Kendrick Lamar Releases Video For Song "N95", A Metaphor Of Mask That Describes Falsehood In Society

JAKARTA - Rapper from the United States Kendrick Lamar on Saturday, May 14 local time shared the music video for the song "N95". This song is part of the album “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” which was officially released Friday 13 May.

Quoted from Billboard as reported by Antara, Sunday, May 15, the video clip, which was directed by Lamar and Dave Free himself, opened with the words "This S— Hard" flashing on the screen in red capital letters.

In the video, Lamar is pictured floating above the waves of the ocean posing like the cross of Jesus while a small child watches him from the shore.

The three-and-a-half-minute video goes from color to black and white as Lamar appears in several different roles, one of which he appears as a piano player surrounded by two women and as a man doing a physical exercise (workout) on the roof of a building.

In the song, Lamar uses the term "N95", a type of mask popularly used during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a metaphor to describe the falsehood that exists in contemporary American society.

The music video for "N95" became the second music video that Lamar launched from the album "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers". Previously on Sunday, May 8 last week, he released the song "The Heart Part 5" along with the music video. The first music video for his new album features a close-up of Lamar transforming into OJ Simpson, Kanye West, Jussie Smollett, Kobe Bryant, Will Smith, and Nipsey Hussle.

Lamar's new album consists of 18 tracks, including guest appearances by other artists such as Ghostface Killah, Kodak Black, Blxst, Sampha, and Summer Walker.

Prior to this year, Lamar last released a full-length studio album in 2017 titled “Damn”. In 2018, the album was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music and won the best rap album category at the Grammy Awards.