Kendrick Lamar revealed his latest installment of his “The Heart” series over the weekend, which sees him addressing a lot of society’s current ills — much of which are still in place since his last album was released:
“I come from a generation of pain, where murder is minor, rebellious and Margielas’ll chip you for designer, belt buckles and clout, overzealous if prone to violence, make the wrong turn, be it will or the wheel alignment, residue burned, mist of the inner-city, miscommunication to keep homi’ detective busy, no protection is risky, desensitized, I vandalized pain, covered up and camouflaged…”
The track also sees a matching visual that shows Kendrick morphing into O.J. Simpson, Kanye West, Jussie Smollett, Will Smith, Kobe Bryant, and Nipsey Hussle. Naturally, this provoked big responses from fans and peers alike — many of whom attempted to decipher the many possible meanings behind the surprise release. One example came from the Twitter user “@itsJoey2_0,” who spoke on Kendrick‘s placement in the video:
“Notice how Kendrick Lamar is placed slightly on the left of the video (similar to where The Heart is located in the human body) and his constant bounce representing The Heart beat. ART.”
This Friday will see the Compton star making an official return with his fifth studio LP Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, which — judging from a recent post on Kendrick’s official website — could be his first double album. Upon its release, it will follow 2017’s DAMN., a critically acclaimed effort that consisted of 14 songs and additional contributions from Rihanna, Zacari, and U2. That project was both a critical and commercial success, landing Kendrick at the top of the Billboard 200 thanks to a whopping 603,000 first-week album equivalent units sold.
Check out some tweets in response to Kendrick Lamar‘s “The Heart Part 5” below.