Category: Uncategorized

Kyle Flick

The next song I am going to analyze from Kendrick Lamar’s discography is the track “Swimming Pools (Drank)” off his album good kid, m.A.A.d city. Alcoholism and peer pressure are major themes in this song hence the name and it is evident through analysis of the lyrics.

 

[Intro]

Pour up (Drank), head shot (Drank)

Sit down (Drank), stand up (Drank)

Pass out (Drank), wake up (Drank)

Faded (Drank), faded (Drank)

 

[Verse 1]

Now I done grew up ’round some people livin’ their life in bottles

Granddaddy had the golden flask

Backstroke every day in Chicago

Some people like the way it feels

Some people wanna kill their sorrows

Some people wanna fit in with the popular, that was my problem

I was in a dark room, loud tunes

Lookin’ to make a vow soon

That I’ma get fucked up, fillin’ up my cup I see the crowd mood

Changin’ by the minute and the record on repeat

Took a sip, then another sip, then somebody said to me

 

In the intro, Kendrick describes how parties progress from taking lots of shots, to being very drunk, and eventually to passing out. The first verse concerns itself with Kendrick’s upbringing and how everyone around him was engulfed in the evils of alcoholism. He describes how his grandfather was an alcoholic and why people drink. They do it to either fit in, because they like the buzz, to dull their pain, or to conform to peer pressure. Kendrick points out that peer pressure and the desire to be cool in a loud party is what caused him to drink even though he didn’t necessarily want to.

 

[Chorus]

Nigga, why you babysittin’ only two or three shots?

I’ma show you how to turn it up a notch

First you get a swimming pool full of liquor, then you dive in it

Pool full of liquor, then you dive in it

I wave a few bottles, then I watch ’em all flock

All the girls wanna play Baywatch

I got a swimming pool full of liquor and they dive in it

Pool full of liquor, I’ma dive in it

 

[Refrain]

Pour up (Drank), head shot (Drank)

Sit down (Drank), stand up (Drank)

Pass out (Drank), wake up (Drank)

Faded (Drank), faded (Drank)

 

In the chorus, Kendrick elaborates on the peer pressure he experienced at that party. People came up to him and called him out for not drinking and told him to take a few more shots. They were trying to help him have a good time but to Kendrick he was not about it. Lamar views all the liquor he sees around him as enough to fill a swimming pool which concerns him. The analogy of diving in is meant to be becoming drunk off the liquor and he compares it to all the girls diving in like the characters in the TV show Baywatch. Eventually Kendrick relents and he dives in and the intro lines repeat where he drinks in excess and becomes very drunk.

 

[Verse 2]

Okay, now open your mind up and listen me, Kendrick

I am your conscience, if you do not hear me

Then you will be history, Kendrick

I know that you’re nauseous right now

And I’m hopin’ to lead you to victory, Kendrick

If I take another one down

I’ma drown in some poison, abusin’ my limit

I think that I’m feelin’ the vibe, I see the love in her eyes

I see the feelin’, the freedom is granted

As soon as the damage of vodka arrived

This how you capitalize, this is parental advice

Then apparently, I’m over-influenced by what you are doin’

I thought I was doin’ the most ’til someone said to me

 

[Chorus]

Nigga, why you babysittin’ only two or three shots?

I’ma show you how to turn it up a notch

First you get a swimming pool full of liquor, then you dive in it

Pool full of liquor, then you dive in it

I wave a few bottles, then I watch ’em all flock

All the girls wanna play Baywatch

I got a swimming pool full of liquor and they dive in it

Pool full of liquor, I’ma dive in it

 

[Refrain]

Pour up (Drank), head shot (Drank)

Sit down (Drank), stand up (Drank)

Pass out (Drank), wake up (Drank)

Faded (Drank), faded (Drank)

 

In the next verse, Kendrick raps from the perspective of his inner conscience trying to lead him to safety. His conscience realizes that Kendrick has put himself in a bad situation and it is trying to remind him that if he drinks too much he will die/become history. It lets him know that he is nauseous from all the alcohol he has drank and he is past his personal intake limit, but Kendrick doesn’t care. He gets liquor courage and sees a girl and decides to drink more and then go talk to her thinking he is now more suave because of the alcohol which is not a good mindset. Kendrick and the girl are assumed to have sex at this point as they are free from the restraints of anxiety due to alcohol and it can be said that they may be taking advantage of each other. They both don’t realize the damage the vodka is doing to them, but they don’t care anyway. As the party goes on Kendrick is once again pressured into drinking more because some people think he is barely partying enough. This leads into the chorus again further emphasizing how far Kendrick is diving in and the intro is repeated too to move along the chronology of the party.

 

[Bridge]

I ride, you ride, bang

One chopper, 100 shots, bang

Hop out, do you bang?

Two chopper, 200 shots, bang

I ride, you ride, bang

One chopper, 100 shots, bang

Hop out, do you bang?

Two chopper, 200 shots, bang

 

[Chorus]

Nigga, why you babysittin’ only two or three shots?

I’ma show you how to turn it up a notch

First you get a swimming pool full of liquor, then you dive in it

Pool full of liquor, then you dive in it

I wave a few bottles, then I watch ’em all flock

All the girls wanna play Baywatch

I got a swimming pool full of liquor and they dive in it

Pool full of liquor, I’ma dive in it

 

[Refrain]

Pour up (Drank), head shot (Drank)

Sit down (Drank), stand up (Drank)

Pass out (Drank), wake up (Drank)

Faded (Drank), faded (Drank)

 

[Interlude: Sherane]

Aw man… where is she takin’ me?

Where is she takin’ me?

 

The bridge before the final verse is very important in the context of the song and the album. In it, Kendrick describes the lifestyle of Compton in a broad sense. He compares riding to drinking and making bad choices together, the chopper to someone drinking in excess and taking 100 shots, and hopping out to pressuring someone into drinking and doing questionable things. All together the bridge paints a picture alcohol abuse and the power peer pressure has in social situations not just related to drinking. Kendrick allows it to be generalized to other things too like jumping someone or committing a robbery. The chorus and intro are once again repeated to drive home the point about peer pressure Kendrick is making. The very brief interlude introduces to the girl Kendrick was talking to earlier. Her name was Sherane and she is a common character throughout the album and represents Kendrick’s desires and most troubled moments as she leads him into uncertainty.

 

[Verse 3]

All I have in life is my new appetite for failure

And I got hunger pain that grow insane

Tell me, do that sound familiar?

If it do, then you’re like me

Makin’ excuse that your relief

Is in the bottom of the bottle and the greenest indo leaf

As the window open I release

Everything that corrode inside of me

I see you jokin’, why you laugh?

Don’t you feel bad? I probably sleep

And never ever wake up, never ever wake up, never ever wake up

In God I trust, but just when I thought I had enough

 

In the final verse of the song, Kendrick comes to realize that alcohol is not a healthy way to cope at all and it only fuels his downward spiral. He then proceeds to say how if any listener can relate to how he is feeling then they are also dependent on alcohol. He urges all alcoholics and drug addicts to stop finding their relief in drugs and liquor and instead to break the cycle of substance abuse that destroys so many lives, families, and communities. Kendrick is angry that people think their addiction is an excuse most likely because of how negatively it has affected his life. The verse then turns to Kendrick asking why people are laughing at his excessive drunkenness as he throws up then passes out due to his intake. He ponders if anyone will care if he wakes up.

 

[Outro]

They stomped the homie out over a bitch?

K-dot, you good, blood?

Now we can drop, ye we can drop you back off

That nigga’s straight, man, that nigga ain’t trippin’

We gon’ do the same ol’ shit

I’ma pop a few shots, they gon’ run, they gon’ run opposite ways

Fall right in ****’s lap

And he gon’ tear they ass up, simple as that

And I hope that bitch that set him up out there

We gon’ pop that bitch too

Wait hold up, ayy, I see somebody

[Car door opens and gunshots are fired]

Aha! Got them niggas, K-Dot, you good?

L****, you good?

Yeah, blood, I’m good – Dave, you good?

Dave? Dave, say somethin’ – Dave?

These bitch-ass niggas killed my brother!

 

The outro is a skit that paints a bleak picture of life in Compton and what surrounds Kendrick. Here we learn that Kendrick got jumped by people Sherane knew which angers his friends. They plot to get back at the guys and go shooting at them. They do and are successful but at the cost of Dave’s life, who is Kendrick’s friend. The short skit is representative of the cycle of violence in Compton and how hard it is to escape it forever.

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.

Kyle Flick

For my passion blog last semester, I chose to analyze a different Kendrick Lamar song with each of my posts. This semester I am choosing to continue with that and analyze more of his discography. The first song of his I am going to analyze is the track titled “Poetic Justice” off his critically acclaimed album good kid, m.A.A.d city.

