Kendrick Lamar has shared ‘The Heart Part 5’, the rapper’s first solo single in four years and the latest in his long-running ‘The Heart’ series.
The rapper’s fifth studio album ‘Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers’ is set to be released this Friday (May 13), and as customary, it has been preceded with an edition of ‘The Heart’. Parts one and two of the series were released in 2010, part three was released in 2012 and part four was released in 2017, all ahead of full-length projects from Lamar.
‘The Heart Part 5’ serves as Lamar’s first solo single since 2018’s ‘All The Stars’, which featured SZA and served as the lead single from Lamar’s curated Black Panther soundtrack.
An accompanying music video has been shared for the single, co-directed by Dave Free alongside Lamar himself. Lamar raps the song in front of a red background, before his face is transformed via deepfake technology to resemble people such as Kanye West and Will Smith. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are given “special thanks” in the video’s credits, as they own the studio used to create the deepfakes in the video.
Watch the video for ‘The Heart Part 5’ below:
Lamar made his return to music following a nearly three-year absence in late 2021, appearing on two tracks by his cousin Baby Keem – ‘Family Ties’ and ‘Range Brothers’ – that featured on Keem’s debut album ‘The Melodic Blue’. The pair performed ‘Family Ties’ and ‘Vent’ together at Coachella last month.
‘Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers’ – the follow-up to 2017’s ‘DAMN.’ – was announced last month. In a follow-up teaser post, Lamar was pictured holding two CDs and a book adorning the album’s title – indicating that the release may be a double album, as well as potentially including an accompanying written piece.