There’s a new Kendrick Lamar song in the world. It’s called “The Heart Part 5.” It’s the rapper’s first single prior to his long-awaited Damn. follow-up Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers and his first new track as a lead artist since 2018. In the video, directed by Dave Free and Lamar, the rapper’s face morphs into several deepfakes, including OJ Simpson, Will Smith, Jussie Smollett, Kobe Bryant, Kanye West, and Nipsey Hussle. The lyrics often align with the person he’s resembling, discussing bipolar disorder when he’s West and murder when he’s the late Hussle. It opens with this quote attributed to Oklama: “I am. All of us.” Watch it below.
The new song was produced by Beach Noise, the production and songwriting trio of Matt Schaeffer, Johnny Kosich, and Jake Kosich, whose other production credits include multiple tracks by Baby Keem. “The Heart Part 5” also includes instrumental contributions from Kyle Miller and Bekon. It appears to sample “I Want You” by Marvin Gaye.
In the video’s credits, Deep Voodoo was credited for doing the deepfake work, which is the studio run by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. There’s also a “special thanks” shout out to Stone and Parker. Earlier this year, it was reported that Lamar was producing a new live-action comedy alongside the duo. On Monday morning, the new video briefly disappeared from YouTube before being reinstated. Pitchfork emailed Kendrick Lamar’s representatives for more information
Lamar announced Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers in April by tweeting a link to his Oklama website. The album—his final LP for Top Dawg Entertainment—arrives May 13. In August of last year, Lamar launched his Oklama site with a note discussing his longtime label. “May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators. As I continue to pursue my life’s calling,” he wrote at the time. “There’s beauty in completion. And always faith in the unknown.” He recently teased the album with a photo showing the project as two CDs and a book.
“Part 5,” as the title suggests, is the latest installation of Lamar’s long-running “The Heart” singles series. The tracks have always arrived prior to the release of a bigger project.
The single follows Lamar’s performance at the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI halftime show back in February. The rapper took the stage alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige. In October 2020, Lamar appeared alongside Busta Rhymes on the new song “Look Over Your Shoulder,” later appearing on Baby Keem’s “Range Brothers” and “Family Ties.” “Family Ties” went on to win the Best Rap Performance award at the 2022 Grammys.
Before those tracks, Lamar joined Sir on “Hair Down” and made a guest appearance on J. Cole’s Dreamville compilation Revenge of the Dreamers III. In 2018, Lamar led Black Panther: The Album, where SZA, Travis Scott, Jay Rock, James Blake, the Weeknd, and more joined him to soundtrack Marvel’s blockbuster.
In addition to the new music, Lamar launched a company called pgLang with former Top Dawg Entertainment co-president Dave Free in early March of 2020. The two announced it as “a new multi-lingual, at service company,” with Lamar’s cousin and protégé Baby Keem appearing in the company’s rollout video. Lamar also narrated an ad for Nike that doubled as a tribute to the late basketball player Kobe Bryant on what would have been his 42nd birthday. Over the summer of 2020, he quietly joined the protests against police brutality after the death of George Floyd.
Damn. earned Kendrick Lamar a Pulitzer Prize for Music. It was the first work outside of the jazz or classical worlds to earn the honor. He was nominated for eight Grammy Awards in 2018 for Black Panther and his Jay Rock collaboration “Win,” with “King’s Dead” winning for Best Rap Performance. Lamar’s Black Panther song with SZA, “All the Stars,” was also nominated for a Best Original Song Academy Award, but the artists were the only ones among the category’s nominees who didn’t perform at the ceremony in February 2019.
Lamar will perform headlining slots at this year’s Glastonbury festival as well as Rolling Loud Miami.
Read “With Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Win, the World May Finally Be Catching Up to Rap.”
This article was originally published on Sunday, May 8 at 8:01 p.m. Eastern. It was last updated on Monday, May 9 at 9:16 a.m. Eastern.