 

[Intro: Kendrick Lamar]

Every second, every minute

Man, I swear that she can get it

Say if you a bad bitch, put your hands up high

Hands up high, hands up high

Tell ’em dim the lights down right now

Put me in the mood

I’m talkin’ about dark room, perfume, go, go

 

The song starts out with Kendrick talking about his desires for a love interest he has and how she could get it from him at any time. He is a slave to his lust and yearns to be able to be in the presence of the girl he is in love with and set the mood with her.

 

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]

I recognize your fragrance

Hold up, you ain’t never gotta say shit

Uh, and I know your taste is

A little bit, hmm, high maintenance

Uh, everybody else basic

You live life on an everyday basis

With poetic justice, poetic justice

If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room

Would you trust it?

I mean, I write poems in these songs dedicated to you when

You’re in the mood for empathy, there’s blood in my pen

Better yet, where your friends and ’em?

I really wanna know you all

I really wanna show you off

Fuck that, pour up plenty of champagne

Cold nights when you curse this name

You called up your girlfriends

And y’all curled in that little bitty Range

I heard that she wanna go and party, she wanna go and party

Nigga, don’t approach her with that Atari

Nigga, that ain’t good game, homie, sorry

They say conversation rule a nation, I can tell

But I could never right my wrongs

‘Less I write it down for real, P.S

 

In the first verse Kendrick begins by saying how he can basically recognize women by their scent and that they are high class and possibly high maintenance too which he does not seem to mind. His in the moment mentality inspires his philosophy in the song to live life on an everyday basis and hope that his love interest wants to share in that too. Although, in his youthfulness, Kendrick does not realize that he maybe should not put his full trust in this girl because he does not know her well. The phrase, “If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room/Would you trust it,” is evidence of this. What kind of flower blooms in a dark room? Kendrick ponders whether he should be messing with something like that. He then doubles down on asking his love interest, Sherane for her love and trust in his poems and songs. He tries to display both sides of the feelings they share to the best of his ability but fails to fully capture her in a sense. Kendrick thinks that if he can become friends with Sherane’s friends he can get closer to them but all he learns is that it is tough for him to trust them because they love to party and be wild. Kendrick believes he just needs to be suaver or smoother evidenced by his advice to not be an Atari and try to seduce her in outdated ways. He surmises that he can woo her through his words and attempts that throughout the song.

 

[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]

You can get it, you can get it

You can get it, you can get it

And I know just, know just, know just

Know just, know just what you want

Poetic justice, put it in a song, alright

You can get it, you can get it

You can get it, you can get it

And I know just, know just, know just

Know just, know just what you want

Poetic justice, put it in a song, alright

 

In the chorus Kendrick harps on the literary idea of poetic justice where the character is either rewarded or punished based on their conduct. Kendrick is hoping to be rewarded with Sherane which is justified in his mind because of his desire for her and what he has done in hopes of gaining her affection.

 

[Verse 2: Drake]

I really hope you play this, ’cause ol’ girl, you test my patience

With all these seductive photographs

And all these one-off vacations you’ve been takin’

Clearly a lot for me to take in, it don’t make sense

Young East African girl, you too busy fuckin’ with your other man

I was tryna put you on game, put you on a plane

Take you and your momma to the motherland

I could do it, maybe one day

When you figure out you’re gonna need someone

When you figure out it’s alright here in the city

And you don’t run from where we come from

That sound like poetic justice, poetic justice

You were so new to this life, but goddamn, you got adjusted

I mean, I write poems in these songs, dedicated to the fun sex

Your natural hair and your soft skin

And your big ass in that sundress, ooh

Good God, what you doin’ that walk for?

When I see that thing move

I just wish we would fight less and we would talk more

They say communication save relations, I can tell

But I can never right my wrongs

Unless I write ’em down for real, P.S

 

In the second verse Kendrick has Drake come in for a feature and he continues a lot of what Kendrick was saying in his verse. Drake is dealing with his own type of poetic justice involving a love interest of his who is playing him. She is out going on expensive trips with Drake while posting risqué pictures online and cheating on him behind his back much to Drake’s dismay. He laments how she is throwing away the life she could have with Drake in pursuit of other lesser vices that have short term pleasure but in the long term create regret. Drake knows this but still wants her back despite how much he says the opposite. The verse in a sense is dedicated to her asking her to come back, or possibly begging because of his attraction to her. Drake ends up falling back for her because of her flirtatious advances and he believes that they can save their relationship is they communicate in spite of the fact she is probably taking advantage of him. He writes songs to try and win her back admitting his mistakes which may not be the best route.

 

[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]

You can get it, you can get it

You can get it, you can get it

And I know just, know just, know just

Know just, know just what you want

Poetic justice, put it in a song, alright

You can get it, you can get it

You can get it, you can get it

And I know just, know just, know just

Know just, know just what you want

Poetic justice, put it in a song, alright

 

[Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar]

Every time I write these words they become a taboo

Makin’ sure my punctuation curve, every letter here’s true

Livin’ my life in the margin and that metaphor was proof

I’m talkin’ poetic justice, poetic justice

If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room

Would you trust it? I mean, you need to hear this

Love is not just a verb, it’s you lookin’ in the mirror

Love is not just a verb, it’s you lookin’ for it, maybe

Call me crazy, we can both be insane

A fatal attraction is common, and what we have common is pain

I mean, you need to hear this, love is not just a verb

And I can see power steerin’, sex drive when you swerve

I want that interference, it’s coherent, I can hear it

Uh-huh, that’s your heartbeat

It either caught me or it called me, uh-huh

Read slow and you’ll find gold mines in these lines

Sincerely, yours truly, and right before you go blind, P.S

 

Kendrick repeats the chorus for added emphasis on it before the third and final verse of the track. In the final verse he begins by pointing out the sincerity of his words; the curving of the punctuation means he will not stop writing by adding in commas, the letter represents his content, the margin he refers to is where he lives his life outside of normally accepted bounds, and the metaphor for the proof is the conclusion/solution to his issues which is why he writes. Here is where the verse splits from the previous one as he seemingly starts to plea with Sherane, talking about how love is not just lust based but should be felt fully and emotionally too. He wants Sherane to feel what he feels for her and he does not know why she is not reciprocating yet. He pleas more with her saying how despite the dangers of their home Compton and what their relationship could mean, Kendrick wants there to be something between them. He believes that he could be the solution to all her woes if she loved him like he does, she won’t need to drown herself in the vices of alcohol and casual sex if Kendrick is with her, he says. Kendrick ends on the note that he is the cure and he will wait for her to realize it for as long as he can, he’ll be waiting.

 

[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]

You can get it, you can get it

You can get it, you can get it

And I know just, know just, know just

Know just, know just what you want

Poetic justice, put it in a song

 

[Outro Skit]

“I’m gon’ ask you one more time, homie

Where is you from? Or it is a problem.”

“Ayy, you over here for Sherane, homie?”

“Yo, I don’t care who this nigga over here for

If he don’t tell me where he from, it’s a wrap! I’m sorry.”

“Hol’ up, hol’ up, hol’ up, we gon’ do it like this, okay?

I’ma tell you where I’m from, okay?

You gon’ tell me where you from, okay?

Or where your grandma stay, where your mama stay, or where your daddy stay, okay?”

“Enough with all this talkin’.”

“Matter of fact, get out the van, homie! Get out the car before I snatch you out that motherfucker, homie!”

 

The chorus is repeated one more time for emphasis before the outro to the song. In the outro it is revealed that the poetic justice Kendrick talks about throughout the song turns for the worse here. The skit depicts Kendrick rolling up to see Sherane and instead of getting to her, he gets held up by some guys where they threaten, intimidate, and it is assumed jump him and his van. It is possible Sherane set him up. The end of the song leaves the question up in the air, did Kendrick get punished for his lust and Sherane set him up? The karma of poetic justice finally comes around on Kendrick but not in the way he was hoping for.

Kyle Flick

The next song I am going to analyze from Kendrick Lamar’s discography is the opening track on his album DAMN. titled “BLOOD.” This song very aptly starts the album in a variety of thematic ways that are evident in later listening. This song concerns itself with the core question of the album, wickedness or weakness.

 

[Intro: Bēkon]

Is it wickedness?

Is it weakness?

You decide

Are we gonna live or die?

 

The song starts out with a question being posed to the listener, is it wickedness or weakness? This question is brought to the center of attention throughout the album because it concerns itself with many songs on it where Kendrick is embodying one of the two virtues he mentions. The song “DNA.” deals with wickedness as Kendrick battles the temptations of sex, money, and power. In “YAH.” Kendrick contemplates weakness as he confronts his past sins in his eyes. The question takes a further step in breadth asking, if we will live or die.

