but it's not worship. It's a warning.”
— Kendrick Lamar on the HUMBLE. music video, Beats 1 interview with Zane Lowe, 2017
TAP TO REVEAL: Who almost got the HUMBLE. beat before Kendrick?
What religious figure does Kendrick portray in the HUMBLE. music video?
GOD., Kendrick Lamar (2017)
Track twelve on DAMN. Where HUMBLE. commands everyone else to sit down, GOD. is Kendrick alone with the feeling of being on top. The production is bright and almost euphoric, Kendrick laughing through the verses like someone who can't believe his own life. It's the private celebration behind the public command.
GOD., Kendrick Lamar (2017)
Read the lyrics while you listen. After an album full of fear, doubt, and moral questioning, this is Kendrick letting himself feel good for once. The repeated laughing ad-libs aren't a gimmick. They're release.
HUMBLE.
HUMBLE. put Kendrick at number one. But the most emotionally devastating track on DAMN. isn't the hit single. It's a three-verse confession structured around three ages: seven, seventeen, twenty-seven. Next: FEAR.
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