“i”

If you follow Kendrick Lamar you would know how deeply involved he is with the young communities, advocating to the youth to uplift themselves. King Kendrick released a new music video for his latest single, “i.” The video was nothing short of spectacular. The hip-hop king is here and created a visual for this classic single and did so without losing sight of the powerful message inside of the song. Love is magnetic, contagious, and the music video justifies the theme of the song so powerfully.

The video opens inside a dark night club filled with people grooving to the oldies, and a fight breaks out. Then the music stops to go to a spoken word skit, with a older man declaring that we need peace. Then the upbeat acoustic production of “i” kicks in and Kendrick leads the crowd in a new kind of dance. The rapper takes the party outside and takes them on a tour of South Central, Los Angeles where the crowd is able to spread love and positivity through the streets of LA with scenes of poverty, unfair police tactics, domestic unrest and even an attempted suicide. Lamar then spits a rapid fire final verse while hanging out of the window of a speeding car before eventually ending up back at the club, now closing down, where he relaxes as a woman braids his hair.

In a recent interview with Hot 97 radio, Kendrick went on saying, “I wrote a record for the homies that’s in the penitentiary right now, and I also wrote a record for these kids that come up to my shows with these slashes on they wrists, saying they don’t want to live no more.”

Brace yourself Kendrick fans this is just the first track from Lamar’s highly anticipated new album, which the rapper says he’s still working on. Lamar did, however, offer a few more details, saying he’s recorded a number of songs with Dr. Dre and Pharrell. As you can see the man has been working to produce something that isn’t just rap, it is something that can change the world and uplift ourselves from the negativity that is surrounding us.

Thank you, Kendrick Lamar for reviving hip-hop for a new generation.

All hail King Kendrick.