Kendrick Lamar has shared the new video for his song ELEMENT., the latest single to be lifted from his 2017 album DAMN.
Directed by Jonas Lindstroem and the Little Homies, which is Kendrick’s directing alias alongside Dave Free, Twitter users were quick to notice that a number of shots in the clip deliberately reference the work of Gordon Parks. Born in 1912, Parks is a celebrated African-American filmmaker and photographer who is best known for documenting black lives, poverty and the civil rights movement in the 40s. He would go on to pioneer the blaxploitation genre with his 1971 picture Shaft.
As The Fader noted, Lamar referenced the 1956 photograph Untitled from Parks’s “Segregation Stories” series, Ethel Sharrieff, from his “The White Man’s Day Is Almost Over” photo essay, and Boy With Junebug, both of which are from 1963.
You can read the social media responses and watch the video below.
Kendrick’s video for ‘ELEMENT.’ is chock-full of Gordon Parks references and I’m here for it. pic.twitter.com/oWJR8msRTBThe Gordon Parks Foundation announced the opening of ELEMENT, a new exhibition on view at the Foundation’s exhibition space from December 1 through February 10 showcasing Gordon Parks photographs that inspired rapper Kendrick Lamar’s music video “Element” from his album, DAMN.
Lamar, known for using powerful images in his music videos, directly references and revives a number of Parks’ images that explore the lives of Black Americans, including the 1963 photo Boy With Junebug, Untitled, the 1956 photo from Parks’ “Segregation Stories” series, Ethel Sharrieff, a 1963 photo from his “The White Man’s Day Is Almost Over” photo essay about Black Muslims, as well as photos form Parks’ 1948 “Harlem Gang Leader” series.
“Gordon Parks’ work is continuing to have a great impact on young people, and particularly on artists like Kendrick who, use the power of imagery to examine issues related to social justice and race in our country,” said Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr., Executive Director of The Gordon Parks Foundation. “With ELEMENT the music video, Kendrick has helped to call attention to one of the most important artists of our time.”
Long-time friend and supporter of The Gordon Parks Foundation, Kasseem Dean aka Swizz Beatz noted, “I’m so inspired that my friend Kendrick Lamar chose the iconic imagery of the legendary Gordon Parks in his video for ELEMENT. It’s a prime example of how contemporary change makers – artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers – can borrow from the greats of the past who were also working towards social change.”
At the foundation of ELEMENT. are Parks’ photo essays exploring issues related to poverty and social justice which established him as one of the most significant story tellers of American society. “Harlem Gang Leader,” the photo essay published in LIFE magazine, is credited with introducing Parks to America. The photos explored the world of Leonard “Red” Jackson, the leader of a gang in Harlem. Soon after, Parks was offered a position as staff photographer for the magazine, making him the first, and for a long time the only, African American photographer at the magazine. Also published in LIFE, Parks documented the daily life of an extended African American family living under Jim Crow segregation in the rural South entitled “The Restraints: Open and Hidden.”
This summer, Twitter was awash in skepticism when California rapper Kendrick Lamar released the music video for his song Element.
Some of the music video’s scenes were staged replicas of photographs by Gordon Parks, a pioneering African American photographer who documented the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
In one shot, a group of black Muslim men train for self-defense, which is based on a 1963 photo Parks took in Chicago. In another, a bloodied black man from 1957 is a victim of police brutality.
Now, these photos and more are on view in a photo exhibition entitled Element: Gordon Parks and Kendrick Lamar at the Gordon Parks Foundation in Pleasantville, New York, which runs until 9 February.
Even though Lamar’s music video pays tribute to Parks, some questioned the integrity of its artistic samplings when it was first released.
“Some people said ‘its appropriation,’ others asked, ‘is it allowed?’” said Peter Kunhardt Jr, the director of the Gordon Parks Foundation.
“But the thing is, Gordon would have loved this. It’s a pop culture artist showing a new generation the impact of his story, race in America and the fight for social justice.”
Parks, who grew up in Kansas in the early 1920s, was a self-taught photographer. He bought his first camera from a pawn shop, didn’t finish high school and let his camera lens lead him throughout his high-spirited life. He became a hero to young black artists by giving them something to identify with. A charming man who wore dapper suits and had a handlebar moustache well into old age, some of his most memorable photos include maids with mops and Malcolm X.
“I could have just as easily picked up a knife or a gun, like many of my childhood friends did, most of who were murdered or put in prison,” Parks once said, “but I chose not to go that way.”
As the first black photographer to work for Life and Vogue magazines, Parks was also the first black film director to shoot major Hollywood films, pioneering the blaxploitation genre with his 1971 film Shaft.
In the exhibition, there are 15 images by Parks, including shots from his Segregation Story series from 1956, where he followed the lives of black families living in the segregated South; from black classrooms to billboards which read: “For Sale, Lots for Colored.”
Black Muslims Train in Self-Defense, a 1963 photograph from Gordon Parks. Photograph: Gordon Parks Foundation
There are also images from his Harlem Gang Leader series, which captures the life of “Midtowners” gang leader Leonard “Red” Jackson. The exhibition also features a portrait of Ethel Sharrieff, the daughter of Islamic leader Elijah Muhammad, who remained a close friend of Malcolm X.
Parks saw his camera as a weapon “against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs”, he said.
Lamar has become a fan of Parks and owns several photo books, which were initially released by the foundation, says Kunhardt. The exhibition also features stills from Lamar’s Element music video, which was directed by Jonas Lindstroem and The Little Homies.
“Kendrick went to all kinds of depths to find really unknown photos by Parks to show all aspects of his career,” said Kunhardt. “The photos he chose are his creative way of expressing how he feels about things today in America.”
Gordon Parks in 1966. Photograph: Adelaide de Menil/AP
Parks may have captured the racial divide in America, but how exactly he did that can only be answered in his relentless approach to hit a nerve.
“Gordon was not one to snap photo from the sidelines, he was on the frontlines, continually taking pictures,” said Kunhardt. “Gordon said ‘You have to get in there and make things uncomfortable.’ He always worked with his subjects, got the story and told the truth.”
There are photos of black families, community groups, protests with placards that read “We Are Living in a Police State”, as well as shots of impoverished homeless children.
“He was able to combine an artistic and humanitarian quality together, not many people can do that,” said Kunhardt. “These are beautiful photos but they’re historically important for our country.”
While Parks was at the center of the civil rights movement, this exhibition reveals not much has changed 50 plus years later.
“In America, we are living in an unsettling time and there have been steps backwards,” said Kunhardt. “Our job is not to necessarily comment on the social and race inequalities that are still going on, but to show the photos of Parks, which shed light on what can be done differently.
What does element Kendrick Lamar reference?
Some fans and critics have suggested that the title is a reference to Lamar's status as a top rapper and his ability to dominate the rap game. Others have suggested that the title is a reference to the elements of violence and power that are explored in the song.
What is Kendrick Lamar known for?
Known for his cinematic storytelling, melodic cadences, and artistic reinventions, he is regarded as one of the most influential artists of his generation, earning him the nickname "King Kendrick". He was named the second-greatest rapper of all time by Billboard and Vibe in 2023.
Why do people like Kendrick Lamar?
k dot's hailed as one of the best because he just is. his flow's super varied, he can mimic pretty much any rapper known for their style and has created some of his own, he can sing, rap melodically, and rap aggressively.
When did Kendrick Lamar come out?
Lamar's debut studio album Section. 80, was released on July 2, 2011, and issued on independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). It peaked at number 113 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album's lead single, "HiiiPoWeR", was released prior to the album through iTunes.
