Kendrick Lamar to Star in Taylor Swift's 'Bad Blood' Video
Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar are teaming up on screen. The pop superstar has cast the Compton rapper in the music video for her 1989 single “Bad Blood.”
King Kendrick will play Welvin Da Great in the cinematic clip, directed by Joseph Kahn. Swift shared a movie poster of Lamar with the tagline: “Band-Aids Don’t Fix Bullet Holes.”
The video also stars Zendaya, Lena Dunham, Hailee Steinfeld, Ellie Goulding, GiGi Hadid, and Lily Aldridge. According to Swift, each actor/actress chose their character’s name and persona.
Meet Welvin Da Great.
@kendricklamar
#BadBloodMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/iz6iG87NLE
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 11, 2015
Swift has been very vocal about her love for Lamar. In an interview with Rolling Stone, she said that her “go-to” Kendrick track is “Backseat Freestyle.”
“I appreciate Taylor Swift for supporting not only my music but just the hip-hop culture,” Lamar told the AP. “There’s really no gap. It’s music and it feels good.”
KENDRICK PUT HIS ALBUM OUT EARLY.
NO ONE TOUCH ME.
@kendricklamar
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) March 16, 2015
“Bad Blood” will premiere at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, May 17.