 

[Verse: Kendrick Lamar]

So I was takin’ a walk the other day

And I seen a woman—a blind woman

Pacin’ up and down the sidewalk

She seemed to be a bit frustrated

As if she had dropped somethin’ and

Havin’ a hard time findin’ it

So after watchin’ her struggle for a while

I decide to go over and lend a helping hand, you know?

“Hello ma’am, can I be of any assistance?

It seems to me that you have lost something

I would like to help you find it.”

She replied: “Oh yes, you have lost something

You’ve lost… your life.”

 

In the first and only verse of the song Kendrick narrates a scene where he encounters an elderly blind woman and offers his help. She is walking down the street and Kendrick figures to try and aid her in her task at hand. As he approaches her, she turns around and shoots him for seemingly no reason. This whole interaction can be taken to mean something along the lines of how Kendrick cannot trust anyone in his life, even the most innocent of people. It can also be taken to represent the idea of justice and that it can be applied blindly and without regard to most circumstances.

 

{Gunshot}

 

[Bridge: Bēkon]

Is it wickedness?

 

[Outro: Eric Bolling & Kimberly Guilfoyle]

Lamar stated his views on police brutality

With that line in the song, quote:

“And we hate the popo, wanna kill us in the street fo’ sho’.”

Oh please, ugh, I don’t like it

 

The song concludes with the wickedness question being asked again for further emphasis. As the song ends, Kendrick includes a snippet from a FOX News segment discussing the performance of his song “Alright” at the 2015 BET Awards. In this snippet the hosts of the show admonish his views on police brutality and totally ignore the central issue Kendrick is bringing to the forefront which is how police are unfairly killing black men in the streets. It ties together the song well concerning the themes of justice and wickedness and weakness and prepares the listener for them in the album.

Kyle Flick

The next song I am going to analyze from Kendrick Lamar’s discography is “Ronald Reagan Era” off his debut album released in 2011, Section.80. This song deals with the influx of drugs, specifically crack cocaine, into Compton and Los Angeles during the late 1980s and how negatively that impacted the community and Kendrick’s childhood.

 

[Intro: Ash Riser]

We’re far from good, not good from far

90 miles per hour down Compton Boulevard

With the top down, screaming “We don’t give a fuck!”

Drink my 40 ounce of freedom while I roll my blunt

Cause the kids just ain’t alright

 

[Interlude: Ab-Soul]

Oh, shit nigga, somethin’ ’bout to happen, nigga, this shit..

Nigga this sound like 30 ki’s under the Compton court building

Hope the dogs don’t smell it

 

The song starts out with Kendrick painting a picture of being young, free, and reckless which every teenager feels growing up. But he transitions into a darker picture of the reality of kids in Compton, it is that they are not alright, their innocence will be stolen at an early age. Drinking (40 ounce of freedom) and smoking (roll my blunt) while driving is an example of the dangerous behaviors teens engage in in Compton and they are reinforced by all those around them. The interlude starts to introduce the main theme of the song, the 30ki’s under the building are referencing crack cocaine and how massive it became in Compton during the Ronald Reagan Era. Crack was used to break up black organizations and demonize black communities so they could arrest their leaders and keep the regular black person down.

 

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]

Welcome to vigilante, 80’s so don’t you ask me

I’m hungry, my body’s antsy, I rip through your fuckin’ pantry

Peelin’ off like a Xanny, examine my orchestra

Granny said when I’m old enough, I’ll be sure to be all I can be

You niggas Marcus Camby, washed up

Pussy, fix your panties, I’m Mr. Marcus, you getting fucked, uh

You ain’t heard nothin’ harder since Daddy Kane

Take it in vain, Vicodins couldn’t ease the pain

Lightnin’ bolts hit your body, you thought it rained

Not a cloud in sight, just the shit that I write

Strong enough to stand in front of a travellin’ freight train, are you trained?

To go against Dracula draggin’ the record industry by my fangs

AK clips, money clips and gold chains

You walk around with a P90 like it’s the 90’s

Bullet to your temple, your homicide’ll remind me that

 

In the first verse Kendrick starts out by reminding everyone that he is hungry, and he wants to come out and dominate the rap scene. He compares the 80s to the Wild West in terms of vigilantism because they will never go to the police because of how they are treated. Kendrick talks about how he will go in and rob a pantry metaphorically because he is starving to be great. He mentions Xanax and Vicodin which were commonplace in Kendrick’s youth during the Ronald Reagan Era because of all the pain and struggle people in Compton went through during that time period. Kendrick wants to remind people that Compton is a place you do not want to mess with because people actively carry guns (AK clips and P90) and will shoot with wanton disregard. Kendrick is trying to say that despite growing up in such a violent place he is hungry for success and wants to drag “the record industry by my fangs.”

 

[Hook: Kendrick Lamar & RZA]

Compton Crip niggas ain’t nothin’ to fuck with

Bompton Pirus ain’t nothin’ to fuck with

Compton éses ain’t nothin’ to fuck with

But they fuck with me, and bitch I love it

Woop de woop, woop de woop-woop, woop de woop

Woop de woop, woop de woop-woop (California Dungeons)

Woop de woop, woop de woop-woop, woop de woop

Woop de woop, woop de woop-woop (California Dungeons)

 

In the hook Kendrick harps on that fact that people should not mess with gang members in Compton. He mentions the Bompton Pirus (Bloods, they say everything that starts with a C with a B because of their rivalry with the Crips), the Crips, and the éses (Hispanic gang). But he then contrasts all that by saying how all the gang members love his music despite Kendrick not being gang affiliated. Then the hook goes into saying woop which is a play on the sound police cars make. The phrase California Dungeons being repeated is significant as it where police threw gang members in in a form of temporary imprisonment and they were notorious for being horrific places to be.

 

[Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar]

Let’s hit the county buildin’, gotta cash my check

Spend it all on a 40-ounce to the neck and

In retrospect I remember December being the hottest

Squad cars, neighborhood wars and stolen Mazdas

I tell you mothafuckas that life is full of hydraulics

Up and down, get a 64, better know how to drive it

I’m drivin’ on E with no license or registration

Heart racin’, racin’ past Johnny because he’s racist

 

In verse 2 Kendrick makes a hard shift to discussing all the violence in Compton as a result of the Ronald Reagan Era. The county building is a common place to go in Compton because it is where things like welfare handouts, food stamps, and check cashing services among other things are located and people are always there because of how poor Compton is. But most people turn right around and spend their paycheck on indulgences like drugs or alcohol. Specifically, Kendrick talks about December when crime spikes because people need money for the holidays and more people are being shot and a police presence is always felt. Then to add on to all their issues, they must deal with Johnny (the police) and how they are often racist in their policing practices in Compton.

 

1987, the children of Ronald Reagan, rake the leaves off

Your front porch with a machine blowtorch (I’m really out here, my nigga)

He blowin’ on stress, hopin’ to ease the stress (Like, really out here)

He copping some blow, hopin’ that it can stretch

Newborn massacre, hopping out the passenger

With calendars, cause your date’s comin’

Run him down and then he gun him down, I’m hopin’ that you fast enough

Even the legs of Michael Johnson don’t mean nothin’, because

 

[Hook: Kendrick Lamar & RZA]

Compton Crip niggas ain’t nothin’ to fuck with

Bompton Pirus ain’t nothin’ to fuck with

Compton éses ain’t nothin’ to fuck with

But they fuck with me, and bitch I love it

Woop de woop, woop de woop-woop, woop de woop

Woop de woop, woop de woop-woop (California Dungeons)

Woop de woop, woop de woop-woop, woop de woop

Woop de woop, woop de woop-woop (California Dungeons)

 

The year Kendrick was born was 1987 and he says how he is the product/child of Reagan Era policies that affect Compton is so many ways, like a decrease in welfare and an increase in the failed War on Drugs. The front porch he mentions can be compared to white middle class America who had nice porches and were oblivious to the sufferings of black people during this time period. To relieve their stress, Kendrick and his friends would smoke to ease the pain or do some cocaine to forget it all. But then it comes crashing back down to reality as Kendrick says “your date’s comin’” which is in reference to when you will get shot in Compton as it is just a matter of time and even if you are as fast as Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson, you cannot outrun the bullets. Then Kendrick repeats the hook for further emphasis.

 

[Refrain: Kendrick Lamar]

Can’t detour when you’re at war with your city, why run for?

Just ride with me, just die with me, that gun store, right there

When you fight, don’t fight fair cause you’ll never win

 

[Break: Ab-Soul]

Right, I had the yapper, and I tore they ass up

 

[Refrain: Kendrick Lamar]

Can’t detour when you’re at war with your city, why run for?

