On August 20, 2021, Kendrick Lamar revealed through a blog post on his website that he was in the process of producing his upcoming fifth studio album; his final project under Top Dawg Entertainment. He shared the album's name and release date through a PGLang-headed letter on April 18, 2022. Following the announcement, his website was updated with a new page entitled "The Heart", which contained 399 empty computer folders. News of the song's release was accidentally leaked by music streaming service Spotify, who teased the song through a description of Lamar's playlists before being changed.
On May 8, 2022, Lamar released "The Heart Part 5", his first solo release in over four years. The single's cover artwork depicts six photoshopped hands being held up, with each of them representing the perspectives Lamar raps about and depicts in the music video. For example, the hand on the far right is photoshopped from a photograph of O.J. Simpson wearing a glove during his 1995 murder trial. With the release of Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers five days later, the song was included as a digital bonus track.
"The Heart Part 5" serves as the fifth installment of Lamar's "The Heart" series, which were often released in promotion of his albums and feature long, intricate verses with conscious themes. "Part 1" was released in April 2010 prior to his Overly Dedicated (2010) mixtape, which also features "Part 2" as the opening track. "Part 3" was recorded three days before the release of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012), and "Part 4" was released three weeks before Damn (2017).
"The Heart Part 5" is a conscious hip-hop song driven by soul and jazz influences. Lamar wrote the song alongside its producers Johnny Kosich, Matt Schaeffer, and Jake Kosich (known collectively as Beach Noise). Leon Ware and Arthur Ross received posthumous songwriting credits for the interpolation of the 1976 single "I Want You", as performed by Marvin Gaye. Lyrically, "The Heart Part 5" follows in the footsteps of its previous "The Heart" song series, and Lamar's third studio album To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), by offering social commentary on the climate of African-American culture and institutionalized discrimination. The song also delves into personal themes of empathy, death, and depression from different perspectives.
On his first verse, Lamar addresses Black Americans to evaluate their "collective moral compass" while refusing the idea of their deaths being considered "culture." He describes gang lifestyle as being absorbed by corporation and naive youth. Throughout the verse, Lamar utters "that's culture" as a sarcastic nod while rapping about Black violence. He then starts the song's second verse by repeating Jay-Z's lyric "I do this for my culture" from "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" (2001) and emphasizes that there is "no glamor in the gang lifestyle", imaging someone's photo that ends up as their "R.I.P. shirt". Lamar reflects on his grief over the death of Nipsey Hussle, in which he showcases the "cycles of grief that have Black and Brown people in quicksand". At the end of the verse, he addresses listeners to think deeper about what they accept and embrace with the option to value each other's lives rather than tragedy.
The music video for "The Heart Part 5", directed by Lamar and Dave Free, was released alongside the song on May 8, 2022. The music video begins with a note stating "I am. All of us", which is signed with the name Oklama, having been used in a formal letter about leaving Top Dawg Entertainment. In the video, Lamar performs the song against a red wall, while using deepfake technology to transform himself into six modern Black American figures: in order, they are former football player and convicted felon O. J. Simpson, rapper Kanye West, actors Jussie Smollett and Will Smith, former basketball player Kobe Bryant, and rapper Nipsey Hussle. The deepfakes were made by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's studio Deep Voodoo.
Each of the six deepfakes perform a verse from the song that reflects on their own perspectives. Simpson's verse, which addresses itself as being done "for the culture", mentions a "bulletproof rover" as a reference to his 1994 Ford Bronco chase. Ye's verse reflects on his battle with what was believed to be bipolar disorder and how often he has been taken advantage of. Smollett's verse reflects on the hypocrisy surrounding the media coverage of his 2019 hate crime hoax and subsequent arrest. Smith's verse reflects on the backlash he received following his slapping incident ofChris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards. After a moment of silence from Lamar, Bryant's verse reflects on being an influential figure through hard work and dedication. Hussle's verse, the longest in the video, takes the form of a soliloquy in the aftermath of his 2019 murder, saying that he is in heaven and forgives his killer but that his "soul's in question".
Commercial performance
Upon its release, "The Heart Part 5" appeared on multiple charts. On the week of May 21, 2022, the single debuted and peaked at number fifteen on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, remaining in both charts for another week. It also peaked at number 25 on the Global 200 and number eighteen on the Canadian Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, the single peaked at number 24 on the Singles chart and number ten on the Hip Hop/R&B Singles chart. "The Heart Part 5" topped the South Africa Streaming chart and peaked at number six on the Sweden Heatseeker chart. Elsewhere, the single appeared on charts from Australia, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland.
Critical reception
"The Heart Part 5" was met with widespread critical acclaim, with Lamar's tribute to Hussle, a lifelong friend, receiving universal praise amongst critics and his peers. Hussle's longtime partner, actress Lauren London, described the music video as "powerful art." Dylan Green of Pitchfork crowned the song with its "Best New Track" honor. While he considered the deepfake effects to not be consistently convincing, they reinforced Lamar's lyrics by visualizing the complex relationship between Black identity and the pressures of celebrity. He also argued that the song's shifting perspectives showed what could be the most significant artistic transition of Lamar's career.
In a five-star review, Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian called the song as "a heart-stopping call for uplifted humanity". He praised Lamar's delivery based on a "manifesto of radical empathy." Beaumont-Thomas also commended Lamar's devotion to his community, writing that he drew upon Marvin Gaye's social conscience by "changing the title line from one of lust to one of hope", with the song's urgent disco-inspired rhythm reinforcing the sincerity of its message. Kyann-Sian Williams of NME wrote that, on what Lamar had said would be his final album with Top Dawg, he embraced his role as an elder statesman in hip-hop. Williams argued that Lamar acknowledged his influence and sought to become a "voice of reason and morality" rather than simply a celebrated rapper.
