No Black Person Is Ugly

"No Black Person Is Ugly" is a hip hop song[2] and samples Hungarian jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó's "Magical Connection", originally composed by Alex North.[3] The song features "a relatively traditional flow," compared to Lil B's other works.[4]

The song's lyrics deal with race and identity in present-day America. It explores Lil B's condemnations and criticisms of "police brutality, beauty standards found on magazine covers, and the knot-in-stomach self-loathing that he sees as an intentional media construct,"[5] The lyrics, which touch upon "how far the media has to go in its representations of African-American people in pop culture,"[6] alternate between his "black power declarations and his appeals for global solidarity against racism, rape, and all such violence."[4] The song delivers its positive message through its hook: "No black person is ugly, don’t say it one time."

The song received rave reviews from music critics. Pitchfork's Jayson Greene awarded the song with a "Best New Track" tag, writing: "He opens with in a tightly packed flow that tricks you into expecting a linear, coherent performance. But you soon realize it’s Lil B straight through, a string of small, disconnected sentences tracing the contours of some big, connected thoughts." Greene concludes that, "when Lil B is at his best, you feel him looking you directly in the eye."[7] Another Pitchfork critic, David Drake, compared the song to Kendrick Lamar's "i", eventually stating: "No Black Person Is Ugly" treats self-love as a radical panacea for the moment, a method of wrestling with grand antagonisms on a personal level."[3] Ryan Kristobak of The Huffington Post stated that "rapper's unfiltered stream of consciousness permits him to really focus in on his flow and subject matter" and concluded: "No Black Person Is Ugly" is Lil B's most purposeful and uplifting song."[8] Josiah Hughes of Exclaim!, who described the track as "a sweet, positive, uplifting rap song," commented: "It's the flip side to B's freaked-out similes and wacky non sequiturs, and a reminder that he's [Lil B] one of the most important rappers we've got."[2]

Matthew Trammel of The Fader wrote: "It's been harder to find these kind of messages in a genre where it was once second-nature, but B manages to inspire without coming off preachy."[5] Olivia Forman of Spin described the song as an "anti-racism anthem" and wrote: "Hopefully he’s not too right with the lyric that he’s 'too real for the game,' but it seems only the Based God could fashion such a profound anthem without coming off preachy, using his experience to lead by example."[9] Justin Charity of Complex thought: "Clearly, Lil B is taking his rap god status a notch or two more seriously than we're used to hearing."[4]

The song was ranked number 15 on Pitchfork Media's "the 100 Best Tracks of 2014" and number 23 on the Huffington Post's "The 23 Best Songs of 2014" lists.[3][8]

The music video for the song was released on July 30, 2014 with the title "Most Powerful Song of the Decade?".[10] The video shows Lil B interacting with a diverse range of unposed strangers,[9] including police officers.[10] According to Olivia Forman of Spin, one of the shots shows Lil B's hand "grazing over a white-washed magazine stand that clearly illustrates the overwhelming standard of light-skinned beauty in America."[9]

• Lil B - No Black Person Is Ugly official music video