Just ride with me, just die with me, that gun store, right there

When you fight, don’t fight fair cause you’ll never win (Yeah, yeah, yeah)

 

[Bridge: Kendrick Lamar]

Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah

Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah

Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah

Whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah, whoah

 

[Outro: Ab-Soul]

We really out here, my nigga, you niggas don’t understand, my nigga

I’m off of pill and Remy Red, my nigga, trippin’, my nigga

 

To end the song Kendrick utilizes a refrain to explain how most kids in Compton and most inner cities are kids that are good at heart but are thrown into terrible situations where they are forced to adapt to survive. They cannot fight fairly as Kendrick says, to get out they must do some unfair things to make it. The break by Ab-Soul illustrates the state of mind of many kids in Compton, only focused on getting guns and murder as they are so desensitized to it. In the outro, Kendrick demonstrates how they get the pain away with pills and alcohol, so they trip and forget all the pain and suffering that comes with being alive.

 

“Ronald Reagan Era” is a very complex song packed to the brim with content that shows the real-life consequences of many Reagan era policies through a young Kendrick’s eyes. It serves as a starting point for Kendrick to finally leave Compton and make something with his life despite all the obstacles he experiences and dominate the rap game and help others like him make it out too.

Kyle Flick

The next song I am going to be analyzing from Kendrick Lamar’s discography is “Alright” off his magnum opus album To Pimp A Butterfly. In 2015 when “Alright” dropped as a single it was heavily associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. It was championed as a song of hope and that everyone will be okay because they are all in this together.

 

[Intro: Kendrick Lamar]

Alls my life I has to fight, nigga

Alls my life I…

Hard times like, “Yah!”

Bad trips like, “Yah!”

Nazareth, I’m fucked up

Homie, you fucked up

But if God got us, then we gon’ be alright

 

[Chorus: Pharrell Williams]

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

We gon’ be alright

Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon’ be alright

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

Huh? We gon’ be alright

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon’ be alright

 

The song starts out with Kendrick mentioning how he has had to fight his whole life both in a physical and mental sense. Physically he has had to deal with the realities of gang warfare, the streets, and various criminal activity while mentally he has struggled with depression and suicidal ideation about his position in the world. This is contrasted with the “we gon’ be alright” lines repeated many times as a way to provide reassurance that everything will be okay. Kendrick and the black community as a whole at the time was struggling with finding a direction and Kendrick suggests that as long as they have God and themselves, they will be alright. He also uses Nazareth as a comparison to Compton because both were very impoverished areas rife with crime in their time.

 

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]

Uh, and when I wake up

I recognize you’re looking at me for the pay cut

But homicide be looking at you from the face down

What MAC-11 even boom with the bass down?

Schemin’, and let me tell you ’bout my life

Painkillers only put me in the twilight

Where pretty pussy and Benjamin is the highlight

 

To start the verse, Kendrick talks about how sometimes he thinks that people are just around him for the money or to make money from him and do not actually care about the content of his music. He then goes on to mention the MAC-11 which is a gun that often has a sound suppressor to mask noise and he compares it to the reality of police committing homicides against black people as it gets suppressed and people are unaware of what the police are actually doing. In light of this, Kendrick runs to take refuge in women, drugs, and money (Benjamin) to escape the issues that plague him and his people.

 

Now tell my momma I love her, but this what I like, Lord knows

Twenty of ’em in my Chevy, tell ’em all to come and get me

Reaping everything I sow, so my karma come in heaven

No preliminary hearings on my record

I’m a motherfucking gangster in silence for the record, uh

Tell the world I know it’s too late

Boys and girls, I think I gone cray

Drown inside my vices all day

Won’t you please believe when I say

 

Kendrick loves his mother very much and here he laments that he feels he is letting her down by succumbing to bad peer pressure and stuff of the like. He believes that eventually he will reap what he has sowed, karma will come back around on him. But he wants to leave his friends out of it and deal with everything himself, so he will stay silent and suffer the consequences. As a result of this he complains about how he thinks he has gone crazy drowning in his vices and feels the need to compensate for it.

 

[Pre-Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]

Wouldn’t you know

We been hurt, been down before

Nigga, when our pride was low

Lookin’ at the world like, “Where do we go?”

Nigga, and we hate po-po

Wanna kill us dead in the street fo sho’

Nigga, I’m at the preacher’s door

My knees gettin’ weak, and my gun might blow

But we gon’ be alright

 

Preceding the chorus, Kendrick dwells on how it is to be black in America and everything that has to be dealt with because of that. Historically he draws upon things like the slave diaspora from the South after the Civil War as a way to say black people did not know where to go or have any direction. Their “pride was low…Lookin’ at the world like, “Where do we go?” as recently freed slaves with very little opportunity. Lamar then jumps back to the modern day and talks about police brutality and how black people tend to dislike police due to their history of racism and murder, they “Wanna kill us dead in the street fo sho’,” he says. He wants to be done kneeling and praying for a better life and surmises to go out and take action.

 

[Chorus: Pharrell Williams]

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

We gon’ be alright

Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon’ be alright

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

Huh? We gon’ be alright

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon’ be alright

 

The chorus is once again reiterated to keep cementing that message into the mind of the listener.

 

[Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar]

What you want you, a house⁠? You, a car?

40 acres and a mule? A piano, a guitar?

Anything, see my name is Lucy, I’m your dog

Motherfucker, you can live at the mall

I can see the evil, I can tell it, I know it’s illegal

I don’t think about it, I deposit every other zero

Thinking of my partner, put the candy, paint it on the Regal

Digging in my pocket, ain’t a profit big enough to feed you

Every day my logic get another dollar just to keep you

In the presence of your chico… Ah!

 

In this verse, Kendrick illustrates a battle he has with Lucy (Lucifer) as he offers Kendrick everything he could want. Kendrick stands before Cerberus, the hound that guards Hell, and he is beckoning him to come in and speak with Lucy. Kendrick mentions 40 acres and a mule, which is what the government originally promised recently freed slaves but never ended up giving it. Lucy offers Kendrick any material object he could want, trying to tempt him into coming to his side and ignore the opposite, God. Kendrick knows that the devil is evil but he is nonetheless being persuaded by Lucy to give into his greed. Kendrick wants to live like the rich rappers he listened to as a teen and Lucy is using this to his advantage to try and get Kendrick to come to his side. Kendrick realizes though that nothing will be able to satisfy his greed which Lucy embodies. He is becoming consumed with getting as much money as he can, falling into Lucy’s trap. Finally, Kendrick says, “Ah!” he realizes he is falling into his vice of greed and materialism and was very close to accepting Lucy’s offer.

 

I don’t talk about it, be about it, every day I sequel

If I got it then you know you got it, Heaven, I can reach you

Pat Dawg, Pat Dawg, Pat Dawg, my dog, that’s all

Bick back and Chad, I trap the bag for y’all

I rap, I black on track so rest assured

My rights, my wrongs; I write ’til I’m right with God

 

Kendrick, realizing how far he has strayed from God, tries to come back and reach heaven. This is very real for Kendrick as he references his late cousin Pat Dawg who passed while he was making this album. He wants to become close with Pat Dawg and God again after almost falling into the pits of hell with Lucy. He wants all his homies in heaven to know that he is going to get rich for them and not fall into the same traps many others did. He is going to become right with God again and be on his side and aspire to be a good Christian man both to spite Lucy and prove that he can make it out morally by writing until all his vices and wrongs are out.

 

[Pre-Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]

Wouldn’t you know

We been hurt, been down before

Nigga, when our pride was low

Lookin’ at the world like, “Where do we go?”

Nigga, and we hate po-po

Wanna kill us dead in the street fo sho’

Nigga, I’m at the preacher’s door

My knees gettin’ weak, and my gun might blow

But we gon’ be alright

 

[Chorus: Pharrell Williams]

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

We gon’ be alright

Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon’ be alright

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

Huh? We gon’ be alright

Nigga, we gon’ be alright

Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon’ be alright

 

The pre-chorus and chorus are repeated before the end of the song to further drive home the points and themes Kendrick is trying to portray about how everything will be alright.

 

[Outro: Kendrick Lamar & Thundercat]

I keep my head up high

I cross my heart and hope to die

Lovin’ me is complicated

Too afraid of a lot of changes

I’m alright, and you’re a favorite

Dark nights in my prayers

 

In the outro, Kendrick admits that he is a hard person to love. His entire life changed when he got big and on many levels he did not know how to cope with leaving everything he ever knew behind. Kendrick will keep fighting his inner demons and promises to not fall into the trap of Lucy and die, but live in a way that God would look favorable upon, he is gonna be alright.

