Kendrick Lamar drops Helen Mirren-starring video for 'Count Me Out'

Legendary actor Dame Helen Mirren has made an appearance featuring as Kendrick Lamar’s therapist in the new music video for ‘Count Me Out’.

Released on Friday (December 16) and directed by Lamar himself along with Dave Free, the clip is the fifth music video produced for his GRAMMY-nominated album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

The video opens with a conversation between Dame Mirren and Lamar, working through his feelings after the rapper shares an anecdote of jumping into a parking spot someone else had apparently claimed.

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Mirren then watches as the music starts and Lamar recites “Count Me Out” – the video ending with Lamar faced away from her and towards a piano, as an angel next to him places an arm around his shoulder.

It follows videos released this year for “The Heart Part 5”, “N95”, “We Cry Together” and “Rich Spirit”.

“The Heart Part 5” has been nominated for Best Music Video at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Take a look below:

Released earlier this year (May 13), Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is Lamar’s fifth studio album and the rapper’s first since his Pulitzer Award-winning ‘DAMN’, released in 2017.

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Featuring two nine-track sections, ‘Mr. Morale’ and ‘The Big Steppers’, the introspective double-LP was released to critical acclaim.

A tour following the album’s release saw him perform on some of the world’s biggest stages, which saw stops across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

It also including a headline set at Glastonbury Festival, which he closed with a women’s rights chant following the US Supreme Court’s controversial overruling of the Roe v. Wade legislation, removing the federal right to abortion access in the USA.

For next year, Lamar has been announced as a headliner for the 2023 edition of Barcelona and Madrid's Primavera Sound festival, with his cousin Baby Keem also slated to perform.

Watch the video for 'Count Me Out' below:

Isaac Muk is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter