This slow-burning track is a layered opus that features several revelations pertaining to Kendrick Lamar's personal life. The song is a portrait of an artist terrified of his mom, losing his life and failing in his career.
The song is split into three verses, which find the Compton MC learning to cope with fear at ages 7, 17 and 27. Before the first verse there is a recording of a call from Lamar's bible-fearing cousin Carl Duckworth who refers to the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. This voicemail is only on the streaming version of the song. On his track, "Yah," Kendrick references this voicemail and says he's an Israelite. He explains that he identifies the suffering of Black Americans with the trials and tribulations of the Old Testament's Children of Israel.
The theme of suffering is continued with the bridge, which is voiced by Charles Edward Sydney Isom Jr. It is a cry to God asking why he is cursed. It ends with Lamar speaking in reverse bemoaning "the pain in my heart carrying the burden for the struggle."
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