Kendrick Lamar mixes visuals and music in the short film We Cry Together, which features actress Taylour Paige
Kendrick Lamar is experimenting.
On Thursday, the 35-year-old rapper released a new short film, We Cry Together which seeks to blend social commentary with visuals, rapping and spoken words.
The hard-hitting film also seeks to show the deep complexities that can occur in a relationship by focusing on verbal abuse and domestic violence. It opens with the actress Taylour Paige, who plays Lamar’s love interest, in a bathroom screaming at him.
“I hate you! I swear I’m not going to live like this. I swear to God,” Paige says, while Lamar, who is dressed in a mechanic’s shirt, sits in their living room smoking marijuana.
“Bitch always on some bull—-” he says. “We can go our separate ways right now and you can move on with your life bitch.”
In a continuous one-take shot combined with moody multicolored lighting, Lamar and Paige continue to argue back and forth while rapping with slander and curse words and addressing topics that are relevant in today’s society.
At the end of their argument, they fall into each other’s arms and have sex on the living room couch. The camera then pans out to show us a film set and artificial lights.
Despite the gritty nature of the film, Lamar’s music continues to resonate with fans of all ages.
While performing in Detroit as part of his The Big Steppers Tour last month, Lamar shared a sweet interaction with a young fan in the crowd — also named Kendrick — speaking encouraging words to him from the stage and sending him home with a handwritten letter.
According to photos and videos posted to social media from the Little Caesars Arena performance, the “Humble” musician spotted a 9-year-old concertgoer holding a sign that read, “My name is Kendrick. This is my 1st concert. Can We Take a Pic.”
Lamar then spoke to the fan, encouraging the child to “respect and honor” his parents, as they brought him to the concert.
“Always honor them, man,” said the Pulitzer Prize winner. “They brung you to your first concert. Always respect and honor them.”
“You will forever be great. You’re great right now. You can do whatever you wanna put your mind to, you know it? You understand that?” Lamar continued from the stage. “Little Kendrick, do what you wanna do in life.”
The young fan’s father, David Stewart, shared a video of Lamar’s speech to Instagram alongside the caption, “I was hoping for a picture but this was a million times better! @kendricklamar gave my son a speech.”
Following his performance, Lamar wrote a heartfelt letter to the fan on the back of his sign. “Young Kendrick. Thank you for coming,” began the note. “I’m glad we got to exchange energy. You are special.”
He added, “Continue to manifest the great energy you possess!!! See you next time!!! Luv!!!”
The Big Steppers Tour continues its North American run, featuring opening acts Baby Keem and Tanna Leone, until Sept. 17 before moving to Europe and Oceania through Dec. 17.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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