Kendrick Lamar travels from Compton to Paris in his "Backseat Freestyle" video.

2012 was plenty kind to rapper Kendrick Lamar (he got picked up by Interscope and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records and released his debut record, good kid, m.A.A.d city to overwhelming critical acclaim -- the album has since gone gold), but we have a feeling that 2013 is about to be even kinder. The 24-year-old Compton, Calif.-bred MC has already been working closely with everyone from Drake to Jay-Z, and now hip-hop's latest prodigy has just unveiled a rather complex new video for the Hit-Boy-produced "Backseat Freestyle."

Watch Kendrick Lamar's "Backseat Freestyle" video after the jump.

Directed by Jerome D, Dave Free, and Kendrick himself, the rapper's latest clip is shot in no-nonsense black-and-white, splits its time between Paris (full circle, since we also have the track's producer to thank for Jay-Z and Kanye West's ""N***** In Paris") and Compton, and introduces two of Kendrick's album characters to the screen -- his dad and ubiquitous lady love/muse Sherane (keep an eye out for some extremely NSFW booty poppin' on the Sherane front). Although it clocks in at just under five minutes, the PUSH alum's aggro, swaggering video is artfully produced, imitating the track's money, women, and power-seeking lyrics and oscillates between the two visual extremes of Paris and the decidedly less glamorous Compton. Kendrick has hinted at his intentions to make a short film based on good kid, m.A.A.d city, and judging by "Backseat Freestyle"'s cinematic aesthetics, we're officially hoping/praying that this is just the first of  many stunning segments towards the rapper's rumored film project.

+ Watch Kendrick Lamar's "Backseat Freestyle" video (NSFW).

Photo credit: Interscope/Aftermath