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Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5” channels us all

Kendrick Lamar gifted us with a surprise new song just days before his long awaited fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, coming out this Friday, May 13th, along with the visuals that add more layers to the song. On April 18th, Lamar announced a new album on his Oklama website through a press release that stated, “From the desk of oklama”. Oklama is a nickname Lamar seemingly adopted over the last year. The new song was first teased on April 19th on his website. The song depicts, from Lamar’s perspective, the realities of gang and street violence, to incarceration, and how people have become desensitized to these issues, and have even deemed this to be a part of the culture, however, Kendrick makes a stance that it is not , but is hurting the culture. Lamar conveys his message through the music where he cross-references the societal issues with celebrity controversies.

In the Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free directed video, it  starts off with a black screen that reads “I am. All of us”. In the  intro of the song, the track starts, sampling Marvin Gaye’s 1976  song, “I Want You”. Lamar appears on screen where he looks  vulnerable, and sad almost as he cites, “As I get older, I realize  life is perspective. And my perspective may differ from yours.” And  instantly, Lamar’s whole mood and demeanor changes as he  steps into his element of being Kendrick Lamar, the rapper, the  prophet. The whole video is of him rapping in front of a burgundy  backdrop, as if providing a monologue, as his face swaps into  deep fakes from the perspective of his peers and entertainers  such as O.J. Simpson, Kanye West, Will Smith, Jussie Smollett,  Kobe Bryant, and Nipsey Hussle. Lamar is wearing simply a white  t-shirt, a black bandana around his neck, and his natural hair out.

In the first verse of the song, Lamar raps about what he’s  witnessed and experienced in his culture coming from Compton,  California. The first line states “I come from a generation of pain,  where murder is minor”. He goes on to express inner city  violence, betrayal of homies and baby mommas, pain endured by  incarcerated individuals, news of a loved one’s death caused by  the culture, the tragedy of people serving long sentences in  prison, being released and getting caught up in the same dangers  of inner city violence, the evolution of raising funeral money from  car washes to GoFundMe accounts, and the repeating of the  cycle. 

Lamar grooves to the beat in the chorus, and as he enters  the second verse, he states, “I do this for my culture. To let y’all  know what a nigga look lik ein a bullet Rover”. He raps it in the  way Jay-Z opens his line to his second verse on his 2001 hit  single “Izzo (H.O.V.A). It’s in the second verse where he does his  first face swap into O.J. Simpson. He continues, “Friends bipolar,  grab you by your pockets. No option if you froze up, always play  the offense”, as he morphs into Kanye West, who was diagnosed  as being bipolar. Lamar seems to be correlating those “friends” in  West’s circle, to the friends from the hood. This song is all about  perspective. From the perspective of West, Lamar seems to  convey that West is surrounded by opportunists who are or have  taken advantage of his mental state. Sources close to West such  as Dame Dash and Pusha T have alluded to this notion in the  past. Lamar continues to rap, “The streets got me fucked up, yall  can miss me. I wanna represent for us. New revolution was up  and moving”. It’s at this moment that he morphs into Jussie  Smollet, an actor known for his activism in the Black community.  However, Smollett was convicted in 2021 on five felony counts for  lying to the police about an alleged racial and homophobic attack  on him in 2019. It was discovered that Smollett hired two Nigerian  men to stage the attack. Lamar continues to express grief due to  the execution of a peer while he was in Argentina, history 

repeating itself of Black on Black violence, the culture choosing to  deal with their pain through substance because it’s too hard to  bear while sober, however forgetting the issue at hand, and thus  repeating the cycle. This peer he speaks of mourning is Nipsey  Hussle The Great. 

As Lamar closes the verse with “In the land where hurt  people hurt more people”, he morphs into actor Will Smith, who  just recently publicly slapped comedian Chris Rock during the  2022 Oscar’s over a joke made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett  Smith, in regards to her bald head. Lamar ends the verse with  “Fuck calling it culture”.  

