"Humility" is a single by British
virtual band
In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose members are not depicted as corporeal musicians, but animat ...
Gorillaz featuring American jazz guitarist
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...
. It was released on 31 May 2018 along with "Lake Zurich" as the first single from their sixth studio album, ''
The Now Now
''The Now Now'' is the sixth studio album recorded by the British virtual band Gorillaz, released on 29 June 2018 via Parlophone and Warner Bros. Records. Recording for the album began in late 2017 – according to Gorillaz co-creator Da ...
''. On 12 July 2018, two remixes of the song by
Superorganism
A superorganism or supraorganism is a group of synergetically interacting organisms of the same species. A community of synergetically interacting organisms of different species is called a holobiont.
Concept
The term superorganism is used m ...
and
DJ Koze
Stefan Kozalla (born 1972), better known as DJ Koze (), is a German DJ and music producer.
Biography
Born in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Kozalla first became known in the Hamburg music scene. In the early 1990s, he started as a rapper and DJ ...
were released. It charted in a total of 8 countries reaching number 85 on the US Billboard Hot 100, with its highest position in any chart being number 7 in
Billboard's
Hot Rock Songs
Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alterna ...
.
Promotion and release
The song was first announced on 30 May 2018 when
Zane Lowe
Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter.
After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...
confirmed ''The Now Now''s release and stated that
Damon Albarn would be debuting the song on the
Beats 1 program the following day. The next day, the song debuted with a music video featuring
Jack Black and was digitally released along with another single, "Lake Zurich". On 13 May 2022, the music video was re-uploaded to the Gorillaz
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel with commentary from virtual band member
Murdoc Niccals
Murdoc Faust Niccals (born Murdoc Alphonce Niccals) is the fictional British bassist for the virtual band Gorillaz. He is voiced by Phil Cornwell and was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.
In the Gorillaz universe, Murdoc was respon ...
.
Music video
The music video for the song was filmed in
Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California and features
Jack Black.
It begins with footage of
2-D roller-skating around Venice Beach interspersed with shots of Black playing a guitar.
This sequence appears multiple times throughout the video, mainly in between the appearances of the different Gorillaz members. After the opening sequence,
Noodle
Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, In ...
is shown
checkmating Remi Kabaka
Remi Kabaka (born 27 March 1945) is an Afro-rock avant-garde drummer. He worked with John Martyn, Hugh Masekela, on '' Rhythm of the Saints'' by Paul Simon, and '' Short Cut Draw Blood'' by Jim Capaldi. He was also an important figure in the 1970 ...
, one of the producers for ''The Now Now'' and the voice actor of
Russel, during a round of chess.
Ace Copular (who replaced
Murdoc
Murdoc is a fictional character that appears in the ABC television series ''MacGyver'' and in the CBS reboot series of the same name. In both portrayals, Murdoc is an assassin and frequent antagonist of both series.
Original series
Murdoc ...
while the latter was incarcerated) is then seen observing two men play basketball in front of a mural of
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...
. When the ball lands in his hands after a successful dunk by one of the players, he deflates it using a pocket knife, making it impossible for the game to continue.
After this, various video clips of local residents are shown. Near the end of the video, Russel can be seen standing on the side of the boardwalk. When 2-D skates in his direction, he extends his leg and trips him.
When 2-D recovers, his white eyes turn black, and he attempts to skate again, only to end up falling.
The video was produced by
The Line
Line most often refers to:
* Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity
* Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system
Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to:
Arts ...
in collaboration with
Blinkink and Ruffian, with rotoscoping by Trace VFX. It was directed by Gorillaz co-creator
Jamie Hewlett
Jamie Christopher Hewlett (born 3 April 1968) is an English comic book creator, illustrator, music video director, and songwriter. He is the co-creator of the comic book '' Tank Girl'' with Alan Martin and co-creator of the virtual band Gorilla ...
and co-directed by Tim McCourt, Max Taylor, and Evan Silver.
Remixes
On 12 July 2018, a single containing two remixes of the song by British indie pop band
Superorganism
A superorganism or supraorganism is a group of synergetically interacting organisms of the same species. A community of synergetically interacting organisms of different species is called a holobiont.
Concept
The term superorganism is used m ...
and German EDM producer
DJ Koze
Stefan Kozalla (born 1972), better known as DJ Koze (), is a German DJ and music producer.
Biography
Born in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Kozalla first became known in the Hamburg music scene. In the early 1990s, he started as a rapper and DJ ...
was released. The Superorganism remix adds lead singer Orono Noguchi's voice to the song along with a snippet of rap lyrics from another Gorillaz song,
Clint Eastwood, while the DJ Koze remix is mostly instrumental.
Personnel
*
Damon Albarn – vocals, synthesizer, guitar, additional drum programming
*
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...
– guitar, additional vocals
*
James Ford – bass guitar, synthesizer, drums
*
Remi Kabaka Jr.
Remi Kabaka Jr. (born 11 April 1970) is a British record producer, art director, percussionist and voice actor best known as the drummer and producer for British virtual band Gorillaz. He became a music producer for the band in 2015 after severa ...
– percussion, drum programming
*John Davis – mastering engineer
*Mark DeCozio – additional engineering
*Samuel Egglenton – engineering assistant
*
Stephen Sedgwick – mixing engineer, recording engineer, engineering
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{authority control
2018 songs
2018 singles
Gorillaz songs
George Benson songs
Songs written by Damon Albarn
Parlophone singles
Warner Records singles
Songs written by James Ford (musician)
Songs written by Remi Kabaka Jr.
Jazz fusion songs
British funk songs
Songs about loneliness