The Heart Only Has 4 Chambers. But Not in Kendrick Lamar’s case.
Kendrick Lamar redefines his discography yet again.
The heart only has 4 chambers. Or so we thought. Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart” series has been a compelling showcase of his artistic spunk for his albums before their release. This fact still holds with his newest addition to the series: “The Heart Part 5”. Part 5 marks a new era of Kendrick’s discography. One that is slated to be masterful with his upcoming album “Mr. Moral and the Big Steppers.” Part 5 from Kendrick’s perspective isn’t simply a promotional single. But rather a letter. To his fans, his community, and most importantly the people who’ve held him high even during his lows. He speaks from 6 perspectives throughout the track. 6 different people with varying levels of impression within black America.
Part 5 samples Marvin Gaye’s “I want you.” Gaye’s track originally was written as a love letter to Janis Hunter. Gaye’s obsessive relationship (in a good way) with Hunter was the primary point of influence for the track. The discernible erotic nature of his work is a direct transposition of his relationship with Hunter at the time.
Kendrick’s decision to use this track to build his composition is not one of coincidence. His decision was intentional as the message he puts across in Part 5 is reminiscent of Gaye’s love letter to Hunter. Instead of Hunter being the subject matter of this love letter, it instead is the people that have waited for his return musically. He asks for recognition from his community for the impact he’s had even through his absence. In addition, he also plays the part of 6 other people that have had a recognizable social impact through their words and actions.
“I wanna say thank you to everyone that’s been down with me. All my fans, all my beautiful fans. Anyone who’s ever gave me a listen, all my people” — Kendrick Lamar in “The Heart Part 5”
Kendrick uses his words in collaboration with “DEEP VOODOO” (deep-fake technology) in the music video to speak from 6 different perspectives. These perspectives are of men that have contributed to Kendrick’s conviction of the social dichotomy that is both good and evil; primarily stemming from Abrahamic influence. Kendrick himself has time and time again described himself as a person of faith, so it is no surprise that he takes on the task of describing good and evil as a non-zero-sum game. An act of good does not mean there is less evil in the world and so an act of evil does not mean there is less good in the world.
The six perspectives that Kendrick speaks from go as follows: OJ Simpson, Kanye West, Jussie Smollett, Will Smith, Kobe Bryant, and Nipsey Hussle. It is worth noting that Part 5’s cover on streaming platforms has cutouts of the hands (signaling five fingers) of these individuals. While it may seem like a random set of hands at first, the cutout of OJ Simpson trying on the glove and Kobe Bryant’s bandaged finger makes it obvious that the hands belong to the 6 figures that he speaks as through the track.
OJ Simpson
“I said I’d do this for my culture
To let y’all know what a n**** look like in a bulletproof Rover”
Kendrick tackles being OJ by using a double entendre. He uses the imagery of being in a bulletproof rover to represent both himself and OJ concurrently. We’ve known that Kendrick doesn’t put himself above hip-hop’s idiosyncrasy of being boastful. In Baby Keem’s “range brothers” he braggadociously talks about being part of the “rover gang.” Although it does have a layer of humor and playfulness to it; it may be important to recognize the fact that his success, through trying to be as ethically “good” as possible, is the reason he’s in a position to brag about owning a rover. At the same time, he uses the rover as a representative object of OJ Simpson’s car chase in a white bronco on June 17, 1994. The double entendre of the bulletproof rover represents two different paths.
The “bulletproof rover” can either be an analogy of bulletproof social status and financial safety, like Kendrick, or something physical that people can point a gun at and shoot, quite like how the cops shot at OJ Simpson’s white bronco.
Kanye West
“Friends bipolar, grab you by your pockets”
Throughout Kendrick’s rise to fame, Kanye West has served as a cautionary tale of what happens when you let fame control you to the point that it consumes you. For a good part of this year, Kanye has spent a lot of time in the spotlight whether it be the release of his album: “DONDA” or his altercations with Pete Davidson as a result of his divorce from Kim Kardashian. The people that surround Kanye have often been portrayed as vultures and Kanye himself has recognized this fact as seen in his single with The Game: “Eazy.”
