Watch Selena Gomez Take On Haters In ‘Kill Em With Kindness’ Music Video
Selena Gomez takes on her haters in her new music video for “Kill Em with Kindness,” the fourth and final single from the Disney alum’s album Revival, which was released last October.
On Monday, Selena Gomez fans anticipated the video by trending “KillEmWithKindnessTODAY” on Twitter. The 23-year-old has been performing the club-ready track during her ongoing Revival Tour, along with previously released singles, “Good For You,” “Same Old Love,” and “Hands To Myself.”
Check out the Emil Nava-directed music video below.
What’s Gomez’s latest single about? Predictably, some gossip media sites are speculating whether the actress-singer is kissing off her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber in the song. But, the answer to that question is no. According to the well-known Genius lyric website, “Kill Em with Kindness” is all “about using peaceful actions to overcome our everyday obstacles and limitations.”
During an interview with iHeart Radio last year, the Latina said of the song, “Everybody needs to hear it. It’s kind of my motto for life. It’s so much easier to be mean.”
Selena added, “It’s so easy to just kind of give yourself that but it’s so hard to walk away from a situation, turn your cheek the other way, and be the bigger person. So, that’s what ‘Kill Em With Kindness’ represents.”
Gomez went on to say, “I think people need to hear that more often.”
In the first verse, Gomez sets up the single’s peaceful warrior premise.
“The world can be a nasty place / You know it, I know it, yeah / We don’t have to fall from grace /Put down the weapons you fight with,” she sings.
Genius notes that back in 2014, when Selena sought treatment for her lupus condition, many gossip sites claimed she was going to rehab for addiction.
In the chorus, she urges, “Kill ’em with kindness / Kill ’em with kindness / Kill ’em, kill ’em, kill ’em with kindness / Kill ’em with kindness / Kill ’em with kindness / Go ‘head, go ‘head, go ‘head, go ‘head now.”
Further into the song, Selena sings, “We’re running out of time / Chasing our lies / Everyday a small piece of you dies / Always somebody You’re willing to fight / to be right.”
The pre-chorus lyrics are noticeably visceral.
“Your lies are bullets / Your mouth’s a gun/ And no war in anger was ever won / Put out the fire before igniting / Next time you’re fighting.”
Genius says Gomez is saying that lies only end up hurting the one who tells them and that the truth always comes out eventually. The advice to listeners is to meet the nastiness of others with kindness. By being the bigger person in a situation when one is being attacked with physically or verbally (or in the press), Gomez is saying stepping away and nurturing one’s own integrity has “a much greater impact.”
It’s possible the lyrics here refer to body shaming incidents Gomez experienced last May after she was snapped in a bikini during a holiday in April. In response to hateful comments, the starlet posted another photo of herself in a bathing suit, which she captioned, “I love being happy with me yall #theresmoretolove.
Around that same time, Selena also dealt with a troll fat shaming her in comments at her Instagram page. The exchange was captured by one of many fans. See it below.
Selena just replied to a hater on Instagram. #SelenaGomez pic.twitter.com/EMUqWFmyEU
— hands to myself (@BeMyWifeSelena) April 30, 2015
Back to the “Kill Em with Kindness” video. The black-and-white visual opens with the songstress sitting on a high stool in a black silk dress and a long coat while getting prepped by various people assistants on the video set. The first scenes zero in on Gomez’s face as she capably acts out the lyrics while dramatic lighting accents particular lines amid dress changes.
Later in the video, Gomez strips down to pale underwear before a scene showing her striding purposefully down a corridor. Dancers are also seen in the video in fast edits. It’s a stylish, if uneventful, video. But, in its favor, the track’s powerful lyrics remain the focus because of Gomez’s intimate interaction with the camera, which will draw viewers in.
Gomez is next set to perform in North Carolina on Tuesday and has already released a statement supporting the LGBT movement in the wake of an anti-LGBT law being passed in the state. She is also donating some of the proceeds from her North Carolina show to the movement.
It’s been reported that releases from Gomez’s upcoming record after Revival will include “Feel Me.” The starlet has hinted that her follow-up album will come out this year. Let us know your thoughts on the “Kill Em with Kindness” in comments below.
Thank you, @selenagomez! https://t.co/juUUruB3Yo
— Equality NC (@equalitync) June 4, 2016
[Image via Interscope/Vevo]
