Intertextual References In Brave New World

Kendrick then segues the video into another of his intertextual references. By passing Grey Poupon through the window of his Chevy Impala, Kendrick mocks the famous 1981 mustard commercial in which one wealthy white man passes another wealthy white man the jar through his car window. Often the subject of satire, such as in Wayne’s World (1992), as he passes it to a fellow black rapper, Kendrick uses the reference to demonstrate how black people are equal to white people even if society is still in denial. Yet another example of Kendrick’s derisions with pop culture and the way they treat black people is present during the chorus of the song. Repeating the phrase “Bitch, be humble, (hol’up, bitch) Sit down.” (HUMBLE.) Viewers see what appears to be an intertextual reference to
Mainstream culture accepts Kendrick because he has an unrivaled talent, but most black people must bow their heads, “sit down… be humble.” (HUMBLE.) Lamar through this visual, as well as through the song referencing the Bible verse Jeremiah 13:18 “Say unto the king and to the queen Humble yourselves, sit down.” (Holy Bible, King James Edition) is explaining to black people that being humble doesn’t mean conforming; being humble means to directly confront the superficiality infected in current cultural trends and embrace personal strengths and weaknesses. This goes hand-in-hand with media that propagates the burden of representation on ethnic minorities who “as a result of being isolated within predominantly white media institutions… stand for their entire ethnic group.” (Hodkinson, 231) To subvert these expectations, Lamar stresses in this scene that black people need to embrace their differences for mainstream culture to acknowledge them; a step he takes in this video by including only black people throughout its duration.