Continuing his meteoric rise to complete world domination, Kendrick Lamar has not stopped since the release of his third, and most critically acclaimed album, To Pimp A Butterfly. From performing with a symphony orchestra, making fans’ dreams come true, introducing a scholarship, having one of his songs (Alright) become a go-to protest song in the US and kicking many, many more goals over the past few months, it seems Lamar can really do no wrong. Now he’s set to prove that once again with the release of his latest video for These Walls.
Featuring none other than comedian Corey Holcolmb and actor Terry Crews, this video starts off with two prisoners (including Holcolmb) discussing their respective demises and blaming Kendrick for their misfortunes. When the track kicks in, we are taken into a debaucherous party with a LOT going on. From a bunch of people doing coke, fights breaking out, Kendrick himself grinding with a gold hotpant wearing woman, cops interrupting and ruining the fun and so much more, the clip shows a very literal interpretation of the track’s hook, “If these walls could talk.” And then of course, there is the hilarious scene featuring Lamar and Crews dancing to Hit The Quan.
However, as with all things Kendrick Lamar, there is always more than first meets the eye. The opening credits for the clip say “Behind The Walls” and “A Black Comedy” which could show Kendrick trying to shine a light on a typical and unfortunate way that African Americans are portrayed in comedy. There is a lot of “typical” scenes and lines that have appeared in the white washed mainstream media, so it could be a tongue-in-cheek portrayal of this, shining a harsh spotlight on yet another racial gap. The over the top nature of the clip also amplifies this – perhaps Kendrick is shining a light on excessive hip hop videos that feature party scenes not unlike these but are done with the sole purpose of flaunting your riches.
Any way you look at it, you can safely assume there is an underlying message here that is open to the watcher’s own interpretation. The one thing we can all be sure of is that Kendrick Lamar has once again made us think and feel in a way that hasn’t been done in a very long time. It’s incredibly exciting knowing we are watching an immortal in the making.
Kendrick Lamar will be in the country early next year. You can check more details on that here.