 

[Poem: Kendrick Lamar]

I remembered you was conflicted

Misusing your influence, sometimes I did the same

Abusing my power, full of resentment

Resentment that turned into a deep depression

Found myself screamin’ in the hotel room

I didn’t wanna self-destruct

The evils of Lucy was all around me

So I went runnin’ for answers

 

The song ends with a section from a poem Kendrick is reading throughout To Pimp A Butterfly. He finds himself in a hotel room, contemplating suicide after drinking a lot of alcohol. He ultimately decides against it but he is still running from Lucy and his vices, and he goes looking for answers.

 

On its own, “Alright,” is a very complex song that tackles issues ranging from police brutality to depression to the Black Lives Matter movement and Kendrick aptly deals with them in a way only he can. In the context of the album as a whole the song approaches many other recurring themes and messages that when viewed all together, are masterfully dealt with in varying ways. By drawing upon his own experiences and that of the black community’s he crafts a song here that reassures people but to a degree as there is still work to be done and demons to be fought but Kendrick and anyone who listens must preserve, they are gonna be alright, at least Kendrick hopes…

Kyle Flick

The next song I am going to analyze from Kendrick Lamar’s discography is “The Blacker the Berry” from his critically acclaimed album To Pimp a Butterfly. At the time of its release in 2015, this song had an extremely powerful message responding to the movement of Black Lives Matter at the time and other racial issues involving the shootings of black people.

 

[Intro: Kendrick Lamar & (Lalah Hathaway)]

Everything black, I don’t want black (They want us to bow)

I want everything black, I ain’t need black (Down to our knees)

Some white, some black, I ain’t mean black (And pray to the God)

I want everything black (We don’t believe)

Everything black, want all things black

I don’t need black, want everything black

Don’t need black, our eyes ain’t black

I own black, own everything black

 

The intro to the song describes how black people in America have struggled and been oppressed and made to submit to white people throughout their history in America. Kendrick expands upon that saying they want to reclaim their blackness from the white society that has cast them aside.

 

[Bridge: Kendrick Lamar]

Six in the morn’, fire in the street

Burn, baby, burn, that’s all I wanna see

And sometimes I get off watchin’ you die in vain

It’s such a shame they may call me crazy

They may say I suffer from schizophrenia or somethin’

But homie, you made me

Black don’t crack, my nigga

 

Kendrick precedes his first verse by painting a scene where a riot is happening, and everything is burning around him. This is in reference to the state of race relations in the US after the Ferguson riots and subsequent protests. He points out how people call him “crazy” for his opinions on the whole situation and they say it’s like he has schizophrenia, his mind is split. Kendrick counters this by saying he is mentally sound and “black don’t crack” meaning he has thick skin and can take the heat.

 

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]

I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015

Once I finish this, witnesses will convey just what I mean

Been feeling this way since I was 16, came to my senses

You never liked us anyway, fuck your friendship, I meant it

I’m African-American, I’m African

I’m black as the moon, heritage of a small village

Pardon my residence

Came from the bottom of mankind

My hair is nappy, my dick is big, my nose is round and wide

 

Kendrick begins the verse by talking about how he is a hypocrite and by listening to the rest of the song you will figure out why. He continues saying how he has felt the effects of the racial divide in America and especially Compton since his youth when the CIA was smuggling crack into LA. He further elaborates on this saying that white people just like black people and culture for what they produce rather than the person behind it and do not really celebrate it. Obviously, this is a generalization of white people, but it does hold true for some. He feels the need to apologize for his blackness and his features like his hair, nose, and genitals which are commonly associated with black people to denigrate them.

 

You hate me don’t you?

You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture

You’re fuckin’ evil I want you to recognize that I’m a proud monkey

You vandalize my perception but can’t take style from me

And this is more than confession

I mean I might press the button just so you know my discretion

I’m caught in my feelings, I know that you feel it

You sabotage my community, makin’ a killin’

You made me a killer, emancipation of a real nigga

 

Kendrick continues with the theme of black culture posing the question to the listener, “You hate me don’t you?” as a way to lead into the claim that people only like black culture for its creativity and entertainment but deep down they are jealous that white culture cannot make comparable things. Kendrick wants people to recognize that nonetheless he is a proud black person and uses the slur of monkey as a way to say that no matter what anyone says, nobody can take his identity from him. He confesses that he has powerful sway to incite violence against his opposition, but he has power in that he chooses not to. He laments on the fact that there have been coordinated efforts to destroy his city and culture with drugs and violence from police and it pushed him and others like him to become a “killer,” they now realize who the real enemy is.

 

[Pre-Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

The blacker the berry, the bigger I shoot

 

The term the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice was originally a term that praised blackness and was popularized by a lot of black writers. Kendrick turns this around and paints it as a negative term in the context of the song. In the final line he uses it as a way to reference racist cops killing unarmed black people by saying that the blacker someone is, the more likely it is they will shoot to kill.

 

[Chorus: Assassin]

I said they treat me like a slave, cah’ me black

Woi, we feel a whole heap of pain, cah’ we black

And man a say they put me inna chains, cah’ we black

Imagine now, big gold chains full of rocks

How you no see the whip, left scars ‘pon me back

But now we have a big whip parked ‘pon the block

All them say we doomed from the start, cah’ we black

Remember this, every race start from the block, jus ‘member dat

 

In the chorus, the guest artist Assassin, talks about how blackness is often associated with slavery and oppression. The pain and chains he describes are a result of blackness in slavery era America. He then contrasts this with rich black men in modern day like Kendrick, who now have different whips (cars) and chains (jewelry) but they are still oppressed. Their humble beginnings came from the block and they had to overcome a lot to get where they are now.

 

[Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar]

I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015

Once I finish this, witnesses will convey just what I mean

I mean, it’s evident that I’m irrelevant to society

That’s what you’re telling me, penitentiary would only hire me

Curse me till I’m dead

Church me with your fake prophesizing that I’ma be just another slave in my head

Institutionalized manipulation and lies

Reciprocation of freedom only live in your eyes

You hate me don’t you?

 

Once again, Kendrick references the fact that he is a hypocrite and we will see why soon. He then argues that him and other black men are irrelevant to society because of racism and they are cast aside either to death or prison. The curse he is talking about is the Curse of Ham which gave many slave owners their personal justifications for believing in the inferiority of black people and slavery. It occurs in the Book of Genesis where Noah curses his son Ham and the land of Canaan for a transgression for what many religious scholars believe has to do with Ham having dark skin. Kendrick then touches on how black people have historically been incarcerated at a higher than other ethnic groups and how it is another way racists are trying to take away their freedom again even though many people believe that racism does not exist in society anymore.

 

I know you hate me just as much as you hate yourself

Jealous of my wisdom and cards I dealt

Watchin’ me as I pull up, fill up my tank, then peel out

Muscle cars like pull ups, show you what these big wheels ’bout, ah

Black and successful, this black man meant to be special

Katzkins on my radar, bitch, how can I help you?

How can I tell you I’m making a killin’?

You made me a killer, emancipation of a real nigga

 

Kendrick makes the rationalization that the racist white people that hate him, are plagued so bad by their own insecurities that they feel the need to take it out on successful black men like himself. He says that despite all the racism he’s encountered he still made it to the top with his muscle cars and Katzkin seat covers. He preserved through it all and that is special today. Kendrick finishes this verse by drawing a parallel to the Emancipation Proclamation saying that even today black people are not fully emancipated and still feel restricted in exercising their constitutional rights.

 

[Pre-Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

The blacker the berry, the bigger I shoot

 

[Chorus: Assassin]

I said they treat me like a slave, cah’ me black

Woi, we feel a whole heap of pain, cah’ we black

And man a say they put me inna chains, cah’ we black

Imagine now, big gold chains full of rocks

How you no see the whip, left scars ‘pon me back

But now we have a big whip parked ‘pon the block

All them say we doomed from the start, cah’ we black

Remember this, every race start from the block, jus ‘member dat

 

Kendrick repeats the pre-chorus and chorus to further cement these lines into the minds of the listener. It encompasses how for most of American history black people have received the short end of the stick.

 

[Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar]

I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015

When I finish this if you listenin’ then sure you will agree

This plot is bigger than me, it’s generational hatred

It’s genocism, it’s grimy, little justification

I’m African-American, I’m African

I’m black as the heart of a fuckin’ Aryan

I’m black as the name of Tyrone and Darius

Excuse my French but fuck you — no, fuck y’all

That’s as blunt as it gets, I know you hate me, don’t you?

You hate my people, I can tell cause it’s threats when I see you

 

Kendrick again repeats the hypocrite line to reinforce what he is going to finish the song with. He turns to deal with how rival gangs have a “generational hatred” for one another and it only serves to bring black people down. There is no rhyme or reason to it, it is just hatred through and through based on the colors you wear or where you are from. Kendrick then talks about how he embodies the stereotypical black man but that does not give racist white people a pass to generalize him as a thug or someone from the streets because he is a man in his own right. Kendrick is enraged at how white society has seemingly turned a blind eye to racism and gets vulgar saying how the problem is not fixed and they are only making it worse.

