Kendrick season has started! The music mogul has marked his return with the release of “The Heart Part 5” just days ahead of the release of his much-anticipated fifth studio album, “Mr. Morale & The Big Stepper” (out 13 May).
The one-shot video starts simply enough: with a quote from Oklama (an alias of Kendrick’s) that reads ‘I Am. All Of Us. Kendrick then proceeds to rap the first verse against a plain maroon backdrop while looking slightly away from the camera.
Kendrick turns toward the camera to deliver his second verse at which point his face morphs into OJ Simpson’s. The rapper continues to take on the faces of other Black celebrities for the rest of the video including Kanye West, Jussie Smollett, and Will Smith — all of whom have been in the news recently for problematic behaviour. And it’s no coincidence that the transformations appear to alight with the lyrics:
- OJ appears as Kendrick interpolates a classic Jay-Z line (who made “The Story of OJ”)
- Ye, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, pops up as Kendrick raps “friends bipolar, grab you by your pockets / No option if you froze up, always play the offence”
- Will Smith features for the lyric “in the land where hurt people hurt more people,” alluding to the infamous slap at this year’s Oscars where Smith smacked Chris Rock.
The final verse sees the 34-year-old reflect on life, death, and the lessons learned in between. For this, Kendrick takes on the faces of two LA legends: Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle. However, the lyrics appear to be completely from Nipsey’s perspective:
“To my fans, make sure you make them investments
And to the killer that sped up my demise
I forgive you, just know your soul’s in question
I seen the pain in your pupil when that trigger had squeezed
And though you did me gruesome, I was surely relieved
I completed my mission, wasn’t ready to leave
But fulfilled my days, my Creator was pleased
I can’t stress how I love y’all
I don’t need to be in flesh just to hug y’all
The memories recollect just because y’all
Celebrate me with respect”.
The video was directed by Kendrick himself alongside his longtime collaborator & pgLang co-founder, Dave Free. Deep Voodoo (the studio run by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone) was credited for doing the deep-fake work. Earlier this year, it was reported that Kendrick was working with the pair to produce a new live-action comedy.
The track itself was produced by Beach Noise (whose other production credits include multiple tracks by Baby Keem) and samples Marvin Gaye’s 1976 “I Want You”. However, Kendrick flips the original meaning of Gaye’s chorus—an expression of love to his partner —to instead portray a desire for the hood to love and respect him. He encourages the audience to recognise how much he and the others depicted in the video have given to their respective communities as he sings “look what I done for you”.
Notably, the cover art features the hands of the people he impersonates in the video. From left to right, the hands are as follows: Will Smith, Ye, OJ Simpson (top row), Nipsey Hussle, Jussie Smollett, and Kobe Bryant (bottom row). All hands can be seen holding up the number five, which coincides with the fact that this song is the fifth instalment in Kendrick’s beloved “Heart” song series.
Watch the full video down below.
