Breaking Down the Symbolism and Meaning in Kendrick Lamar's "The Heart Part 5"

Image via YouTube/Kendrick Lamar

The culture: Once again, Kendrick challenges us to appraise our collective moral compass, while spurning the notion of Black death as “culture.” Gang lifestyle has been absorbed by corporations and naive youth who digest regional slang, dances, and finger gestures, but discard the human casualties in what Kendrick describes as “the land where hurt people hurt more people.” His first utterance of “that’s culture” emits weary sarcasm, as he raps about a situation where “homies done fucked your baby mama once you hit the yard.” In the next line, he adds, “Then somebody called and said your lil’ nephew was shot down, the culture’s involved.”

He starts off the second verse by repeating Jay-Z’s “I do this for my culture” preamble from “Izzo (H.O.V.A.).,” reaffirming the assertion from the video’s title card (“I am. All of us”) by rapping for “niggas goin’ to work and sellin’ work, late for work / workin’ late, prayin’ for work, but he on paperwork.” Kendrick’s verse demonstrates that there’s no glamor in the gang lifestyle, and glory can be as fleeting as the solitary moment that someone snapped of you for a photo that ends up as your R.I.P. shirt. 

Kendrick recounts his pain over Nipsey Hussle’s murder, rapping, “I’m in Argentina wiping my tears full of confusion / Water in between us, another peer’s been executed,” then succinctly encapsulates the cycles of grief that have Black and Brown people in quicksand:

“History repeats again

Make amends, then find a nigga with the same skin to do it

But that’s the culture, crack a bottle

Hard to deal with the pain when you’re sober

By tomorrow, we forget the remains, we start over

That’s the problem.”

Tupac’s legacy looms large in Kendrick’s catalog. One of Pac’s most beloved songs is “Changes,” where Talent crooned “that’s just the way it is” when reflecting on how systemic oppression bred a morass of hurt people hurting people. But at the end of the second verse of “Part 5,” Kendrick asks us to think deeper about what we accept and embrace: “Fuck callin’ it culture.” Call it for what it is: murder, or treachery, or consequences of white supremacy. But whatever we call the trauma Kendrick recounts here, we should label it something that spurs us to value each other’s lives more.

Nipsey Hussle: In the music video for “The Heart Part 5,” Kendrick uses deep fake technology to morph into some of the most iconic and infamous Black men in modern history: O.J. Simpson, Kanye West, Jussie Smollett, Will Smith, Kobe Bryant, and fellow L.A. rap legend Nipsey Hussle. Some of the figures seem to have minimal relationships to Kendrick’s lyrics after a first listen, but Kendrick uses the song’s last verse to rap from the perspective of a beyond-the-grave Nipsey Hussle. This approach could have been fumbled or come across as exploitative from a lesser MC, but Kendrick came from a place of respect. Rhyming from the perspective of the late rapper, Kendrick wrenches the listener by pondering, “Should I feel resentful I didn’t see my full potential? Should I feel regret about the good that I was into?” as he references the heartbreak of Nipsey dying in front of the store that symbolized his desire to be a pillar of his community. 

Kendrick picks up the verse into resilience by rhyming, “To my father, to my wife, I am serious, this is heaven,” before advising Nipsey’s friends to count their blessings, encouraging his fans to “make them investments,” and telling Nip’s brother Blacc Sam to “make sure my kids watch all my interviews, make sure you live all the dreams we produce [and] keep that genius in your brain on the move.” The verse is based on Kendrick’s interpretation that Nipsey would offer his loved ones reassurances and gems to keep going in his absence, summed up by the line: “I completed my mission, wasn’t ready to leave/ But fulfilled my days, my creator was pleased.” —Andre

The sample: “The Heart Part 5” features a sample of Marvin Gaye’s 1976 “I Want You,” which was a semi-autobiographical song centered around his real-life romance with ex-wife Janis Hunter. It’s a passionate and sensual song, reminiscent of the energy on classic Marvin Gaye hits like “Let’s Get It On.” The clearance of the sample is a major win for Kendrick, because Marvin Gaye’s estate has been known to safeguard the late singer’s music, filing major copyright lawsuits against current artists. Most notably, Gaye’s estate sued Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke over their single “Blurred Lines,” which they claimed ripped off Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” (In 2015, a jury awarded $5 million in damages, plus half of future royalties, to the Gaye family.) More recently, Ed Sheeran was sued for $100 million for allegedly plagiarizing Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” on his 2014 single “Thinking Out Loud.”

The sound: The production on “The Heart Part 5” (especially in the second half of the song) has stripped-back moments, invoking the feeling of a spoken word message at an open mic night. Overall, it takes sonic inspiration from soul, funk, and rock in the ’60s and ’70s. Some fans have pointed out that the format of the album title (Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers) falls in line with classic groups from the era like Sly & The Family Stone, Smoky Robinson & The Miracles, Dianna Ross & The Supremes, and Gladys Knight & The Pips.

The easter eggs: Since the song dropped, fans have been sharing theories about the hidden meanings behind some of the production choices. For example, Kendrick takes 15 seconds to inhale and exhale in the middle of the song, which is the number of seconds required to check one’s heart rate. He also cuts the drums for Nipsey and Kobe, symbolizing the stoppage of a human heart beat.

The producers: “The Heart Part 5” was produced by Beach Noise, a production collective that includes Johnny Kosich, Jake Kosich, and Matt Schaeffer, who have a history of working on pgLang projects. They produced several songs on Baby Keem’s The Melodic Blue, as well as “The Love Intro” from pgLang’s new signee Tanna Leone’s project, Sleepy Soldier. Matt Schaeffer, who played multiple instruments (guitar, drums, bass guitar, percussion, cello) on “The Heart Part 5,” has independently been credited on previous records with both Kendrick (“Big Shot”) and Baby Keem (“Bullies”). Schaeffer also has credits on a number of tracks throughout Kendrick’s discography, including “Humble,” “DNA.,” “King Kunta,” “The Blacker the Berry,” and more. Bekon is also credited for playing the violin on Kendrick’s new single, after previously working on Kendrick’s 2018 album DAMN. —Jessica