I’d also strongly suggest opening the lyrics on genius. A lot of hip hop is metaphor and double entendre heavy and genius will explain anything you didn’t catch
Yousef AH not only that but sometimes RapGenius misinterprets the meanings as well, some of the stuff is broken down by people who didn't really grow up with hip hop culture or street influence and misconstrue some of the references
It's interesting when he's in the sea of people with their head down and hes the only one looking up and talking. But when the chorus comes and he says "sit down, be humble", he got his own head down, like he's talking to himself, to be humble and remember he's just a person too, like everyone else around him.
You missed the part he said “crime allowances” allowance mean to let something happen, but it also means a sum of money. He remembers people letting crime happen, and he remembers getting money from crime. Taste “bloods” is a reference to the bloods gang, who his family has had a history with. Funk is just an ad-lib he is using to make the song flow better. Most of the time Kendrick would be the last to use ad-libs, but for some reason he decided to use it more often this album. His “left stroke” refers to the pen strokes he made in the past (probably when creating the Heart part 4, which came out a couple weeks before this). His right stroke is his next project (which would later be known as Damn). Lil’ bitch is an ad-lib used commonly by big Sean, and many speculate that he was dissing him in this song. The religious connotation is that once you reach a level of popularity, many people may feel like a god, and many people may look at you’re like your a god. However you need to maintain a certain amount of humility toward your followers and those around you. Since grey poupon is known for being expensive, he is saying he can afford it. In the video he is also shown giving it to a far more ghetto lookin man. This is to show his tendency to give back to the place where he came from. Evian is an overpriced water, which most people wouldn’t get, which gives a similar sense of wealthiness. TED talk is a reference to the sharing of knowledge in his music.
To be honest, clicking on this video there was a bias, first time watching a metalhead react to rap. But I was surprised. You weren’t slandering it, you appreciated the visuals as well as the lyrics, your commentary was entertaining. Overall, this was a very entertaining video, I will go on after this with more of an open mind. Liked and Subbed!
didnt watch the video, just saw it and thought "oh great here comes the new ~metalhead reacts~ trend" after coming across RealDeadOne a few weeks back ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UvLeWPzZLhw.html check out theirs, im sure youll find the same enjoyment
I was inspired by Lost In Vegas. I enjoyed their prog metal reaction videos and said why don't I do the same but in reverse, a metalhead doing a rap reaction. I haven't seen RealDeadOne reaction videos because I didn't listen to rap before this series of videos so watching a reaction to a rap song would make no sense. I'll check them out.
I like the way you started the video, first time watching one of your videos and I already know in the first 4 seconds; your name, what type of music you like, and what you're doing in the video. Simple is good +1
"Holy Moly get outta the way!" LMAOOOOO I'm gonna subscribe for that alone. Your reactions man 😂😂😂😂 For your next few videos: Nas - One Mic J. Cole - Lost Ones Bone Thugs N Harmony - Crossroads Also, someone said it below but the most popular songs from an artist are usually the most commercial ones. Not a big problem as you're an outside looking in so you wouldn't really know. But it'll all depend on what you're looking for. What I posted are some songs that have introspective lyrical content. If you want some of the fun mindless stuff or even gangsta rap, I could suggest more.
So cool. This is why Kendrick is the biggest thing in rap and only getting bigger, he's appealing to not just a variety of audiences, but also audiences that have historically been turned off to rap by upending they're long held preconceptions about the genre. Love Kendrick.
Well done and interesting video, but in the future please don't only react to the top list tracks by recommended artists. I love both Kendrick and Joey, but Devastated and I would argue Humble too are just commercial cash grabs. I can understand that it's easy to just go for the most popular song of an artists repertoire, but that's also often the most pop and radio directed one. For starters, going with tracks like "Fear", "Duckworth"; "Sing about me, I'm dying of thirst", "How Much a dollar cost", "The Blacker the Berry" and "F*ck your ethnicity" (just to name a few) by Kendrick will yield you much more lyrical and conscious content, which you may find interesting. This is not meant as critique of you, simply constructive feedback. I'm looking forward to your videos, also I think you might like $uicideboy$, seeing as the're heavily influenced by metal (if I'm not mistaken they both made metal before going to hip-hop).
