Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna release "Loyalty" video.

The Video for Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty” Is Here, and It Has Both Rihanna and STREET SHARKS

The Video for Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty” Is Here, and It Has Both Rihanna and STREET SHARKS

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Slate's Culture Blog
July 28 2017 3:17 PM

The Video for Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty” Is Here, and It Has Both Rihanna and STREET SHARKS

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Still taken from video.

Kendrick Lamar just released the music video for “Loyalty” and, yes, Rihanna is in it. “Loyalty” is the fourth track off his latest album, Damn, to get a music video, after “Humble,” “DNA,” and “Element,” and the video is just as packed with evocative imagery as the three that preceded it. Specifically, it features two Kendrick Lamars, an extended shot of Rihanna dangling from a building, and most importantly, Street Sharks, which we can only assume were inspired by the classic 1990s animated series of the same name. (Unless they are in fact land sharks, in which case Slate regrets the error, but land sharks tend to be more skilled at blending into the general population.)

The video was directed by Dave Meyers, who also directed the music video for “Humble,” and the Little Homies, the alias for the team of Kendrick and Top Dawg Entertainment president Dave Free, which raises the question: Who among those three is the Street Sharks fan?

Austin Elias-de Jesus is a Slate editorial intern.