TRACK REVIEW: The Heart Pt. V - Kendrick Lamar

 

TRACK REVIEW:

The Heart Pt. V by  Kendrick Lamar

 

 

 Another highly anticipated release, Today Kendrick Lamar dropped his teaser for "Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers", another installment in the heart series, The Heart pt. V.

The song opens with a piano repeating the same note, whilst Bongo drums play in the background, this give the beat an african/latin Feel,  a sound which Kendrick has not delved into much.  In fact, the beat has an almost cartoonish feel, which is juxtaposed by Kendrick entering with somewhat unenthusiastic vocals, delivering a monologue about perspective, and thanking his fans for listening to him.

Kendrick then changes his inflection and begins his verse, and rap his normal stuff about the hood, although his articulation seems airier than usual. He also delivers this line I really like, "I done seen niggas do seventeen, hit the halfway house. Get out and get his brains blown out, lookin' to buy some weed. Car wash is played out, new GoFundMe accounts'll proceed."

After this comes this glittery chorus, sampling Marvin Gaye's "I Want You." This chorus talks about how Kendrick wants the hood to appreciate him for all he has done, just as he appreciates the hood.  There are also some subtle strings and guitars that enter, which only add to the song. 

It is hard to go past this point without mentioning the music video, in which Kendrick's face morphs into different celebrities, providing context for the song.

On the first line of the second verse, Kendrick's face morphs into Jay-Z, which is making reference to the interpolation Kendrick is doing of Jay's song "Izzo"

A few lines later, Kendrick says "Friends bipolar, grab you by your pockets. No option if you froze up, always play the offense," As he says this line, Kendrick's face morphs into that of Kanye West, who, notably, has Bipolar Disorder.

Further along, Kendrick's face morphs into Will Smith's , which is most likely a reference to "The Slap."

In this verse, K.dot also mentions when he announced the death of Nipsey Hussle in Argentina at Lollapalooza.

There is another repetition of the chorus, before a short interlude, where Kendrick takes a hit and lets the bass ride. 

In the final verse, Kendrick touches on Life and Death, before his face morphs into Nipsey Hussle, and he raps from the perspective of Nipsey, saying he forgives his killer and he will be watching over his brother from the afterlife.

Overall, This sees Kendrick foraying into a new territory, although somewhat predictable, as it follows on the trail left by earlier tracks such as "i". Hopefully the release of Mr. Morale elaborates on this theme with more experimentation, because to be honest I'm getting tired of Kendrick using the same inflections over the same beats.

That said, this is still an outstanding track.

8.4/10 

 

*Edit : The strings in this song are comparable to that of I Wonder by Kanye West*

UPDATE: THE HEART PT. V HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF OF YOUTUBE AND POSSIBLY SPOTIFY, THE REASON BEHIND THIS IS CURRENTLY UNKNOWN

UPDATE 2: IT WAS REUPLOADED, CRISIS AVERTED