Month: February 2020

Kyle Flick

For my next passion blog post, I will analyze another song from Kendrick Lamar’s discography. This time I will analyze the track “DNA.” off his Pulitzer Prize winning album DAMN. The overarching themes of this song play well into the album with Kendrick dealing with self-evaluation and coming to terms with himself and his race in the broader context of the world.

 

[Verse 1]

I got, I got, I got, I got—

Loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA

Cocaine quarter piece, got war and peace inside my DNA

I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA

I got hustle though, ambition flow inside my DNA

I was born like this, since one like this, immaculate conception

I transform like this, perform like this, was Yeshua new weapon

I don’t contemplate, I meditate, then off your fucking head

This that put-the-kids-to-bed

This that I got, I got, I got, I got—

Realness, I just kill shit ’cause it’s in my DNA

I got millions, I got riches buildin’ in my DNA

I got dark, I got evil, that rot inside my DNA

I got off, I got troublesome heart inside my DNA

I just win again, then win again like Wimbledon, I serve

Yeah, that’s him again, the sound that engine in is like a bird

You see fireworks and Corvette tire skrrt the boulevard

I know how you work, I know just who you are

See, you’s a, you’s a, you’s a—

 

Kendrick starts off the first verse by talking about the makeup of his DNA in his opinion. It is a conglomeration of his experiences growing up, the black community at large, and what his personality consists of. He is extremely loyal to people that have been by his side since day one like his family and close friends, but he also mentions how dealing cocaine is in his DNA too through his father. He has both desirable and undesirable traits in his DNA that are a product of his upbringing. He compares himself to Jesus in a sense with the immaculate conception line and that it is in his DNA to be a savior to his people. On the other side of the coin, Kendrick discusses his proneness to outburst of anger and reaffirms his position above other rappers and how he built himself up and became rich. Kendrick does not deny that he has a darker side of his DNA but instead owns it and proclaims about how he is a winner with him skrrting off in his Corvette.

 

Bitch, your hormones prolly switch inside your DNA

Problem is, all that sucker shit inside your DNA

Daddy prolly snitched, heritage inside your DNA

Backbone don’t exist, born outside a jellyfish, I gauge

See, my pedigree most definitely don’t tolerate the front

Shit I’ve been through prolly offend you, this is Paula’s oldest son

I know murder, conviction

Burners, boosters, burglars, ballers, dead, redemption

Scholars, fathers dead with kids and

I wish I was fed forgiveness

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, soldier’s DNA (I’m a soldier’s DNA)

Born inside the beast, my expertise checked out in second grade

When I was 9, on cell, motel, we didn’t have nowhere to stay

At 29, I’ve done so well, hit cartwheel in my estate

And I’m gon’ shine like I’m supposed to, antisocial extrovert

And excellent mean the extra work

And absentness what the fuck you heard

And pessimists never struck my nerve

And Nazareth gon’ plead his case

The reason my power’s here on earth

Salute the truth, when the prophet say

 

Kendrick then switches to talking to his competition basically insulting them and talking about how he is better than them because he is loyal and has pride in his work. He calls out other rappers saying how they act like women and that they are probably snitches just like their fathers and they have no spine like jellyfish. Then he shifts to explaining how he has had it rougher than them and made it out even better than them despite the circumstances that were offered to him. Kendrick elaborates on what he has gone through talking about how his life was growing up in Compton and the death and despair he experienced. He was homeless in a Motel 6 for awhile while in elementary school and a general introvert as a kid. Kendrick grew out of everything that was holding him back though and in his eyes is going to be the voice of his people.

 

[Bridge: Kendrick Lamar & Geraldo Rivera]

I-I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA

This is why I say that hip hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years

I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA

I live a better life, I’m rollin’ several dice, fuck your life

I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA

I live a be-, fuck your life

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

This is my heritage, all I’m inheritin’

Money and power, the mecca of marriages

 

In the bridge Kendrick calls out a critical FOX News anchor Geraldo Rivera who took issue with Kendrick’s performance of his song “Alright” at the 2015 BET Awards and says how basically Kendrick is damaging to young black males. Kendrick responds by calling him irrelevant and not letting him turn a song of hope into a song of misunderstanding and hate.

