Music critics favorably reviewed " Never Catch Me " . Named Best New Track by '' Pitchfork Media '' , editor Jayson Greene praised Lamar 's performance , writing " his hyper-vaulting flow and embedded rhyme patterns within rhyme patterns " . For its year-end list of " The 100 Best Tracks of 2014 " , '' Pitchfork '' ranked the song at number 23 . Also commenting on Lamar , '' Billboard '' 's Chris Payne wrote , " There are n't many A-list rappers who could handle a beat like this , but Kendrick is clearly one of them . " '' Rolling Stone '' editor Jon Dolan gave the song three-and-a-half out of five stars , commenting " Over offhandedly lovely , warp-speed psychedelic soul-jazz , Lamar unleashes a word-mad waterfall with a worried emotional core ( " analyze my demise I say I 'm super-anxious " , he raps ) . " '' Consequence of Sound '' editor Nina Corcoran wrote : " when combined with one of Lamar ’s hottest verses to date ( before '' To Pimp a Butterfly '' ) , the song explodes . But it does n’t stop there . FlyLo shows off his talent by shifting gears post-Kendrick verse the only way you can : insane keys , double-time bass drum , and unrelenting hand claps . Eventually , it ’s all swallowed up in massive swelling synth and choral hums , fading to a beautiful , passionate outro . " Directed by Hiro Murai , the video begins at a funeral ( including attendees Flying Lotus and Thundercat in cameo roles ) . Seemingly a sad video , it turns instantly joyful when the two late children - a boy and a girl - bound out of their caskets at the front of the church and dance gleefully down the aisle . The mourners ca n't see the children as they dance right out of the church and out onto a blacktop , but a group of other kids chases after them as they hop in a hearse and drive away . The clip was featured by several publications on their year-end list of best videos , including '' Pitchfork '' , '' Spin '' , and Stereogumwith the latter listing it at number one . The video received two nominations at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards : Best Choreography and Best Cinematography , ultimately winning the latter
2015 MTV Video Music Awards
2015 MTV Video Music Awards
Never Catch Me