Kendrick Lamar's "The Heart Pt. 5" Cover Art Explained

Kendrick Lamar debuted his new single, "The Heart Pt. 5" on Sunday night.

BYAron A.
Prince Williams/Wireimage/Getty Images

It is officially Kendrick Lamar season. After a flub on Spotify's part, Kendrick Lamar's fifth installment in "The Heart" series arrived on Sunday night along with a new visual that K. Dot co-directed alongside Dave Free. The visuals have been at the center of discourse for over 12 hours. With help from South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Kendrick Lamar utilized deep fake technology to transform into Will Smith, Jussie Smollett, Kobe Bryant, Nipsey Hussle, OJ Simpson, and Kanye West. As he's deepfaking these individuals, he's also rapping from their perspective. 

The cover art for "The Heart Part 5" carries the video's theme, as well. The six hands on the cover art belong to the six individuals Kendrick deepfakes in the video. The gloved hand in the far right belongs to OJ Simpson from his infamous trial. The hand to the left of OJ's belongs to Kobe Bryant.

Kendrick Lamar's new single kicks off the campaign for his upcoming studio album, Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers. The album is rumored to be a double-disc, though Kendrick hasn't confirmed it. The album is due out on Friday, May 13th, and will likely have a grip on the Billboard 200 for the weeks to come. K. Dot's new album is already projected to move 350,000 equivalent units in its first week, which will certainly serve as the largest debut of the year so far.

Check out the cover art breakdown below. 


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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.