Kendrick Lamar’s Deepfake ‘The Heart Part 5’ Launches Partnership with Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Pulitzer Prize-winner Kendrick Lamar unveiled the first track for his upcoming album “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” kicking off the first step in his partnership with Matt Stone and Trey Parker‘s production company.
Lamar’s latest single “The Heart Part 5” features the 13-time Grammy winner transforming into OJ Simpson, Jussie Smollett, Nipsey Hussle, Kobe Bryant, and Kanye West using deepfake technology from Parker and Stone’s Deep Voodoo studio under the Park County banner, as reported by Variety.
“The Heart Part 5” is directed and executive-produced by Lamar and longtime collaborator Dave Free, comprising Lamar’s PGLang company, which inked a deal with the “South Park” creators’ company to craft a live-action feature film for Paramount Pictures.
The first Deep Voodoo special titled “Sassy Justice” debuted in 2020, capturing a mock TV investigative report on deepfakes. Parker described the 15-minute video as “probably the single most expensive YouTube video ever made,” with the likenesses of Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, Al Gore, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump appearing onscreen.
Lamar and Free are set to produce through PGLang an upcoming comedy about a young Black man who interns as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum. The film, written by Vernon Chatman, shows the lead star discovering that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his family. Stone and Parker will also produce, with Paramount Pictures handling theatrical distribution, home entertainment, and TV licensing rights, and Paramount+ acquiring streaming rights. The yet-to-be-titled project is set to start production in Spring 2022. A director has also yet to be announced.
Lamar previously landed an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song “All the Stars” with SZA for 2018’s “Black Panther,” which the “HUMBLE.” artist also produced the soundtrack for. The Weeknd, Future, Khalid, Vince Staples, 2Chainz, and more musicians were featured on the curated album for the Marvel film. Lamar’s upcoming “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” will be his first full album since 2017’s “DAMN.”
Meanwhile, Stone and Parker have won five Emmys and kick off the 25th season of “South Park” this year. The duo also have won Tony Awards for the musical “Book of Mormon.”
Check out Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5” video below.