 

[Verse 2]

Tell me somethin’

You mothafuckas can’t tell me nothin’

I’d rather die than to listen to you

My DNA not for imitation

Your DNA an abomination

This how it is when you in the Matrix

Dodgin’ bullets, reapin’ what you sow

And stackin’ up the footage, livin’ on the go

And sleepin’ in a villa

Sippin’ from a Grammy, walkin’ in the buildin’

Diamond in the ceilin’, marble on the floors

Beach inside the window, peekin’ out the window

Baby in the pool, godfather goals

Only Lord knows I’ve been goin’ hammer

Dodgin’ paparazzi, freakin’ through the cameras

Eat at Four Daughters, Brock wearin’ sandals

Yoga on a Monday, stretchin’ to Nirvana

Watchin’ all the snakes, curvin’ all the fakes

Phone never on, I don’t conversate

I don’t compromise, I just penetrate

Sex, money, murder—these are the breaks

These are the times, level number 9

Look up in the sky, 10 is on the way

Sentence on the way, killings on the way

Motherfucker, I got winners on the way

You ain’t shit without a body on your belt

You ain’t shit without a ticket on your plate

You ain’t sick enough to pull it on yourself

You ain’t rich enough to hit the lot and skate

Tell me when destruction gonna be my fate

Gonna be your fate, gonna be our faith

Peace to the world, let it rotate

Sex, money, murder—our DNA

 

Kendrick closes out the song with his second verse where he starts out by talking about his DNA is his own and nobody will ever be able to copy it because he is doing something few can do. He is probably referencing the FOX News anchor discussed earlier and he continually refers to a villain throughout the verse who is probably people that fail to recognize the plights of Kendrick and his people. Now that Kendrick is a widely known figure, he rarely gets time away from the public spotlight to collect his thoughts and this sentiment was demonstrated in the verse where he says he barely has time to relax now after being so successful winning all the Grammys. Kendrick is finally realizing he can enjoy peace within himself after running around his whole life, in his mind he has nothing more to prove to anyone because he has won it all and satisfied himself and the ones he cares about so there is no point in engaging with people that would detract from it. His past will always be a part of him but now Kendrick knows he can do things and help people on a much wider scale because of the music he made and by staying true to himself, his fate as he refers to.

Kyle Flick

For my next blog post I will continue with my analysis of a different song from Kendrick Lamar’s discography. This time I am choosing to analyze the song “King Kunta” off his critically acclaimed and Grammy award winning album To Pimp A Butterfly. The song in general is one that is very empowering because of the connection Kendrick makes between making it out of Compton and of a slave escaping to freedom.

 

[Intro: Kendrick Lamar]

I got a bone to pick

I don’t want you monkey-mouth motherfuckers

Sittin’ in my throne again

Ayy, ayy, nigga, what’s happenin’?

K-Dot back in the hood, nigga!

I’m mad (He mad!), but I ain’t stressin’

True friends, one question

 

Kendrick starts out the song by telling the listener a few things. First, he wants them to know that he needs to confront somebody hence the reason why he has a bone to pick. Second, he wants the listener to know that he does not want other rappers trying to claim the top spot in the rap game over him, so he is here to remind them of that. That is why he has got a bone to pick right now, but he is not worried about it at all, he knows he will prove he is better than them.

 

[Chorus 1: Kendrick Lamar]

Bitch, where you when I was walkin’?

Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin’

King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off him

Kunta, black man taking no losses, oh yeah

Bitch, where you when I was walkin’?

Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin’

King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off him

When you got the yams—(What’s the yams?)

 

In the chorus Kendrick continues with talking about the slave he was referencing earlier who goes by the name Kunta Kinte which is a character from a novel. He makes a parallel from himself to Kunta by saying how him getting his foot cut off by his master is comparable to everything in Kendrick’s life that has held him back from achieving his full potential. He calls out everyone who has doubted him or not believed in his rap career and now that he is big, he doesn’t want people coming crawling back to him. Kendrick certifies his authenticity despite the fake rappers surrounding him, saying he has the yams (an authentic Southern food).

 

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]

The yam is the power that be

You can smell it when I’m walkin’ down the street

(Oh yes, we can, oh yes, we can)

I can dig rappin’, but a rapper with a ghost writer?

What the fuck happened? (Oh no!)

I swore I wouldn’t tell, but most of y’all sharing bars

Like you got the bottom bunk in a two-man cell (A two-man cell)

Something’s in the water (Something’s in the water)

And if I gotta brown-nose for some gold

Then I’d rather be a bum than a motherfuckin’ baller (Oh yeah!)

