Kendrick Lamar drops beautifully complex ‘N95’ video

Kendrick Lamar keeps the buzz going for his latest album with the release of a stunning new video for standout track ‘N95’ – watch it below.

The rapper dropped his fifth album ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ on Friday (May 13), arriving five years after the release of his last studio LP, 2017’s ‘DAMN.’.

Earlier this week Kendrick shared a video using deepfake technology to accompany the fifth instalment in his long-running ‘The Heart’ series, and now he’s back with another impressive set of visuals.

Directed by Kendrick and longtime business partner Dave Free, there’s a lot to unpack in the video for ‘N95’. Jam packed with beautiful imagery that sees Kendrick take on a number of different roles, one minute he plays Jesus floating in crucifix fashion over the ocean; the next he’s a crazed rapper crawling the halls of an abandoned building with Baby Keem.

Elsewhere in the video he’s a piano-playing crooner in a luxurious apartment flanked by women; a pigeon keeper who does hardcore workouts on apartment rooftops; a newspaper reader unfazed by a car crashing into the seats next to him. “This shit hard,” the lyrics and video text repeat.

Watch the video for ‘N95’ below:

Kendrick recently announced that he will hit the road for a huge world tour this summer including a series of UK dates later in the year.

The jaunt will kick off with a raft of dates in the US on July 19 before reaching European and UK shores in October and November, which include two shows at The O2 in London on November 7-8.

Tickets go on general sale at 12pm local time in the US on May 20 while pre-sale tickets will go on sale the day before (May 19) at 10am local time through the Cash App.

You can purchase tickets for the US dates here and UK dates here. You can view a full list of dates below:

JULY 2022
19 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center
21 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
22 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
23 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
24 – Miami, FL – Rolling Loud
27 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
29 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
30 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
31 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

AUGUST 2022
2 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
4 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
5 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
6 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
7 – Long Island, NY – UBS Arena
9 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
10 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
12 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
13 – Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
14 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
16 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
18 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
19 – Chicago, IL  – United Center
20 – Minneapolis, MN – Xcel Energy Center
21 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
23 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
24 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Smart Home Arena
26 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
27 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
28 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
30 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
31 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena

SEPTEMBER 2022
1 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
6 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena at San Diego State University
7 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
9 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
10 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
14 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
15 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena

OCTOBER 2022
7 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome
10 – Prague, CZ – O2 Arena
11 – Berlin, DE – Mercedes-Benz Arena
13 – Hamburg, DE – Barclays Arena
15 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
17 – Stockholm, SE – Avicii Arena
19 – Oslo, NO – Telenor Arena
21 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena
24 – Stuttgart, DE – Scheleyerhalle
25 – Zurich, CH – Hallenstadion
26 – Laussane, CH – Vaudoise Aréna
28 – Antwerp, BE – Sportpaleis
30 – Cologne, DE – Lanxess Arena
31 – Frankfurt, DE – Festhalle

NOVEMBER 2022
2 – Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro
3 – Leeds, UK – First Direct Arena
4 – Newcastle, UK – Utilita Arena
5 – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena
7 – London, UK – The O2
8 – London, UK – The O2
13 – Dublin, IE – 3Arena
16 – Manchester, UK – AO Arena

DECEMBER 2022
1 – Perth, AUS – RAC Arena
4 – Melbourne, AUS – Rod Laver Arena
8 – Sydney, AUS – Qudos Bank Arena
12 – Brisbane, AUS – Entertainment Center
16 – Auckland, NZ  – Spark Arena   

In a five-star review of ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’, NME‘s Kyann-Sian Williams described the album as a “cathartic, soul-bearing autobiography”.

“‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ is a record outlining the Black plight and is created for his community. In this sense, it’s one of the deepest cuts we’ve had from Kendrick,” the review states. “While ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city’ showed the world what it’s like to grow up as a kid in Compton, his fifth album serves up vignettes about what it’s like to be a Black adult whose trauma still haunts them.

“In laying his soul bare, he hopes we realise how we can set ourselves free from generational curses too. This album is as much about struggle as it is freedom, and what a beautiful sentiment that is.”