Nipsey Hussle’s wife Lauren London has praised Kendrick Lamar’s new music video, in which he pays tribute to her late husband.
Upon the video’s release, London shared the video on her Instagram Story with a two-word caption: “Powerful art”.
Lamar dropped his new track, “The Heart Part 5”, days ahead of the release of his new album.
It was released along with a music video directed by Dave Free and Lamar, in which the rapper’s face morphs into several deepfakes including the likenesses of OJ Simpson, Will Smith, Jussie Smollett, Kobe Bryant, Kanye West, and Hussle.
Hussle, who was fatally shot outside his store in Los Angeles in 2019, is the last person that Lamar portrays in the video, with the final verse written from his perspective.
“I wake up that morning with more heart to give you,” Lamar 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. To my friends, make sure you countin’ them blessings. To my fans, make sure you make them investments.”
Lamar then raps a message for “the killer that sped up my demise,” saying from the perspective of Hussle that his murderer is forgiven, but his “soul is in question.”
“I seen the pain in your pupil when that trigger had squeezed,” he raps. “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.”
In his verse, Lamar also makes a reference to Hussle’s brother Samiel Asghedom, also known as Blacc Sam.
“And Sam, I’ll be watchin’ over you / Make sure my kids watch all my interviews / Make sure you live all the dreams we produce,” he raps. “Keep that genius in your brain on the move / And to my neighborhood, let the good prevail / Make sure them babies and their leaders outta jail / Look for salvation when troubles get real.
“Cause you can’t keep the world until you help yourself / And I can’t blame the hood the day that I was killed / Y’all had to see it, that’s the only way to feel / And though my physical won’t reap the benefits / The energy that carries on emits still. I want you.”
Lamar’s new album, Mr Morale & the Big Steppers, is out on Friday 13 May.
