At the mention of vehicular escape, Kendrick Lamar‘s face morphs into O.J. Simpson’s. When he raps, “Friends bipolar, grab you by your pockets,” he becomes Kanye West. And then Jussie Smollett, Will Smith, Kobe Bryant, and finally, his departed friend Nipsey Hussle. Between these, in the show-stopping one-shot video for “The Heart Part 5,” Kendrick reverts back to his original face to keep rhyming. It’s a startling spectacle, and it takes repeated viewings to catch every nuance. But nothing is more potent than when he takes on Hussle’s visage, then once again his own, to state plainly: “To the killer that sped up my demise, I forgive you / Just know your soul’s in question.” —Patrick Hosken
Tagged: music