Kendrick Lamar Talks "Bringing the Drama" on Set of 'We Cry Together'
| LAST UPDATE 12/01/2022
Is there anything Kendrick Lamar can't do? The multi-hyphenate genius had high hopes for his We Cry Together short film, and boy did it pull through. The Pulitzer prize winner dropped his 5th studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, earlier this year, and to nobody's surprise, it absolutely slaps. One of the most popular tracks off the album, We Cry Together, was released with a short film starring Lamar himself and his collaborator on the track, Taylour Paige. And now, there are talks of the short making it all the way to the Academy Awards for Best Live-Action Short Film.
During a recent interview with Variety, Lamar expressed what his vision for We Cry Together was and how it "challenged me [him] to actually live in what I [he] was writing, and really be there and be present with Taylour." The intense short film shows Lamar and his partner, Zola, aka Paige, in an ongoing heated argument, really creating an intense experience for all his audiences. The short was directed by Lamar, Jake Schreier, and his frequent project collaborator, Dave Free.
"When we went into this project, Kendrick was telling me about how he wanted the room to feel thick and the room to feel intense," Free explained. "He wanted to really address topics that we, as a society, kind of shy away from," which tends to be Lamar's niche, anyways. So, when writing, Lamar reveals he worked on making it "feel personal, but also holding up a mirror as a collective concept, rather than just a personal concept." The Grammy winner wanted to "bring that drama," recognizing that "at the end of the day, whether we like it or not, the good, the bad and the ugly, the pros and cons, that's what makes everything evolve."
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The success of We Cry Together could lead Lamar to a potential Oscar nomination as the shortlist voting goes down in just a few weeks before the final nominations are announced on January 24. Other potential nominees include the NBA documentary 38 at the Garden, Ball & Vase by Dave Baram and Taylor Swift's All Too Well. Until then, stay tuned.