 

In the first verse, Kendrick calls out new rappers who think they are someone just because they blew up. They cannot be using ghostwriters or any help because that violates what it means to have pride in your work in Kendrick’s mind. He is baffled that any of the new rappers would do that and compares it to sleeping in the bottom bunk of a jail cell, a humiliating thing. Kendrick made it to the top all on his own and did not kiss up to anyone along the way which is how he thinks everyone should do it, not with the help of a ghostwriter which he thinks is too prevalent now (something’s in the water). He even says he would rather be on the bottom than be on top but not have earned it.

 

[Chorus 1: Kendrick Lamar]

Bitch, where you when I was walkin’?

Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin’

King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off him

King Kunta, black man taking no losses, oh yeah

Bitch, where you when I was walkin’?

Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin’

King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off him

When you got the yams—(What’s the yams?)

 

The chorus is repeated for added emphasis regarding what Kendrick wants the listener to hear and remember.

 

[Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar]

The yam brought it out of Richard Pryor

Manipulated Bill Clinton with desires

24/7, 365 days times two

I was contemplatin’ gettin’ off stage

Just to go back to the hood, see my enemy, and say… (Oh yeah)

 

Kendrick continues with the theme of yams in the second verse talking about how it is representative of power, drugs, lust, etc. He points out how Richard Pryor and Bill Clinton succumbed to the yams through drugs and lust, respectively. A concept Kendrick wants to drive home here is that anyone, no matter their status in the world can be subject to the yams, aka their desires.

 

[Chorus 1: Kendrick Lamar]

Bitch, where you when I was walkin’?

Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin’

King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off him

King Kunta, black man taking no losses, oh yeah

Bitch, where you when I was walkin’?

Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin’

King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off him

 

The chorus is once again repeated right after that verse to show how Kendrick wants to make a point to the people that doubted him back at home.

 

[Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar]

You goat-mouth mammyfucker

I was gonna kill a couple rappers, but they did it to themselves

Everybody’s suicidal, they ain’t even need my help

This shit is elementary, I’ll probably go to jail

If I shoot at your identity and bounce to the left

Stuck a flag in my city, everybody’s screamin’, “Compton!”

I should probably run for mayor when I’m done, to be honest

And I put that on my momma and my baby boo too

20 million walkin’ out the court buildin’, woo-woo!

Aw, yeah, fuck the judge

I made it past 25, and there I was

A little nappy-headed nigga with the world behind him

Life ain’t shit but a fat vagina

Screamin’, “Annie, are you okay? Annie, are you okay?”

Limo tinted with the gold plates

Straight from the bottom, this the belly of the beast

From a peasant to a prince to a motherfuckin’ king (Oh yeah)

 

In the final verse, Kendrick has a lot to say and he does not care if people do not like it. He once again calls out other rappers who he could easily destroy in a beef but instead of destroying them himself, he lets their own subpar work do it for them (career suicide). It is so easy for him; it is like elementary school, but he still must watch out for outside influences that could bring him down from Compton like gang violence or police brutality. He surmises though that it is his home city and if he ran for mayor he would even win that because he put Compton back on the rap map. Kendrick feels that he is not only representing his city but all 20 million black people in America because of his shared experiences with them and the fact that he is successful and made it past 25 without being in jail or dead. He tries to humble himself but, in the end,, Kendrick once again says how he got to the top all on his own and while it is much better than being in poverty, there are still many problems for him to deal with.

 

[Chorus 2: Kendrick Lamar]

Bitch, where you when I was walkin’—*Gunshot*

By the time you hear the next pop

The funk shall be within you—*Gunshot*

Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin’

King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off him

King Kunta, black man taking no losses, oh yeah

Bitch, where you when I was walkin’?

Now I run the game, got the whole world talkin’

King Kunta, everybody wanna cut the legs off him

 

In the second chorus, Kendrick modifies the first one a bit in the beginning of it to describe how despite all the people coming after him with violence and guns he is still going to have a good time with music and let the funk continue.

 

[Outro: Kendrick Lamar & Whitney Alford]

Funk, funk, funk, funk, funk, funk, funk, funk, funk, funk, funk

We want the funk

We want the funk

Now if I give you the funk, you gon’ take it?

We want the funk

Now if I give you the funk, you gon’ take it?

We want the funk

Now if I give you the funk, you gon’ take it?

We want the funk

Do you want the funk?

We want the funk

Do you want the funk?

We want the funk

Now if I give you the funk, you gon’ take it?

We want the funk

 

Kendrick ends the song with an outro basically just reaffirming the vibe he wants to send the listener off with which is to keep chilling and vibing with the music. Kendrick feels that he has proved himself to everybody including himself, but he is still hungry for more. “King Kunta” is Kendrick’s way of showing how he made it out and succeeded and is saying sorry to absolutely nobody for it.