Fri 1 Mar 2013
Representing All Shades Of Beauty: Kendrick Lamar’s Fascinating “Poetic Justice” Video Backstory
Posted by Mikey Fresh under About Miss Info , Exclusives , Good For Hip Hop , Good For Humanity , Things I Love , Videos[19] Comments
Kendrick Lamar’s “Poetic Justice” video is definitely one of our favorites of the year thus far. K. Dot and Drake may not have gotten their Janet Jackson cameo, so the two play out a tragic love triangle instead. But who knew there was also a dramatic backstory during in the making of the video? Kendrick’s love interest, model Brittany Sky, almost didn’t make the final cut. In part 2 of Info’s exclusive backstage interview with KL, the rapper revealed why he fired the original leading lady on set, and plucked Sky out of the crowd of extras…
“We had another girl for the lead but I had an idea where I just wanted a little bit of a darker tone [girl] in the video,“ Kendrick tells Miss Info. “It’s almost like a color blind industry where there’s only one type of appeal to the camera.“
“I give [Brittany] the credit, too, for just being there, and being a natural, genuine young lady. She wasn’t all in the open, trying to jump in [front] of the camera. She was cool, just chilling. I always kept in the back of my mind like ‘you don’t ever see this tone of a woman in videos. ‘” Kendrick says, “No disrespect, I love all women, period. But at the same time, I still feels like it needs that balance.“
Watch the video interview after the jump…
UPDATE:
Kendrick wanted to make it clear that he just wanted to be all-inclusive. Which we fully respect. And apologies if our original tweet made it seem anything otherwise. A better title would be “All Shades Represent…Combating the Music Industry Norm With ‘Poetic Justice’.”
Not Light “Vs” Dark tho. More about “BALANCE”..Givn every shade of woman life, not jus what da industry thinks is “Hott” 4 camera. @missinfo
— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) March 1, 2013
When u put the termlight “Vs” dark continues it as a BATTLE. My point 4 poetic was to spark the idea of making it an EQUAL. @missinfo
— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) March 1, 2013
Kendrick Lamar tells Miss Info why he replaced the original star of the “Poetic Justice” video right before the shoot.
Miss Info: Just as you saw in the first clip of our interview, Kendrick is very aware and insightful about the pluses and pitfalls of his work. He even acknowledges that while he’s happy he could make a small move to counteract some of the skin-tone prejudice in the music business, it’s just a drop in a bucket. And he makes no bones about the fact that hip hop objectifies women in many ways. So glad we got the chance to talk this week.
Bonus: Terrace Martin kills a saxophone cover of Kendrick’s “Poetic Justice.”
Related:
Kendrick Lamar Tells Miss Info Why He’s NOT Working on His Next Album
Kendrick Lamar Performs “Poetice Justice” on the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’
Kendrick Lamar Feat. Drake – “Poetic Justice” (Video)
Kendrick Lamar Rocks the U.K. in World Tour Vlog
50 Cent Feat. Kendrick Lamar & Kidd Kidd – “We Up” (Video)
March 1st, 2013 at 2:49 pm
“move to counteract some of the skin-tone prejudice” !!! has he been living under a rock ? or is Kelly Rowland not dark enough for him ?
March 1st, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Love this dude
March 1st, 2013 at 3:40 pm
.Im in Compton right now. But anyway just wanted to chime in on Kendrick..
With his mindset like this….Kendrick is here to stay for a long time.. Loving his outlook
March 1st, 2013 at 5:47 pm
You successfully named one artist. Thanks for proving his point.
March 1st, 2013 at 7:55 pm
Yo! You are way off bruh…i live in LA..I’m In Hollywood…and one things for sure two things for certain….there is no balance whatsoever…the typical chick that is deemed beautiful by the media is the light (white) skin female..this is the typical looking chick that media outlets and the entertainment industry promotes and shoves down our throats on a daily basis. To think otherwise is assanine. There are many other girls out here that don’t get enough lime light and are equally or more beautiful IMO…Actress Lucy Liu for one doesn’t get enough burn…. She is Fine! Kelly Rowland…Fine! Carrie Champion EsPN First Take ..fine! But over and over again media has overdosed us with The Jlo’s, Beyonces, and all the other white girls…… And I’m not discrediting the Jlo’s or Beyonces or the white women, they are pretty as well.. But the other women are capable of garnering the same respect for beauty as those mentioned before, because as we all know the medias portrayal of beauty has pejorative impact on how people in society treat one another.
Kendrick knows what time it is with the misrepresentation in the media…Im glad he made this move stating there’s need to be a balance and is using his platform to establish one…he defintely gets more respect than a lot of rappers new and old.. Real Talk
March 1st, 2013 at 8:47 pm
Just read this on Global Grind. I wish miss info highlighted this in her blog, I was shocked to read this;she looks so young
,
GlobalGrind did some investigating and discovered the youthful beauty’s name is Brittany Sky.
Brittany Sky is more than a pretty face. The “Poetic Justice” beauty recently received her Master’s degree at St. John University in New York City and is currently working on launching her own site, frombtoyou.com, which launches this week.
Now that’s whats up!