That's some fantastic insight! For that thoughtful comment, name a song and that will be the next rap reaction that I will do and I'll give you a shoutout in the video. (choose one that has a video pretty plz)
Forgot two important songs - "Suicidial Thoughts" by Notorious B.I.G and "u" by Kendrick Lamar, which is an absolute masterpiece. Also has a music video titled "God is Gangsta" (well, until 3:42 when another song comes on) which is equally amazing.
The hook on this song “BE HUMBLE , (lil bitch)BITCH SIT DOWN” that is a jab at another well know rapper named big Sean . Big Sean’s catch phase is Lil bitch who said that Kendrick was not creative and was very repetitive. This was a jab at him telling big Sean to sit down and keep his mouth close and be humble while also telling the mainstream and also telling them be humble.
Dude... your reactions are great. You do a breakdown of the video and try to figure out what he's talking about. I'd definitely like to see more from you.
I love it when you read all the lyrics after listening to some of the song. it adds alot to your reaction amd i missed that on the "look at me" video. great work over all my dude
He recreated the grey poupon commercial in this video to express how he (and most minorities) can come from nothing, to eating grey poupon since it is generally considered to be a "more expensive" option that comes with a lot of class. in other words, "look at me, I made it."
When Kendrick is on the bike and he’s using that 360 degree gyro camera he’s trying to depict the world revolving around him, I.e the opposite to being humble, so when someone pretends everything revolves around them
The part where he hands him something through the car window 10:46 is meant to be sort of a dark joke. Usually you would think when black people are handing something through the window, it is a drug deal. But he took that ad and put a spin on it to portray the message that not all black people are drug dealers.
It’s one of my favorite songs from his latest LP. Primarily because he’s telling the other rappers to be humble, but how he’s going about is the opposite. Also if you want to check out the full album, he makes references to this song. For example, I don’t have to fake humble because you’re insecure.
the camera movement is done with multiple high resolution cameras in certain positions which makes software able to stitch together the imagery. This way the video editor can zoom in and out to wherever he wants!
If you are referring to the shot where it follows his face, the camera is actually mounted on a robotic arm which moves extremely fast and precisely to preprogrammed locations
All the imagery in the music video has some sort of meaning with the song's theme. For example, the scene where his head is on fire, it's a visual metaphor towards him having a hot head and having to be humble, it all ties in to the album's themes as well because on the album he repeatedly talks about the dangers of being big and popular in the music industry and his personal fears and this song is him telling himself to be humble and not take anything for granted. But all the lyrics are about him being the best and having everything. It's honestly a pretty cool message.
You wouldn’t know how much it means if your not the black person lol. Race is the most inportant issue in the world, even though some might overlook it. White man created the social construct/ race doesn’t exist we all know but it affects everyones reality no matter whAt you say or do. It sucks but yeah/ you just wouldn’t understand
VeryCow No one should use the word if it causes trouble. Its imposible for everyone to be fine with whites saying that word. I'm black myself and don't choose to use it because the connotation of the word itself is terrible. There should be no reason to use it.
One of the lines you missed was when he said, I let my soul speak, you let the meds talk. That's a shot at all of the rappers who use and rap about lean and popping percs.
Dude you're hilarious. Keep up the good work and plz keep reacting to new rap. Edit: Just rewind the part where u wanna see the visuals again i'll appreciate it.
Glad to see noones talking about how he said nigga. Its just a word and you dont see anyone calling ppl racist for saying cracker. It all depends on context. Nice video Yousef. Luv ur content!!!
Adel Yaser It doesn't have anything to do with age. I'm 14 and Kendricks lyricism is what captivates me most (among other artists). It just depends on how you listen to rap.
Love how open you were to this man a lot of metal heads are really cynical about hip hop and you aren't so it's really cool to see that. Good luck to your channel and I subbed!
