Check The Rhyme: Authenticity

Check it!

“I'm so sick and tired of the Photoshop

Show me somethin' natural like afro on Richard Pryor

Show me somethin' natural like [bodies] with some stretch marks”

We're going to analyze a lyric from Kendrick Lamar (a.k.a. K-Dot). And the line we’re going to analyze comes from his song “Humble.” I love this line because it conjures up the notion of authenticity.

Marketers think a lot about being authentic when it comes to bringing their products to market. “We want our brand to be authentic. We can't do this, it wouldn't be authentic. If we did this, would it seem authentic?”

I talked about trust with Professor KRS-One before and authenticity acts as a precursor to trust. When things seem authentic, we're more inclined to trust it.

David Brown Jr., a scholar in authenticity and a friend, talks about authenticity from the perspective of being one's most honest self despite the context. That is, regardless of the context you find the person, is the person being who they normally would be. He speaks about this idea of transcending contexts, transcending occasions when it comes to being one's most honest self.

This is when we're living an authentic life, and the same thing goes for brands. Are brands being their most honest self, despite the context? Do they show up in different ways in different situations because of the people who might be there or of the context of the scenario?

For instance, a lot of brands celebrate Black History Month because contextually that makes a lot of sense. But it begs the question, is this the brand being its most authentic self?

“I'm so sick and tired of the Photoshop

Show me somethin' natural like afro on Richard Pryor

Show me somethin' natural like [bodies] with some stretch marks”

What Kendrick is lamenting here is a want for something real and authentic, regardless of the context. The same thing goes with brands. What is the brand's most authentic self? Because a lot of brands don't have a very understanding of why they exist and how they see the world, they are forced to see the world through the lens of their products. The brand can't be its most honest self because it can't transcend context or category. Therefore, there is no honesty in different contexts.

Thank you Kendrick Lamar...Professor Kendrick Lamar.