 

I can tell cause your ways deceitful

Know I can tell because you’re in love with that Desert Eagle

Thinkin’ maliciously, he get a chain then you gone bleed him

It’s funny how Zulu and Xhosa might go to war

Two tribal armies that want to build and destroy

Remind me of these Compton Crip gangs that live next door

Beefin’ with Pirus, only death settle the score

 

Kendrick here talks about how in the black community, jealousy is rampant, and it is a big cause of violence. He draws a parallel between a chain and a Desert Eagle saying how people will kill each other over an object. The Zulu and Xhosa Kendrick references are said because they are comparable to Crips and Pirus (Bloods). The Zulus and Xhosa are both African tribes that hate each other for no reason, constantly at war while the same is seen with the Crips and Bloods who are gangs and constantly fight in Compton over the smallest of reasons.

 

So don’t matter how much I say I like to preach with the Panthers

Or tell Georgia State “Marcus Garvey got all the answers”

Or try to celebrate February like it’s my B-Day

Or eat watermelon, chicken, and Kool-Aid on weekdays

Or jump high enough to get Michael Jordan endorsements

Or watch BET cause urban support is important

 

Kendrick mentions the black militant activist group the Black Panthers and then contrasts it with mentioning Marcus Garvey to illustrate how the black community says they should act one way (Garvey preaching that black people need to build themselves up) and then they do something else in reality (the Black Panthers inciting violence). Kendrick does not like seeing the hypocrisy among black people. He calls them to celebrate their heritage and culture the whole year and not let people corner them into stereotypes like playing basketball as the only way out, or you must like certain drinks or foods, or they have to praise black entertainment all the time.

 

So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street

When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me?

Hypocrite!

 

In the last 3 lines Kendrick ties the entire message he is trying to send together. Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon puts it best saying how, “Kendrick Lamar employs a rhetorical move akin to…snapping an entire lyric into place with a surprise revelation of something hitherto left unspoken…forcing the listener to re-evaluate the entire meaning and intent of the song. Here, Kendrick Lamar reveals the nature of the enigmatic hypocrisy that the speaker has previously confessed to three times in the song without elaborating: that he grieved over the murder of Trayvon Martin when he himself has been responsible for the death of a young black man…Lamar’s ‘I’ is not (or not only) Kendrick Lamar but his community as a whole. This revelation forces the listener to a deeper and broader understanding of the song’s ‘you’, and to consider the possibility that ‘hypocrisy’ is, in certain situations, a much more complicated moral position than is generally allowed, and perhaps an inevitable one.”

 

“The Blacker the Berry” truly is a masterpiece of a song that exhibits Kendrick’s ability to send a message to multiple communities of people in a way that demonstrates his anger and frustration with them and how they should move forward with solutions. He shows how race relations in America are not ok and that there is still a lot of work to be done in society as a whole and within the black community itself.

Kyle Flick

The next song I am going to analyze from Kendrick Lamar’s discography is the track “Money Trees” off the album good kid, m.A.A.d city. I chose this song because of the powerful message it conveys and how important it is in the context of the album and the overarching story and themes Kendrick is talking about.

 

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]

Uh, me and my niggas tryna get it, ya bish (ya bish)

Hit the house lick: tell me, is you wit’ it, ya bish? (ya bish)

Home invasion was persuasive (was persuasive)

From nine to five I know it’s vacant, ya bish (ya bish)

 

To start off the song, Kendrick talks about how him and his friends are trying to get out of Compton or “get it.” Ironically though, he then references “hit the house lick” which means an armed robbery, a call back to the song “The Art of Peer Pressure” where Kendrick and his friends rob a house. If he gets caught, he will never make it out of Compton and instead end up in prison. Then Kendrick describes how they know the house is vacant from 9-5 because the inhabitants are out making an honest living while he is making money by robbing their house.

 

Dreams of livin’ life like rappers do (like rappers do)

Back when condom wrappers wasn’t cool (they wasn’t cool)

I fucked Sherane and went to tell my bros (tell my bros)

Then Usher Raymond “Let It Burn” came on (“Let Burn” came on)

Hot sauce all in our Top Ramen, ya bish (ya bish)

 

Kendrick dreams of living big like the rappers he listens to. But reality strikes back hard when he realizes that he has to deal with things like STDs and the like in Los Angeles in the 90s. Condoms were not popular to use and because of that Kendrick references how he probably got an STD from a girl Sherane he had sex with, I will spare you the details but you can read the lyrics.

 

Park the car, then we start rhymin’, ya bish (ya bish)

The only thing we had to free our mind (free our mind)

Then freeze that verse when we see dollar signs (see dollar signs)

You lookin’ like a easy come-up, ya bish (ya bish)

A silver spoon I know you come from, ya bish (ya bish)

And that’s a lifestyle that we never knew (we never knew)

Go at a reverend for the revenue

 

Freestyling is how Kendrick and his friends coped with their impoverished situation. They freed their minds through rapping. But when they saw something that offered an easy way to get money, like robbing a house, they stopped freestyling and went from doing a positive activity to a negative one. He shows his jealousy for people born wealthy (a silver spoon in their mouth) and expands upon that saying he never knew that lifestyle. This is contrasted with him finishing the verse saying how he would rob a reverend or priest for money.

 

[Hook: Kendrick Lamar]

It go Halle Berry or hallelujah

Pick your poison, tell me what you doin’

Everybody gon’ respect the shooter

But the one in front of the gun lives forever

(The one in front of the gun, forever)

 

To appropriately explain this I will quote Kendrick directly, “You can either go right, or you can go left and get crazy with us. Basically just saying we throw the evils of the world in the air. Now, K. Dot, you can either get with the program or you don’t have to, it’s whatever. Of course, hallelujah being the more good in me and Halle Berry being the actual vice of what’s going down – the lust for the money, the lust for this mission we are about to go on. Pick your poison, tell me what you’re doing. But when you tell me, tell me right now. We ain’t got time to wait.” Kendrick can pick between going the good or the bad route, picking his poison. He then says how the shooter or the murderer, gets temporary acknowledgment, but the victim, the one in front of the gun, will be memorialized forever.

 

And I been hustlin’ all day

This-a-way, that-a-way

Through canals and alleyways, just to say

Money trees is the perfect place for shade

And that’s just how I feel, nah, nah

A dollar might just fuck your main bitch

That’s just how I feel, nah

A dollar might say fuck them niggas that you came with

That’s just how I feel, nah, nah

A dollar might just make that lane switch

That’s just how I feel, nah

A dollar might turn to a million and we all rich

That’s just how I feel

 

Kendrick has been trying to get money all day here with his friends, legally or illegally, it doesn’t matter. All they care about is money and it makes them disregard things like women, friends, loyalty, and his values. And having an abundance of money allows for comfort, or as Kendrick says, the perfect place for shade for him and his homies if they get rich together.

 

[Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar]

Dreams of livin’ life like rappers do (like rappers do)

Bump that new E-40 after school (way after school)

You know, “Big Ballin’ With My Homies” (my homies)

Earl Stevens had us thinkin’ rational (thinkin’ rational)

Back to reality, we poor, ya bish (ya bish)

Another casualty at war, ya bish (ya bish)

Two bullets in my Uncle Tony head (my Tony head)

He said one day I’ll be on tour, ya bish (ya bish)

That Louis Burgers never be the same (won’t be the same)

A Louis belt will never ease that pain (won’t ease that pain)

 

Dreaming of living like the big rappers of their day is what Kendrick and his friends did all the time. But their cloud nine comes crashing down when they realize again that they are poor in Compton. Kendrick realizes that no amount of expensive clothes or wealth can ease the pain of one of his biggest supporters his Uncle Tony being shot to death. His Uncle Tony believed in him and encouraged him and his death is cruel reminder to Kendrick of the harsh realities of Compton and the blight of gang warfare that is on their lives.

 

But I’ma purchase when that day is jerkin’ (that day is jerkin’)

Pull off at Church’s, with Pirellis skirtin’ (Pirellis skirtin’)

Gang signs out the window, ya bish (ya bish)

Hopin’ all of ’em offend you, ya bish (ya bish)

They say your hood is a pot of gold (a pot of gold)

And we gon’ crash it when nobody’s home

 

These lines are all about how Kendrick copes with losing his Uncle. He buys expensive objects and flaunts his Pirellis (expensive tires on a car) to ease the pain. He also goes and flashes his gang affiliation in attempts to offend people and look for a fight to distract him. They also go rob the wealthy neighborhoods, which is what he is referencing with the pot of gold line and gets more money to keep his mind off the pain.

