To celebrate his Grammy Award-nominated fifth studio album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar has dropped a music video for new single “Rich Spirit.” Directed by Calmatic, the music video comes one day after Lamar was nominated in eight categories for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Rap Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Music Video (all for “The Heart Part 5”) and Best Melodic Rap Performance (“Die Hard).”
In the video, Lamar raps into a phone with a disconnected line. The phone seems to bring Lamar anxiety as he stares at the landline throughout the video with the faded sound of a disconnected call playing in the background. In the end, the phone rings despite not being plugged in.
In the minimal “Rich Spirit” visual, Lamar interpretive dances around his house, continually distracted by a ringing phone. “Rich Spirit” also makes the third music video for Lamar’s latest visual following the black-and-white “N95” featuring Baby Keem and “We Cry Together” co-starring Taylour Paige. The latter short film is now in the Oscars conversation, likely to be considered for the Best Live Action Short Film category, per The Hollywood Reporter. Lamar wraps his Big Steppers Tour with opening acts Baby Keem and Tanna Leone on December 16 in Auckland, NZ.
The “Rich Spirit” music video is the third released for song from Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. It follows the visuals “N95” which featured a Baby Keem cameo, and the short film released for “We Cry Together” starring Taylour Paige.
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers has earned the Compton rapper eight nominations at the 65th annual Grammy Awards, just one short of Beyoncé, making him the second most nominated artist in the entire class. The chart-topping project is Lamar’s fourth consecutive solo album to be nominated in both the Album of the Year and Best Rap Album categories.
Lamar released Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers in May as his fifth studio album and first in five years following 2017’s Damn. Watch the video for “Rich Spirit” above and check out Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers below.
