When Kendrick Lamar dropped the first volume of his “The Heart” single series in 2010, he declared himself “just a lil’ nigga from Compton.” This was one year before the release of his 2011 breakout album Section.80, yet he was already comparing himself to rap legends with a fire and urgency that implied his fate among hip-hop gods was already sealed. Twelve years later, his respect within the industry is unparalleled and he’s the first and so far only rapper ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. But gold can’t erase the bloodstains of the past, a fact that Lamar openly grapples with on his latest single “The Heart Part 5.”
Each new installment in “The Heart” series is a status update, a palate cleanser to prepare for whatever direction Lamar is heading next. “Part 5” has slightly more meta tendencies than usual. “As I get a little older, I realize life is perspective,” Lamar mutters over funky piano stabs and shuffling hand drums sampled from Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You.” His perspective swings from harrowing tales of the street-to-prison cycle to society’s tendency to numb pain with drugs to his memories of performing in Argentina on the night of late California rapper Nipsey Hussle’s death. During the third verse, Lamar speaks from Nipsey’s perspective, positing what he might’ve thought at the moment he was shot and telling his family and his brother, Black Sam, that he’s watching over them. It’s a powerful and haunting moment.
The themes and lyrics are dense and complex even by Kendrick standards, and the song’s accompanying video adds even more layers. From its second verse on, Lamar’s face morphs into deepfakes—created by a company founded by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker—of different Black celebrities of varying degrees of notoriety: O.J. Simpson, Ye, Jussie Smollett, Will Smith, Kobe Bryant, and Nipsey. The convincingness of the deepfakes is mixed, to say the least, but they amplify Lamar’s words and serve to visualize a complicated lineage through Blackness and the pressures of celebrity (Ye on “Friends bipolar, grab you by your pockets,” Smollett on “The streets got me fucked up,” etc.).
“Part 5” is the second “Heart” entry to be paired with a video, and this time, the intrinsic link between song and visual is a double-edged sword. Lamar’s careful cross-references between societal issues and celebrity controversy feel less pressing when you can’t see the faces change in real time, deflating the song’s momentum and placing it near the back end of the “Heart” series. That’s the risk of tying the two elements too close together, but it also speaks to Lamar’s ever-expanding ambitions, and it goes without saying that he’s still one of the best rappers alive. Perspective constantly changes the playing field of life and Lamar is preparing us for what feels like his biggest shift yet.
