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On Friday, April 11, Kendrick Lamar dropped the music video for his Billboard-topping track with SZA, Luther. Directed by Karena Evans, the video has already received over 4.2 million views and 575K likes on YouTube (at the time of writing this article).
Karena Evans - a Canadian director and actress - first gained global recognition after she directed the music video for Drake's God's Plan in 2018. As the song peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, its music video also went viral. Following this, Karena directed the music videos for several other Drake hits, including Nice For What and In My Feelings.
Besides Drizzy, Karena Evans has also worked with Chloe Bailey for the music video of her debut single, Have Mercy, in 2021. The other directorial works done by Evans include several episodes of P-Valley and Snowfall, as well as the remakes of Gossip Girl and Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
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According to HotNewHipHop on April 11, besides Luther, Karena Evans has directed multiple music videos for Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), which is SZA's current and Kendrick's former music label.
Drake spent $1 million on charitable donations in his debut project with Karena Evans
The music video for God's Plan was Drake's first collaboration with Karena Evans, wherein they used the video budget of nearly $1 million on charitable donations to strangers, families, and students in Miami, as reported by HotNewHipHop.
Released in February 2018, Evans captured the interactions in the track's music video, adding the emotional weight that further elevated the massively hit song.
Two months after this release, Drake dropped another Evans-directed music video for his track Nice For What in April 2018. The video had guest features from several famous women, including Olivia Wilde, Issa Rae, Emma Roberts, Zoe Saldana, and Michelle Rodriguez, to name a few.
Karena Evans' first collaboration with TDE came in May 2018, when she directed D'Evils by SiR. The same month, another Evans-directed music video - for SZA's Garden (Say It Like Dat) - dropped on YouTube.
Kendrick Lamar's Luther has a romantic music video
The music video for Kendrick Lamar and SZA's Luther has a romantic theme, in which both artists are seen with their respective love interests in a clean yet bold visual. The video ends with the original version of If This World Were Mine - a Cheryl Lynn and Luther Vandross song that Lamar had sampled for his track.
Luther's music video drops as the song entered its seventh consecutive week on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The collaborative track initially debuted at number 3 on the chart, and reached the top after Lamar and SZA performed it live for the first time at the New Orleans Super Bowl Halftime Show (on February 9).
As their collaborative track continues to gain success, both artists are currently gearing up for their upcoming co-headlining tour, the Grand National Tour. Scheduled to kick off on April 19, 2025, the tour supports their 2024 albums - Kendrick's GNX and SZA's Lana.
The Grand National Tour will have 39 shows across North America and Europe, and it will conclude in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 9.
