Kendrick Lamar’s 2017 music video for his song “HUMBLE.” has surpassed one billion views on YouTube. It’s the Compton rapper’s third video to reach the mark, and his first as a solo artist.
The achievement arrives just shortly after another one of Lamar’s videos, for “goosebumps” with Travis Scott, also surpassed one billion views in September 2024. Lamar’s first video to reach the number was 2014’s “Bad Blood (Remix)” from Taylor Swift, where he appeared alongside Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding and many more.
Released in March 2017, “HUMBLE.” served as the lead single for Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning album DAMN. It became his second number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and his first as a lead artist. Dave Meyers and The Little Homies directed the video, which featured appearances from other TDE members including rapper Jay Rock and producer Soun Wave.
“DAMN. [is] the idea of: ‘I can’t change the world until I change myself,’” Lamar told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in 2017 shortly after releasing the record. “So when you listen to records like ‘PRIDE.,’ ‘HUMBLE.,’ ‘LUST.,’ and ‘LOVE.,’ these are all just human emotions and me looking in the mirror and coming to grips with them.” In addition to becoming the first rap album to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, DAMN. won Best Rap Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards, and has since been certified triple platinum by the RIAA.
In September, Lamar announced that he would be headlining the 2025 Super Bowl LVI half-time show. The event is set to take place in New Orleans on Sunday, February 9, 2025. Lamar’s company with Dave Free, pgLang, is set to creative direct the performance, with Jay Z’s Roc Nation and Jesse Collins executive producing. “Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date,” Lamar shared in a statement. “And I’ll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one.”
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