Kendrick Lamar’s new music video has elevated the bar for musicians everywhere, as befits a Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper. With nearly 4.5 million views on YouTube since it was posted three days ago, Lamar’s nearly all black-and-white video for the song “N95” has drawn a lot of attention not only to the musician’s new album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers but also, surprisingly, to Fort Worth, Texas, according to the city’s local CBS News. Whether on purpose or not, the presence of the Fort Worth Water Gardens and the Kimbell Art Museum’s Renzo Piano Pavilion in the music video strengthens the argument for a visit to the town that is sometimes overlooked in favor of neighboring Dallas.
The rapper is seen floating over a beach at the beginning of the music video, which was co-directed by Lamar and Dave Free. This opening picture, paired with the video’s fast cuts, gives an overall unnerving tone, similar to his deepfake music video for “The Heart Part 5”, which sparked a lot of discussion when it was published at the beginning of May. The Fort Worth structures are employed in a similar way, increasing the video’s impression of hyperreality while also generating intrigue about where he may be.
“We are excited to collaborate with artists and makers to create new works inspired by the art and architecture at the Kimbell. We are honored to be selected for Kendrick Lamar’s N95 music video,” Kimbell Art Museum director Eric M. Lee tells AD.
The Kimbell Art Museum’s Renzo Piano Pavilion, notably its 299-seat auditorium, shows initially at 0:53. Lamar and two ladies stand on stage, their shadows accentuated by the wall of windows behind them. Panels on the auditorium’s side walls and roof reflect this light, producing a frame or dollhouse-like appearance around the ensemble on stage. Renzo Piano is famed for his expressive use of glass (take, for example, his London skyscraper The Shard), and “N95” wonderfully depicts the drаmа of the architect’s creations.
Fort Worth Water Gardens in downtown Fort Worth, Texas
The Fort Worth Water Gardens are structurally and materially distinct from the Piano Pavilion. The subterranean meditation ponds in Downtown Fort Worth are almost surreal. Walkways, terraces, and pools are interspersed throughout the concrete geometric structure, which was built in late 1974 and featured in two 1970s sci-fi films, Logan’s Run and The Lathe of Heaven, as well as the 2019 music video for Solange’s “Almeda.” The tranquillity is marred, however, by its architect Philip Johnson’s acknowledged history of racial supremacy and Nаzi sympathies, which has since resulted in the removal of his nаme from the thesis home he designed while studying at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.