“How I ain’t bring nothin’ to the table when I’m the table?” — Kanye West in “Eazy”
Kanye’s wealth has been a point of contention when it comes to his family. The Kardashians, while having wealth of their own, have been known to take advantage of people with wealth and cut ties when they don’t need them anymore. Kanye is, and rightfully so, a victim of this charade. Kendrick takes time out of his track to describe how people in Kanye’s life “grab you by your pockets” when they don’t need you anymore. Kanye’s demise is a tale that Kendrick uses to portray a culture of greed. Where greed transforms good into evil. And evil into more evil.
Jussie Smollett
Although Kendrick visually transforms into Jussie Smollett, his lyrics have no references to Smollett’s hate crime hoax. In early 2019 Smollett was allegedly a victim of a hate crime, but further investigation revealed that Smollett faked the entire crime. Maybe Kendrick didn’t think it was a relevant enough storyline or maybe this track was written before Smollett’s controversy. We may never know. But Smollet’s story is one of how trying to do good can often lead to carrying out actions tainted with masked evil.
Will Smith
“In the land where hurt people hurt more people
Fuck callin’ it culture”
Kendrick’s perspective through Will Smith speaks volumes about how mental health is a fragile yet necessary component of the humane psyche. Will Smith’s actions during the Oscars this year have made it apparent the fact that when people are hurt by people they most likely hurt more people. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars was a direct result of his wife Jada-Pinkett Smith putting Will through a difficult situation in his life. His wife cheated on him and Will wasn’t allowed to be angry. Instead, he went on a couple of dozen shows to talk about it. None of that seems normal. And being put through something that unhealthy takes a toll on one’s mental health. And as a result, they hurt more people. Chris Rock in this case.
Kendrick ties Will’s actions back to good and evil by consolidating the series of events in a couplet that represent the concept that being good isn’t enough to stop evil from happening.
Kobe Bryant
“Them same views made schools change curriculums”
Kendrick uses Kobe Bryant’s legacy as a precedent of how good can be contrasted with evil. Growing up Kobe Bryant didn’t have much to his name. Instead of obsessing over material gain Bryant put in the work and chose to be obsessed with basketball instead. His work ethic and relentlessness put him over the top in an uphill battle. When it was all said and done Bryant chose to spend the remainder of his retirement helping young basketball players find a footing in navigating a path in professional basketball. Through his foundation, Mamba Basketball Academy, he’s helped hundreds of basketball players navigate their way through to find greatness. His impact on the sport is substantial and we’re seeing his impact in real-time. With his death in 2020, his legacy has had and will have a lasting impact on the world of basketball.
Kendrick uses Kobe’s legacy to represent how good people can have evil things happen to them. And that doesn’t mean that it makes them any less good or evil. People are flawed and the balance of good and evil is necessary to make people be what they are: flawed.
Nipsey Hussle
“And to the killer that sped up my demise
I forgive you, just know your soul’s in question
I seen the pain in your pupil when that trigger had squeezed
And though you did me gruesome, I was surely relieved
I completed my mission, wasn’t ready to leave
But fulfilled my days, my Creator was pleased”
Kendrick’s portrayal of Nipsey is my favorite out of the six. Nipsey’s life has been dedicated to giving back to the community that raised him. His years were spent implementing social programs in the communities where he grew up in. Most notably his collaboration with tech giants in Silicon Valley to connect disadvantaged youth with opportunities was one that made an everlasting impact in his community.
Kendrick uses Nipsey’s perspective to speak on forgiveness and the concept of a life being taken. Even though Nipsey was taken before his time, Kendrick is firm that Nipsey would forgive his killer and let his soul be judged by god instead. Nipsey was rightfully portrayed by Kendrick as someone that was inherently good. Someone that made being good a priority in his life. Someone that gave back to the people that helped him.
Kendrick uses Nipsey’s legacy to reinforce the fact that being good does not put evil at bay, it is objectively a non-zero-sum game.