In the chorus, Lamar incorporates Marvin Gaye’s vocals as  he sings along to “I Want You”. However, Lamar flips the meaning  of “I Want You”, which originally is a love song, to instead  represent wanting the hood to love and respect him where he  sings, “I want the hood to want me back”, and “Look what I’ve  done for you”. This also is intended to have the culture recognize  all that he and the people he portrays in the video have done for  Black culture. Lamar wants his people to know that though it’s a  harsh reality check, he says these things because he has love for  his community. 

In the third and final verse, Lamar raps about celebrating  new life, lessons learned, flaws of being a human, gaining  consciousness, and clarity. Lamar morphs into basketball legend  Kobe Bryant as he raps, “Reflectin on my life and what I done.  Paid dues, made rules, change outta love”. It’s in the second half  of the final verse where Lamar morphs into Nipsey Hussle and is  speaking through Nipsey Hussle’s perspective while uplifting  Black culture and the community as he raps, “As I bleed through  the speakers, feel my presence. To my brother, to my kids, I’m in  Heaven. To my mother, to my sis, I’m in Heaven. To my father, to  my wife, I am serious this is Heaven”. Through Nipsey’s  perspective, Kendrick reminds the community what culture is, and 

that’s to count our blessings, to invest, to “let the good prevail”, to  stay out of jail, and look for salvation. It is through those values  that Kendrick and Nipsey believe can transcend and elevate the  community.

Dave Amigo’s new album “ALL STAR” is one of a kind

[Via @wowdaveamigo on Instagram]

Philly-based artist Dave Amigo has the whole underground music scene talking about his new project “ALL STAR”. The album is 11 tracks in length and is unlike anything else out right now. I knew when I first heard about the project that this one would do numbers, and I was right. The project has already surpassed 300,000 streams on Spotify since its release date April 28th, 2022 which is a testament to his incredibly active fanbase and his skill as an artist. The overall tone of the project is so sick, Dave’s assertive flow over top of hard-hitting rage melodies will please the new era of underground music fans. Do you think Dave has what it takes to make it major? I believe with the team he has behind him, the sky is the limit. Stream “ALL STAR” below!

Stream “ALL STAR” Here:

Follow Dave Amigo:
https://instagram.com/wowdaveamigo
https://twitter.com/wowdaveamigo

98Priest gets vulnerable on latest LP ‘Lost Kid’

Vivacious San Antonio, TX rapper 98 Priest shares his latest opus, Lost Kid. Helmed with features from his very own dad, Villy, Mook Lauren, and sibling – Nem6, the project fans had speculated since late last year has finally arrived.

Born Nijewl Priest, the record finds 98Priest brimming with inspiration. He tackles intrinsic subject matters such as faith, his rollercoaster of emotions, personal relationships, and more in between this soul-searching poetic justice masterpiece.

Baptized in religious topics, this is represented in some of the track titles – “Sacrifice”, “Church”, whilst confronting the sensitive relationship with his dad on “Seedless”, “Family Feud” and more. “Seedless” more so interrogates his tumultuous bond with his kin, reflecting on his ‘daddy issues’ where he boldly asks difficult questions throughout his verse:

“I’m loving somebody can’t love myself, how is that pop?” , “How come I’m feeling like finding love gon’ make me weaker?”, “How come I can’t pick up the phone and tell you I’m uneasy?” he relays before his dad monikered as “Pops” responds in the dialogue-esque opener.

Raised in a musical family, 98Priest’s father is a rapper, his mother a music critic and collaborator and brother – Nem6- an avid rapper himself. 98Priest is definitely one of the freshest rookies to keep on your radar as he continues his gradual ascent in the music world.

Check out the funk-jazz inspired record, that promises to arrest you emotionally, story-wise, and surely, pay you for your time. Music visuals from the record are also anticipated to drop soon. You can watch “Church” featuring Villy below.