 

[Hook: Kendrick Lamar]

It go Halle Berry or hallelujah

Pick your poison, tell me what you doin’

Everybody gon’ respect the shooter

But the one in front of the gun lives forever

(The one in front of the gun, forever)

And I been hustlin’ all day

This-a-way, that-a-way

Through canals and alleyways, just to say

Money trees is the perfect place for shade

And that’s just how I feel, nah, nah

A dollar might just fuck your main bitch

That’s just how I feel, nah

A dollar might say fuck them niggas that you came with

That’s just how I feel, nah, nah

A dollar might just make that lane switch

That’s just how I feel, nah

A dollar might turn to a million and we all rich

That’s just how I feel

 

The hook repeats to drive home the points about money and what Kendrick is trying to achieve and which path he is going to go down.

 

[Bridge: Anna Wise]

Be the last one out to get this dough? No way!

Love one of you bucket-headed hoes? No way!

Hit the streets, then we break the code? No way!

Hit the brakes when they on patrol? No way!

Be the last one out to get this dough? No way!

Love one of you bucket-headed hoes? No way!

Hit the streets, then we break the code? No way!

Hit the brakes when they on patrol? No way!

 

In the bridge here sung by Anna Wise, she is singing from Kendrick’s perspective and she first touches on how to get money, you always must be the first one there or you will lose out. That goes for anyone in any economic situation. Then she says how Kendrick cannot love women that do not have any long-term goals or are too promiscuous because that is not in line with what Kendrick wants in his future and he considers it a distraction. Lastly, she explains how Kendrick would never break the code of the streets of not snitching, as to protect the community, and how they avoid police at all costs because it could end up with them in prison.

 

[Verse 3: Jay Rock]

Imagine Rock up in them projects

Where them niggas pick your pockets

Santa Claus don’t miss them stockings

Liquors spillin’, pistols poppin’

Bakin’ soda YOLA whippin’

Ain’t no turkey on Thanksgivin’

My homeboy just dome’d a nigga

I just hope the Lord forgive him

 

The next and last verse in the song is done by Jay Rock, another rapper that is signed to the same record label as Kendrick and is from Compton as well. He starts out by talking about his situation as a whole: Santa Claus doesn’t come to Compton, people are spilling liquor on the curb (a sign of respect for the dead) as pistols are being shot, cocaine is being cooked down into crack with baking soda which is why there is no turkey on Thanksgiving (they have to sell drugs to make ends meet, even on Thanksgiving), and one of his homies shot someone but he believes it was justified. This paints a grim picture of Jay Rock’s experiences in Compton growing up in the projects.

 

Pots with cocaine residue

Every day I’m hustlin’

What else is a thug to do

When you eatin’ cheese from the government?

Gotta provide for my daughter n’em

Get the fuck up out my way, bish

Got that drum and I got them bands

Just like a parade, bish

Drop that work up in the bushes

Hope them boys don’t see my stash

If they do, tell the truth

This the last time you might see my ass

 

In order to survive, Jay Rock must sell drugs and use welfare to provide for his family. He says how he is always strapped with a gun and is prepared to defend himself and his stash except if it is the police, where in that case, he tosses the cocaine and runs, hoping he doesn’t get caught and sent to prison for a very long time.

 

From the gardens where the grass ain’t cut

Them serpents lurkin’, Blood

Bitches sellin’ pussy, niggas sellin’ drugs

But it’s all good

Broken promises, steal your watch

And tell you what time it is

Take your J’s and tell you to kick it where a FootLocker is

In the streets with a heater under my Dungarees

Dreams of me gettin’ shaded under a money tree

 

Jay Rock says, “the gardens where the grass ain’t cut” in reference to where he is from in Compton, the notorious Nickerson Gardens project 8 housing, the irony can be understood in the lyrics. He then explains how the Gardens are full of serpents: drug dealers, prostitutes, and other criminals. This rolls into where he warns of backstabbers who will “steal your watch” so they can tell you “what time it is.” He then juxtaposes his position in the streets with a gun in his pants (“heater under my Dungarees”) to his dream of becoming rich and “getting’ shaded under a money tree.”

 

[Hook: Kendrick Lamar]

It go Halle Berry or hallelujah

Pick your poison, tell me what you doin’

Everybody gon’ respect the shooter

But the one in front of the gun lives forever

(The one in front of the gun, forever)

And I been hustlin’ all day

This-a-way, that-a-way

Through canals and alleyways, just to say

Money trees is the perfect place for shade

And that’s just how I feel

 

The hook is repeated again to emphasize the points Kendrick makes about money and leads into the outro skit involving Kendrick’s parents.

 

[Outro]

K’s Mom: Kendrick, just bring my car back, man. I called in for another appointment. I figured you weren’t gonna be back here on time anyways. Look, shit, shit, I just wanna get out the house, man. This man is on one, he feelin’ good as a motherfucker. Shit, I’m tryna get my thing goin’, too. Just bring my car back. Shit, he faded. He feelin’ good. Look, listen to him!

K’s Dad: Girl, girl, I want your body, I want your body, ’cause of that big ol’ fat ass. Girl, girl, I want your body, I want your body, ’cause of that big ol’ fat ass

K’s Mom: See, he high as hell. Shit, and he ain’t even trippin’ off them damn dominoes anymore. Just bring the car back!

K’s Dad: Did somebody say dominoes?

 

To summarize the outro I pulled the description from the Genius article that analyzes this song puts it into the context of the album.

“This is a skit where Kendrick’s mother leaves another voice-mail. She wants her car back. In the background, Kendrick’s dad can be heard. Now that he’s in his groove (seemingly drunk/high), he playfully sings about his desire to handle the “assets” of Kendrick’s mom. This helps transition to the soothing and sexual vibe given off on the next track, “Poetic Justice.” As is to be expected of an album that’s all about the narrative, the story of Kendrick’s parents mirror the overall tone of the album at any given time. Here, as the album continues its descent into despair, we see the same thing shown by Kendrick’s parents — his father’s already drunk/high, and his mother has gone from wanting the van to go to the County building and get food stamps for the family so they can eat to figuring that Kendrick won’t be back in time so she may as well “get her thing going” (go get drunk too). The priorities of the characters shift with the tone as it gets darker and darker. Note again that Kendrick’s dad wants his dominoes. Dominoes is slang for Amphetamines. Kendrick’s mom wants him to come back so he can help her deal with her drug-addicted husband.”

Kyle Flick

The next song I am going to analyze from Kendrick Lamar’s discography is “The Art of Peer Pressure,” off his critically acclaimed album, good kid, m.A.A.d city. This song showcases how powerful peer pressure can be especially as a teenager in Compton. Kendrick tells us a story of how he succumbed to peer pressure from his friends and did something he still regrets.

 

[Part I]

[Intro]

Everybody, everybody, everybody

Everybody sit yo’ bitch-ass down

And listen to this true mothafuckin’ story

Told by Kendrick Lamar on Rosecrans, ya bitch

 

The song starts out with Kendrick setting the scene by explaining how this occurred on Rosecrans Avenue which is known to be one of the most violent streets in Compton.

 

[Chorus]

Smokin’ on the finest dope, ay-ay-ay-ah

Drank until I can’t no mo’, ay-ay-ay-ah

Really I’m a sober soul

But I’m with the homies right now

And we ain’t askin’ for no favors

Rush a nigga quick, then laugh about it later, ay-ay-ay-ah

Really, I’m a peacemaker

But I’m with the homies right now

And Momma used to say (say, say, say, say)

One day it’s gon’ burn you out (woo)

One day it’s gon’ burn you out, out, out

One day it’s gon’ burn you out (you, you, you, you, you, you)

One day it’s gon’ burn you

But I’m with the homies right now

 

Here Kendrick says how normally he does not drink alcohol or smoke weed but since he’s with his friends it is expected that he does what they do too. Also committing crimes and doing violent things is something Kendrick stays away from but when he’s with his friends he finds himself jumping people or beating them up. He then reflects on how his mother used to say that he should not be involved with the streets but since he is now an older teenager her words are not reaching Kendrick as strong anymore. She reminds him that if he continues down this path, he’ll suffer the consequences and get burnt out quickly.

 

[Part II]

[Verse 1]

Me and my niggas four deep in a white Toyota

A quarter tank of gas, one pistol and orange soda

Janky stash box when the federales’ll roll up

Basketball shorts with the Gonzales Park odor

We on the mission for bad bitches and trouble

 

This is where the story the song starts to play out. Kendrick and his friends had been playing basketball all day at Gonzales Park in Compton and are now driving around looking for something to do. We know they are up to no good as Kendrick points out they have their pistol and stash box for drugs.

