Today, on what would have been Kobe Bryant’s 42nd birthday, Nike has released an ad narrated by Kendrick Lamar. “Kobe taught us to be better,” Kendrick says in the brief clip (titled “Better: Mamba Forever”). Watch it below.
Kobe Bryant died January 26 in a helicopter crash. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant also died in the crash. An outpouring of tributes from the music world followed the news of their deaths. Tomorrow (August 24), the Los Angeles Lakers are honoring Bryant by wearing special jerseys that commemorate the late players two numbers, 8 and 24.
Kendrick Lamar’s last studio album was the Pulitzer Prize-winning LP DAMN., which landed in 2017. The following year he released Black Panther the Album.
In 2019, Kendrick Lamar featured on SiR’s “Hair Down,” Raphael Saadiq’s “Rearview,” the Lion King song “NILE,” Dreamville’s “Under the Sun,” and 2 Chainz’s “Momma I Hit a Lick.”
Read “With Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Win, The World May Finally Be Catching Up to Rap” on the Pitch.