YG’s latest album 4Real 4Real finds the artist splitting the difference between the floor-stomping party anthems he’s known for and the more sentimental and contemplative content. Nowhere is this more evident than on the album standout “Hard Bottoms & White Socks.” “All my homies gang but now they changin’ and shit / I mean, it’s still gang gang but now they makin’ some chips,” he raps in the song’s first verse. It’s a track about not honoring the things that made you who you are but heeding the life lessons that come with age and experience.
On Monday, YG shared a new music video for the Lil Rich-produced track. In the mainly black-and-white clip, as the rapper rocks a tuxedo and performs in a packed concert hall for a star-studded audience dressed sharply in formal evening attire. Big Boy, Kamaiyah, Machine Gun Kelly, India Love, and others are on hand for the intimate performance. These shots are interspersed with clips of YG cruising through LA in his blue Lamborghini, partying at the strip club, and enjoying champagne and cigars with friends.
The song, like the entire album itself, is also in part dedicated to YG’s late friend Nipsey Hussle. “Let the marathon continue, it’s not a race with this shit…. When you think about the West, it’s me and Nip, red and blue, n***a,” he raps. YG poses in front of a large mural of the late rapper which reads, “I say it’s worth it, I won’t say it’s fair / Find your purpose of your wastin’ air.” The video concludes with YG back in the concert hall receiving a well-deserved standing ovation.
