Kendrick Lamar released the video for the first single from his newalbum , "The Heart Part 5 ."- It features the rapper's face being altered into several celebrities through deep-fake technology.
Kendrick Lamar used deep-fake technology to transform into Will Smith, Kanye West, O.J. Simpson, Jussie Smollett, Kobe Bryant, and Nipsey Hussle in his video for "The Heart Part 5," the first single from his upcoming album.
The video, released Sunday, opens with a quote from Lamar's latest alter ego Oklama on screen that reads "I am. All of us." Next, the Grammy Award-winning rapper informs the listener that as he ages he has begun to understand that "life is perspective."
He goes on to launch into the first of several perspectives presented in the song's lyrics. Lamar acknowledges how "the culture" can "point the finger" then "promote ya" over the sample of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You."
He then virtually becomes other people throughout the video via deep-fake technology. His clothing and hair remain consistent, but his face repeatedly morphs into the faces of other celebrities.
The majority of the celebrities featured in the video are polarizing figures who have run afoul of public opinion at one point in their lives.
"In a land where hurt people hurt more people, fuck callin' it culture," raps Lamar as Will Smith at one point.
Smith has faced criticism and consequences for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, after Rock made a joke about the actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has since instituted a 10-year ban preventing Smith from attending any Academy events, including the Oscars.
Lamar's new video was directed and executive produced by Lamar and his longtime collaborator
The deep-fake special effects were provided by
The new track is the first single from Lamar's upcoming album "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers," the highly anticipated follow-up to the rapper's 2017 album "Damn," which won best rap album at the 2018 Grammy Awards and that year's Pulitzer Prize for music.
Lamar has always dropped a "heart" themed single before releasing a project. "The Heart, Part 1" preceded the mixtape "Overly Dedicated," which was released in 2010. "The Heart, Part 3" came before 2012's "Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City."
The fourth part of the "heart" series in 2017 was teased with a tweet of the roman numeral IV and caused rap pundits to advise competitors to clear the way.
"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" is scheduled to drop on Friday. See the full video for "The Heart Part 5" below.