Where it starts from I blew cool, that line is actually double meaning. Kendrick is referring to an air conditioner, but mentioning Obama in the next line it’s establishing he’s referring to the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare. And to add layers to it, Kendrick visited Obama in the Oval Office once.
it isnt just the fans that should sit down and be humble - Even though Kendrick has definitely made it and is in a good place He's just looking in the mirror and telling himself to just sit the fuck down and be humble- i'd say thats the whole joke, even though hes bragging and boasting throughout his verses his Chorus is just Him telling himself (and us) to just Be humble and act like we've got some sense instead of just "flexing" on everyone acting all holier than thou
oh by the by - I know PRIDE doesn't have a video clip to go with it but after a few listens it's probably my favorite track on the DAMN album- if you havent yet, check out the album in reverse order (so starting with Duckworth and ending with Blood)... anyway im going back to playing some video games and listening to QotSA
The line “I blew cool from AC, ayy” is a bit of a double entendre leading into the line about Obama. ACA is the affordable care act or “Obamacare” so it’s kind of a set up for a rags to riches type thing, saying he went from not having the money for healthcare to being in personal contact with the former president. And for the grey poupon part, grey poupon mustard has a really odd interesting place in rap lyrics since the 80’s. Vox did an analysis on it, it’s basically used as a status symbol, with those famous commercials showing people passing it from the back of limousines, and GP being one of the more expensive options when it comes to mustard. It’s also rich for word play and rhyme setups.
"you can sit it on my taste bloods" is just another play on words. the "bloods" are a gang that is really well known and kendrick, being from compton, definitely has some old connections with them
I appreciate that you give it the respect it deserves. I'm a metalhead, but I also love rap music. I think there's value in any kind of music. My only suggestion is to listen to it all, without stopping, then analysis afterwards. For rap, as well as metal (and anything really), sometimes the point of a song is to be heard as a whole, rather than stopping the vibe every 10 seconds. But regardless, much respect, keep doing your thing. 1 sub earned :)
Marcus Kramer can't do that cause of copyright claim stuff. In fact this song does have a copyright claim but they're allowing it to stay up if they put ads on it and they get all the revenue. I get $0.
It may be a bit cringy but I like how interested this guy is in rap even tho he loves metal its cool to see variety of music preferences between people he's enjoying it
"If I quit your BM I still rock Mercedes, funk" In this line BM could also be referencing baby mama. Which fits the persona Kendrick is using in "HUMBLE".
The AC in "AC, ayy" continued the line about air conditioning like you caught, but then if you think about it like the letters ACA (the real name of the Obamacare legislation), it leads into the Obama line coming next. You might enjoy reacting to Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R." for something a bit different (don't want to spoil) or Black Star's "Respiration" for some super literate lyrics that aren't too dense with hip-hop slang.
They repeat ayy because it gives the audience a repeated chant That way if they dont know the lyrics they can chant along at a concert, party, club, etc. It also helps keep the rhythm in in tact for the artist like having a fallback section on a guitar when you're running a lot of complicated stuff. Mostly the first reason though.
react to at least one song in this list will not be disappointed oldschool stuff but pure rhymes of the best cine az-mo money mo murda reaknown-guillotine gza-labels big l- put it on rakim- guess whos back masta ace- acknowledge blahzay blahzay-posse jumpa naughty by nature- yoke the joker
The last supper recreation was because he was just about to release his album and this song was seen as a 'warning shot' to all the other rappers, seeing as Kendrick is mostly referred to as the best rapper at the moment. You should check out Logic, anything from his 'under pressure' album or 'the incredible true story' you will really enjoy them
I’m pretty sure that there’s already a metal head reaction video for this one but it’s my favorite Kendrick Lamar track and I want to see what you think! So, hopefully you haven’t already done this one: Maad city
BM also means girlfriend. So even if doesnt have sex with your girlfriend he still has a Mercedes Benz to have fun wuth i guess. There is added wordplay in there.