Read more: http://globalgrind.com/music/who-is-kendrick-lamars-poetic-justice-video-brittany-sky-photos#ixzz2MLGthqcf
March 1st, 2013 at 9:30 pm
this guy is beyond wack!
i would rather hear roscoe dash..though i hate the name roscoe and dash
March 1st, 2013 at 9:41 pm
As a light-skinned woman, I couldn’t be more proud of this man. Black women come in all shades, that includes Hispanic, Caribbean and American southern women as well. Balance is they key, because in real life, beauty comes in every complexion. I think the young lady in the video is gorgeous!
March 2nd, 2013 at 12:02 am
appropriate tags:
good for Kendrick, shallow ‘intellect’, dickriding, album promo
March 2nd, 2013 at 12:14 am
Ima straight up old head and this kid is one of my favorites artist. Seriously I’m from DC and live in LA and it’s like someone had to say it. I mean the last dark sista we saw in a video was what ? Buffy the Body ?(Tony Yayo) smh Love Kendrick for this bruh keep doing what you do and i’ll keep buying ya product.
March 2nd, 2013 at 1:12 am
Im not of these skin battles, if you look good thats all the matters stfu
March 2nd, 2013 at 7:39 am
LOL, yes my comment proves racism is rife in rap music videos!!!!surely you dont really want a list of the blackest women?, safe to say Kendrick thought he had a better chance with the blacker one at the back.
March 2nd, 2013 at 3:42 pm
Yo! I used to watch Ally McBeal growing up and as much as I loved Renee’s big titties, Lucy Lui aka Ling Woo just used to do it for me.
Kelly is hot now! I weren’t feeling her back in the day she was too skinny and a bit Tomboy-ish.
Co-sign “Carrie Champion EsPN First Take ..fine!” and I would like to add Isha Sesay from CNN. Smart and beautiful with impeccable style.
Here’s the thing, black women aren’t getting the shine they deserve. The media keep throwing these pale, skinny chicks with no personality at us saying they are hot, yeah right remember the editors of these publications tend to be dweebs anyway so fuck em!
That doesn’t stop us black men from treating our women like Queens and creating opportunities where black girls can showcase their beauty, style and personality. I like the Kendrick video though.
March 3rd, 2013 at 7:53 am
Lol!
March 3rd, 2013 at 7:54 am
@stash you’re not making any sense.
March 3rd, 2013 at 11:34 am
It’s not about light vs dark. Studios do this because it’s about whom they feel the audience will relate to more. Do people care if one “light skinned” black woman gets to say 5 lines on a tv show? There are a lot of women missing from tv. Where are the Indian women, the Asian women, and yes the dark skinned African American women? They’re not on tv because people who make movies/shows don’t think they have general appeal. And when the studios do diversify they get chewed out for tokenism.
The only way to get what you want to see is to make the movies yourself. Only way. Show that it makes money, and then things will change. Thankfully, movies/shows have much less cultural influence than they did 50 years ago; and thanks to the internets I can watch anything from any country in the world. So, if I want to watch Densha Otoko, I can. If I want to watch a show from Germany, or the UK, or Africa, I can. If I want to watch some small production from Americans on Youtube, I can. Just be glad we aren’t stuck having to watch Lassie rescue Timmy from a Badger hole, or Leave it to Beaver, although I still like those shows, too. hahaha. Cosby show was groundbreaking, but it was still an idealized picture of blacks in America, especially in the 1980’s.
March 4th, 2013 at 1:26 pm
Or they know that they really do have the most general appeal????
March 6th, 2013 at 7:51 am
I applaud this man! We as African American people have got to stop allowing the entertainment industry and the media to dictate how we perceive one another. It is not a coincidence that as we see more black men in the media with white and Asian women as their counterparts or love interests, that now we see it more and more in mainstream life today. It’s so sad that black men are the only race of men who puts down and discredits its women in large numbers. Not all…but a significant number of black men to realize we have a problem. I don’t remember his name because I refuse to listen to him, but the sidekick on the Tom Joyner Morning show brags all the time about how he only dates white women and prefers white women. It’s sad, appauling, and embarrassing to our race. Even radio personality Michael Basden did a show asking black men to call in and talk about why they refuse to date black women or why they prefer to date outside of their race. AND THE MEN ACTUALLY CALLED IN AND SUPPORTED THIS PLATFORM. You will never hear white men put down their women or any other race of men. Only black men will do this and it is so sad. We complain that black actresses are out of work, but if more black actors including Denzel requested a black woman (that you can see without doubt is black) then the Gabriel Unions of the world would have work. So many times we pass over a beautiful talented dark skinned black woman to give a part or role to the less attractive, untalented lighter skinned woman because of skin tone only. Wake up black people and recognize that we are the ones who can change this and we are all a beautiful, talented, smart, and creative race of people. Everything we say , do, sing, make, and create gets copied. Men…when you love and respect your women…America will love and respect your women! Until then we will continue to fight the fight on our own.
March 6th, 2013 at 2:50 pm
@stash….revise your comments wtf?…finally Kendrick Lamar takes a stand on what is so prevalent in pred Black Male artist videos in terms of the romantic lead….I was pleasently pleased as soon as I saw the first clip…This says something abt who KL is…thank you for this refreshing change.