Kendrick Lamar is the greatest rapper of the last twenty years and one of the greatest to ever pick up a mic. This was pretty undisputed before this year, due in large part to his steady release of masterpiece albums and the huge impact he has had on American culture as a whole. Everyone knew not to come at the King because there is no one else like him, and it could kill your career. Then that sensitive rapper from Canada got it in his head that he was the best from this generation and decided to come at the King. After a looming cold war between the two biggest rappers of the past twenty years, Drake decided to fire shots on 2023’s “First Person Shooter” with J. Cole. Lamar followed that up in March of 2024 with the diss track “Like That”. Things escalated from there as the two traded diss tracks back and forth for over a month, until it all came to a head when Drake released “Family Matters” later on May 3rd, accusing Lamar of being a domestic abuser and alleging that one of Lamar’s kids was illegitimate. Less than an hour later, Lamar released “Meet the Grahams”, accusing Drake of sexual trafficking and fathering a second secret child. The next day, Lamar ended Aubrey with the release of “Not Like Us.” The track saw Lamar call Drake a pedophile, a colonizer, and overall chump. The song caught fire and was played literally everywhere. Parties, clubs, the radio, stores, parks, nowhere was safe from the song. It was the anthem for the LA Dodgers as they won the World Series, and the men’s U.S. Olympic Basketball team when they won gold in Paris. This put an end to the feud, with Lamar being the clear winner.
Geron McKinley wears black high top chucks in this video.
So after a full Summer of “Not Like Us” dominating the airwaves and a Super Bowl Halftime performance looming on the horizon of 2025, King Kendrick felt it was time for some new music. He surprised the world with the drop of his sixth studio album, GNX. The album was met with critical acclaim and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number ones “Squabble Up” and “Luther”, the number two hit “TV Off”, and “Peekaboo”. “Luther” is the third single off the album and has spent nearly a full year on the Hot 100. The song is the furthest thing from both “Not Like Us” and the other tracks on GNX. It is a soft, tender love ballad that combines contemporary R&B and hip-hop with a sample of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 rendition of “If This World Were Mine.” The vocal chemistry between Lamar and SZA is what this song is all about, and the way his smooth raps weave between her angelic vocals is magic.
SZA is free while Geron is stoic in these shots.
The music video for the song was released on April 11, 2025, and stars both Lamar and SZA, along with models Annahstasia Enuke and Geron McKinley, who play Lamar and SZA's respective love interests. Most of the video takes place at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, and the Brandeis-Bardin Campus of American Jewish University in Simi Valley, California. This was the same shooting location where the one-minute teaser for GNX was filmed, which gives the album a distinct visual identity. A lot of the video is also shot in black-and-white, and these scenes pair well with the gentleness of the song. McKinley wears chucks in these scenes, and he portrays the love interest as this stoic force that is just there as SZA is free to be herself around him. The song pauses throughout the video to play the original sample of “If This World Were Mine”, and the video’s final minute consists of Vandross’ first verse playing uninterrupted. The video is another stellar one for Lamar and also cements the visual identity of the album.
A tender moment.
 |
If you have information about specific videos where chucks make an appearance, please contact us at mail@chucksconnection.com. |
Get yourself a new pair of chucks to wear for your music video.
 |
 | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Purchase chucks, shoelaces, clothing and books about chucks. | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
High Tops | Low Tops
| Shoelaces Page | Books |