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New Jersey rapper AK claims that the deepfake concept behind Kendrick Lamar video “The Heart Part 5” was stolen from his “Family Tree” video.

Kendrick Lamar has a detractor going after his video for “The Heart Part 5.” After debuting the surprise video on Sunday night, New Jersey rapper AK claimed that Lamar stole the concept from his 2020 “Family Tree” video.

In the black-and-white video for “Family Tree,” released in September 2020, AK stands in front of dark backdrop when he face morphs into the likes of rappers Eminem, Snoop Dogg, JAY-Z, Lil Wayne and even Lamar. The New Jersey rapper took to social media and alleged that Lamar’s deepfake concept was stolen from him.

“Kendrick Lamar’s new music video is an exact copy of my video from 2020 of my song ‘Family Tree,’” AK expressed in an Instagram video on Monday morning. “Maybe I’m fooling myself for thinking that Kendrick saw my video and was like, ‘Damn, that’s so good that I want to do it myself.’”

“But I was under Universal; he is under Universal. I did that video in 2020 with Universal. Obviously, the song didn’t do as good as if Kendrick was to do it, but the concept was so sick and I fucking don’t know, but it’s the same exact thing — it’s a backdrop, it’s him in front of it, it’s one take,” AK said.

He continued, “And I want to make it clear, like, he’s an icon, I respect Kendrick. This is just very weird, bruh. That’s why I was like, ‘Damn, this is unique as fuck.’ And when I drop this, it’s gonna go stupid because nobody’s ever done this before.

“But as an independent artist, that’s the type of shit that you have to eat. And my whole message behind it is, keep going ’cause you gotta eat shit sometimes but eventually, you’ll be aiight.”

 

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Although Lamar has not responded to AK’s claims, his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is set to release Friday, May 13th.