 

I hope the universe love you today

‘Cause the energy we bringin’ sure to carry away

A flock of positive activists that fill they body with hate

 

Kendrick remarks on how luck needs to be on their side today or else they could get arrested or worse, and probably more likely, shot. Wherever they go they are bringing negative energy, turning people that are normally positive into caricatures of their former selves. An example Lamar gives is how if one of them gets killed, relatives or friends of the victim may act out of character and “fill they body with hate,” which means commit revenge murders.

 

If it’s necessary; bumpin’ Jeezy first album, lookin’ distracted

Speakin’ language only we know, you think it’s an accent

The windows roll down, all I see is a hand pass it

Hotboxin’ like George Foreman grillin’ the masses

Of the workin’ world; we pulled up on a bunch of workin’ girls

And asked them what they workin’ with

Look at me, I got the blunt in my mouth

Usually I’m drug-free, but, shit, I’m with the homies

 

In the car Kendrick and his friends are listening to a Jeezy’s new album, who at the time was a very popular rapper in Compton. The album caused him and his friends to speak in such heavy slang that it was almost unrecognizable from English as they were imitating it. While bumping the music they were hotboxing the car which means they were smoking weed with all the windows up. They pulled up to some prostitutes (workin’ girls) and started hanging out with them and maybe even had sex with them. The irony of this situation is that Kendrick would never normally engage in this behavior like how he “got the blunt in [his] mouth,” but he’s with his friends and this is how he must roll.

 

[Hook 1]

Yeah, nigga, we off a pill and Remy Red

Come through and bust ya head, nigga!

Me and the homies

Sag all the way to the liquor store

Where my niggas pour up 4 and get twisted some more

Me and the homies

I ride for my mothafuckin’ niggas

Hop out, do my stuff, then hop back in

Me and the homies

Matter of fact, I hop out that mothafucka

And be like “doo-doo-doo-doot, doo-doo-doo-doo-doot!”

 

In the hook here, Kendrick and his friends are all both high and drunk and are looking for trouble. The combination of pills and Remy Red makes them very aggressive. They then drive to the liquor store, which in their state of mind is extremely dangerous, to get even more alcohol and get even more wasted. Kendrick says how he will always “ride” for his friends no matter what, implying they are inseparable and do everything together. They dream of one day doing a drive-by while wasted which is why Kendrick is making the gun shot noises.

 

[Verse 2]

It’s 2:30 and the sun is beamin’

Air conditioner broke and I hear my stomach screamin’

Hungry for anything unhealthy

And if nutrition can help me

I’ll tell you to suck my dick, then I’ll continue eatin’

We speedin’ on the 405, passin’ Westchester

You know, the light-skinned girls in all the little dresses

Good Lord, they knew we weren’t from ‘round there

‘Cause every time we down there

We pullin’ out the Boost Mobile SIM cards

Bougie bitches with no extensions

Hood niggas with bad intentions, the perfect combination

 

This is where the story picks back up, Kendrick sets the scene with the afternoon sun beating down on their car without AC. He has the munchies too from smoking earlier, so he wants good snack food, nothing healthy. They decide to drive up to Westchester which is a nicer middle-class area where they look to pick up lightskin and white girls instead of the girls back in Compton with hair extensions. The girls knew they were not from there because of the cheap phones Kendrick and his friends had. Having those phones in that area in that time period meant you were probably from a poorer area or dealing drugs. Kendrick remarks on how the girls seem to love them because they like the hood bad boys, a perfect combination.

 

Before we sparked a conversation

We seen three niggas in colors we didn’t like

Then started interrogatin’

I never was a gangbanger, I mean

I never was stranger to the fonk neither, I really doubt it

Rush a nigga quick and then we laugh about it

That’s ironic, ’cause I’ve never been violent

Until I’m with the homies

 

As they were going to talk to the girls, they saw guys in blues which are Crip colors. Kendrick and his friends were part of the Piru set of the Bloods (red) so they went over and started arguing with them. And to touch on it again, Kendrick is usually not a violent person but when he is with his friends, he finds himself jumping guys in different colors, which is ironic he remarks, thinking back to his father’s gang relations in Chicago.

 

[Hook 2]

(Just ridin’, just ridin’)

Me and the homies

(Bullshittin’, actin’ a fool)

Me and the homies

(Trippin’, really trippin’)

Me and the homies

(Just ridin’, just ridin’, just ridin’)

 

In the next hook of the song, Kendrick reflects on what he is doing that day through the high that the blunt had given him. He is trying to calm himself down by saying they are just riding around doing nothing but deep down he knows that they are doing something he does not like.

 

[Verse 3]

Braggin’ ’bout the episode we just had

A shot of Hennessy didn’t make me feel that bad

I’m usually a true firm believer of bad karma

Consequences from evil will make your past haunt ya

We tryna conquer the city with disobedience

Quick to turn it up, even if we ain’t got the CD in

But Jeezy still playin’

And our attitude is still “nigga, what is you sayin’?”

 

Kendrick does not really feel any remorse or guilt for what they just did. And anything he did feel, he drowns it out with a shot of Hennessey. He is worried though that eventually all his bad karma from his actions will come back to haunt him. But they keep going on with their rambunctious activities and turn it up getting ready for the night and not taking anything from anyone.

 

Pull in front of the house

That we been campin’ out for like two months

The sun is goin’ down as we take whatever we want

 

[Break]

Aye, aye, nigga, jackpot, nigga, pop the safe!

Aye, nigga, I think there’s somebody in this room!

Wait, what?!

Nigga, there’s somebody in this room!

 

[Verse 4]

I hit the back window in search of any Nintendo

DVD’s, plasma-screen TV’s in the trunk

 

Finally, we get to the main part of the story where Kendrick and his friends rob a house they had been staking out for two months. The sun is going down and it is the end of the day and they assume that no one is there but, as it turns out, someone is in one of the rooms. Kendrick continues to take valuables from the house despite someone being there which was a dangerous decision. They quickly flee after loading up their trunk with the stolen stuff.

 

We made a right, then made a left, then made a right

Then made a left, we was just circlin’ life

My mama called: “Hello? What you doin’?” — “Kickin’ it.”

I shoulda told her I’m probably ‘bout to catch my first offense

With the homies

But – they made a right, then made a left

Then made a right, then another right

One lucky night with the homies

 

The cops were called, and they ended up in a chase, they turned right and left and then a few more times and eventually got away from the police. Kendrick then says that, “…the endless turning is also a metaphor depicting the lack of direction [he] and his friends have: they’re making thoughtless decisions and not making any real progress in life.” That quote is from the Genius article pertaining to this song. His mother then calls, and Kendrick must lie to her to save face again. Instead he should have told her that she may have had to come pick him up from jail. He reflects on his lucky night and how it could have gone so wrong.

 

[Outro]

K. Dot, you faded, hood?

Yeah, we finally got that nigga faded

I think he hit the wrong blunt though

Ooh, which one?

Well, which one he talkin’ about?

I was finna hit the one with the shenanigans in it

I pray he ain’t hit that

Nah, that nigga straight, he ain’t hit that one

Got the shenanigans? Give that nigga the shenanigans!

Nigga, I think we should push back to the city, fo’ real doe

Nigga, for what?

What that nigga— what’s that Jeezy song say, nigga?

“Last time I checked I was the man on these streets!”

Yeah, yeah, that shit right there

I’m tryna be the nigga in the street

There he go. Man, you don’t even know how the shit go

Look, here’s the plan, luv

We gon’ use the kickback as a alibi, wait ’til the sun go down, roll out, complete the mission, drop K. Dot off at his mama van, at the park

‘Cause I know he tryna fuck on Sherane tonight

That’s what he’s not gon’ do

Then we all gon’ meet back at the block at about 10:30

That’s straight, but we should meet up around 12

I’m tryna fuck on somethin’ too

Nigga, sit yo’ dumb-ass back down!

Nigga, you ain’t doin’ shit tonight!

Matter of fact, nigga, get in the mothafuckin’ car!

We finna get active!

 

The song ends with a skit depicting what Kendrick and his friends are doing after the robbery. They surmise that they are going to go drop off Kendrick at his van so he can go either home or to his girlfriend Sherane. They figured that since Kendrick was way too out of it from hitting a blunt earlier (we learn now that it was laced with shenanigans aka cocaine), they were going to let him go then go back out and continue getting in more trouble.

“The Art of Peer Pressure” is such a classic song because of the way it artfully depicts peer pressure both in broad terms (drinking and smoking) and more personal terms relating to Kendrick (committing a robbery). This song is another way that Kendrick Lamar showcases his talent with the pen and turns words into a beautiful story about something we can all relate to in some way while not turning away from how his past shaped him.