#i was listening to Enter Sandman on repeat while drawing this

[sparrowsbitch]

Y’all I have done something I lowkey like

This bitch, this gothic emo little fucker has got me in a chokehold (I really hope I did him justice)

Oh yeah and he rocks the dress.

[nolatheboogeywoman]

Who You Think You Frontin on Man Man?

The second Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” premiered, there was no way that critics would allow K-dot’s “I’m so fucking sick and tired of the photoshop” line go unchecked. While timelines flooded with praise of the song and clips of the visually arresting video, many were unapologetically vocal about what they perceived to be the run-of-the mill hotep misogyny. The scene paired with this contested line also raised a few brows and pursed a few lips.

It shows a split screen that allows a beautiful video model to transition from a glammed-up vixen to a bare-faced plain Jane-esha. Hair, painstakingly straightened, stretched, and slicked into an edge-annihilating bun becomes a black thicket of 4b-ish curls hanging down the side of a caramel hard candy face; an adorable face peppered with insignificant bumps and the occasional dark spot. The false lashes are gone and have taken the defined brow and contoured nose with them. The sparkly white choker is returned to the costume shop. Her glam-top, which is nothing but two patches of fabric that either are or are made to resemble the hide of some wild creature becomes a plain wifebeater.

Some critique Lamar’s method of honoring the “natural” body, claiming that he uplifts one group by degrading another. I have not heard an argument to convince me that this is the case. But, I am also biased. The filtered faces, tucked tummies, and surgically enhanced bottoms have worn me out as well. I’m not here to oppose cosmetic surgery; nip and tuck away. I also don’t care to judge those who use image altering tools on social media. However, in an attempt to avoid shaming groups of people, are we ignoring problematic and unhealthy belief systems that may undergird one’s desire to alter her body? I wonder if we have completely outlawed flaws and/or the parts of us that we have been trained to identify as flaws.

Some feminists voiced a few attractive arguments. In the “Somebody Gettin’ Fired” episode of The Read, podcast queen, Crissle admits that the song knocks and she never felt compelled to commit any mental energy to dissecting its moments of misogyny, however in his request for a return to “natural” beauty, Lamar misses the opportunity to highlight a woman “who [doesn’t] already fit every standard of beauty that we have for women of color…someone who actually risks something by going outside without weave and makeup.” Using a conventionally pretty model to admonish the rampant obsession with achieving physical perfection is an argumentative fail and calls attention to the woke black man lacking any knowledge or concern for his female counterpart, or any counterpart for that matter.

In her piece featured in The Conversation, Lauren Rosewarne recognizes Lamar’s sense of entitlement. She writes, “[i]n requesting an afro, in yearning for some stretch marks, Lamar is still asking women to fulfill his wants.” I can get with this critique because it is nothing but the truth. Lamar does not ask women to strip themselves of unhealthy and unattainable aesthetic expectations for their own liberation from a stifling system of beauty rules. He calls for this change in beauty culture because he is tired, because he has a preference that he would like to see realized on a larger scale. Women’s empowerment seems to be an afterthought.

Lamar insisting that he “still will take you down right on your mama couch in polo socks” is heavy with condescension. One wonders if Lamar questions why we have created a social environment in which so-called aesthetic shortcomings have the power to negatively impact someone’s life. He seems to say,  pimples and unlaid edges don’t mean a damn thing, I’m still tryin’ to fuck. Am I supposed to find solace in this?

The split screen scene suggests that when it comes to women, Lamar is only concerned with their bodies; the inclusion of this scene is made even more odd given the subject matter of the song. “Humble” expresses Lamar’s disappointment in his rap counterparts. He calls himself the sandman, which positions him as a cultural gatekeeper; he decides which rappers are worthy enough to exercise their lyrical artistry.

He turns his nose up at the drug dependent emcee and claims that his music comes from a more authentic space. Hip hop fans expect and often desire their rap favs to investigate the hip hop landscape and declare themselves the leader. The all-male scenes imply that he only invites men to the conversation regarding his concerns with the current state of rap music. Even though women have a crucial role in the birth and preservation of hip hop, I’m not necessarily offended by homosocial spaces, in fact, I think they are necessary. I do however have a problem with “Humble’s” inability to intellectually interact with women.

If Lamar wishes to incorporate women into the discussion, he fails to call out problems that plague female rappers. By only commenting on women’s bodies, he places women in an ancillary space. Women function as mere accessories that decorate the world of hip hop rather than artists that cultivate that world.

We see this unfortunate thinking in other parts of the video. One of the more metaphorically intense scenes features Lamar surrounded by a sea of bald men nodding their heads, suggesting that Lamar requests a cerebral connection with his male peers, one that is raw and unfiltered. Lamar never interacts with women in this way. For the most part, sections of the video that feature women are unoriginal stock rap scenes that draw the eye to tits and ass. The only female scene that strays from the norm is the salon scene, in which Lamar and a group of women sit under hair dryers, but once again, we enter the world of beauty.

Now, please don’t confuse my criticism with hate. Humble was on repeat for a good week and a half. I’m listening to it as I write this article. When you read this article, I will probably be in my bathroom blasting “Humble” at full volume, as I give a sad concert to my imaginary friends. I never want to encourage listeners to dismiss Lamar, but asking him to examine some of his harmful artistic decisions is crucial.