The black-and-white visual for “Luther” landed this week with the quiet intensity of a chess master’s calculated move. Seven weeks into its Billboard Hot 100 reign, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s chart-dominating collaboration finally got its visual treatment — and the timing couldn’t feel more deliberate.
Let’s be real: dropping this video just as Drake’s “Nokia” threatens to dethrone “Luther” isn’t exactly subtle. But then again, subtlety was never really the point.
Director Karena Evans — yeah, the same visionary behind Drake’s “God’s Plan” and “Nice For What” — transforms the Luther Vandross-sampling track into something that feels both timeless and distinctly 2025. The stark monochrome palette does heavy lifting here, turning even mundane locations (there’s this one fast-food joint scene that’s weirdly haunting) into spaces charged with emotional weight.
Here’s where things get interesting. Evans keeps Kendrick and SZA apart for most of the video, a choice that somehow amplifies their connection rather than diminishing it. The geometric architecture looming over both artists becomes its own character — cold, imposing, yet strangely intimate.
Perhaps the most revealing moment comes when Kendrick locks eyes with Whitney Alford, his longtime partner, during his verses. It’s a rare crack in the typically private rapper’s armor, and it hits different. Meanwhile, SZA practically floats through her scenes, bringing an otherworldly presence that’s become her trademark since dominating the charts last summer.
The video arrives at a pivotal moment. With their stadium tour kicking off next week (their first together, surprisingly enough), “Luther” has been sitting pretty at #1 for seven straight weeks. It’s GNX’s second chart-topper after “Squabble Up” — not bad for an album that dropped with zero marketing.
But you can’t ignore the Drake factor. Evans jumping ship from Drake’s camp to direct this? That’s gonna spark conversations. Some fans are already drawing parallels between this video’s aesthetic and Drake’s “Nokia” visual — though whether that’s coincidence, homage, or clever commentary is anybody’s guess.
The original sample — Cheryl Lynn and Luther Vandross’s “If This World Were Mine” from ’82 — gets room to breathe here. There’s something poetic about Vandross finally reaching #1, albeit posthumously through this reimagining. The video treats his contribution with the reverence it deserves.
As stadium crews prep for what’s shaping up to be 2025’s most talked-about tour, this visual serves multiple purposes. Sure, it’s promotion — but it’s also art that rewards repeated viewing. In an era of 15-second viral clips, there’s something refreshing about a music video that actually wants you to think.
Sometimes the best moves in chess are the ones that make your opponent second-guess everything they thought they knew about the game.
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