Kendrick Lamar Shares “The Heart Part 5”

The entire world is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Kendrick Lamar’s fifth studio album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (May 13, pgLang), his first offering since 2017’s DAMN. Since the album’s announcement back in April, Lamar’s continuously evolving website has seen many changes, most recently teasing a possible double album treatment (and a book?). Fans were treated on the evening of Sunday, May 8, to the album’s first single “The Heart Part 5,” alongside what will probably be one of the most talked about music videos of the year.

Lamar’s “The Heart” series started in 2010 on his Overly Dedicated mixtape. What began with him longing to be positioned amongst rap greats such as Tupac and Biggie evolved into the rapper readjusting his dreams and reflecting upon his newfound responsibility as an artist as his fame skyrocketed. Building upon 2017’s “The Heart, Part 4” which has Lamar boasting about being “a hip-hop rhyme savior,” “The Heart Part 5” is an introspective swan song centered around Marvin Gaye’s erotic 1976 hit “I Want You” that finds Lamar embodying those he has loved, lost and admired. Lamar reflects on being surrounded by murder and gang activity, juxtaposed as a survivor amongst the many he and his community have lost. His heartwrenching chorus, “I want the hood to want me back, look what I’ve done for you,” is an earnest plea for acceptance and recognition not only for himself, but on behalf of the many characters he embodies in the song’s accompanying video.