On the 23rd of March 2017, Kendrick Lamar dropped the hard part 4, the fourth installment in a series of singles that Kendrick now uses to tease upcoming projects on the way. In this song, Kendrick teases this new project by talking about his influence on the music industry and how he's still the greatest rapper alive. Basically, nothing you wouldn't expect from Kendrick, right? However, nobody knew that what Kendrick had for us was his darkest project to date. Filled with religious ideals and mysterious structures hidden within the tracklist, Dam tells of the twisted journey of a man who's cursed without really knowing why. As he retrospects on his past, his rap career, and his many sins, he realizes all of this ties back to one terrifying thought. Being damned to hell. If there is a rap album that keeps intriguing me to this day, even if it's been out for a couple of years now, it's got to be Damn. Believe it or not, this is the album that got me into hip-hop. Before that, I didn't listen to rap. And this album did the trick for me. Not only because of the great music on there, but because there was clearly something special about this album that I didn't fully understand. Right from the bat, you're met with a pretty odd track list with all songs titled after only one word followed by a dot, like the title. Damn. You'll notice some of these songs have religious connotations. Some of them even being related to the seven deadly sins. The lyrics are pretty cryptic, too, for the most part, with a ton of repeating lines throughout the album, like a line reminding us constantly that what happens on Earth stays on Earth. And the craziest part is as a listener by making certain choices you can basically impact how the story plays out on this record. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning. A rather strange beginning because the story on Dam starts with the death of Kendrick Lamar. is a wickedness. It's a weakness. The first song on the album, Blood, tells a rather simple story. So, I was taking a walk the other day. Kendrick is walking down a street somewhere and stumbles upon a blind woman. Now, who is this blind woman? It's not very clear as of now. However, Kendrick notices that she seems kind of frustrated. It's like she had dropped something on the sidewalk and was trying to find it. But, you know, she's blind, so it's a little harder. Kendrick still decides to help her, though. He just offers to help look for that thing she might have lost. But then the woman replies with something very strange. She replied, "Oh yes, you have lost something. You've lost your life." And Kendrick dies suddenly from a gunshot. So now you're like, "What the [ __ ] is happening?" Right? Is Kendrick dead for the rest of the album? Who killed him? Was it the lady or was it like a setup? Some gang planted this lady there just to kill Kendrick when he passed. Well, considering we're just entering the album and that this story is definitely one of the most interesting pieces of the puzzle on this album, I'm going to come back to it in a bit, but for now, let's turn our focus to actually the very first lines on this album. The song Blood starts with probably the most important lines of the whole album without which it wouldn't really make sense as a whole. First of all, here Kendrick introduces the two main themes in Damn, wickedness and weakness. And these two themes will constantly oppose themselves to each other in this album. While weakness means the state or condition of lacking strength or a quality or feature regarded as a disadvantage or fault, wickedness means the quality of being evil or morally wrong. This also makes sense with the front and back cover on this record. The front cover represents weakness as Kendrick is in a submissive position. This sounds wrong. I mean, look at him. We barely see his face like he's almost bowing or something, but the back cover is more about wickedness because Kendrick is surrounded by darkness and opposed to light, right? In Christianity, light represents the good and darkness is evil. He seems also pretty much ready to beat up someone with that face. So, this cover weakness and this cover wickedness. And on bloodlood, Kendrick presents these themes as kind of a choice to make. Are we weak or are we evil? And this choice will result in an outcome. You decide, are we going to live or die? So, we already know what's related to these themes. If you choose either one of them, you're going to either live or die. There is clearly some sort of secret meaning or mystery behind this song. And Kendrick even confirmed it. Starting with Blood. Blood. It is the one of the most interesting pieces on the record. Is it the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? I can't tell you that. That's the whole thing. Come on. I got I got I got I got DNA is the second song on DAM and it acts as a proper introduction to the character of Kendrick on this album. So to put him in context, he's a wellestablished rapper on the top of his game, winning awards after another. It's almost too perfect. And it's no surprise, right? Because he had just released a Pimpa Butterfly, which is already considered one of the best albums of all time. But on this song, he's almost too perfect. He's so [ __ ] confident on here. And this makes you question the timeline of events here. Why is Kendrick being killed on the first track, right? Considering Kendrick is talking about himself in the past when he says, "I was taking a walk the other day." It could be like Kendrick is telling a story he made up because he didn't die for real. Or maybe a theory that's a little more out there could be that it's a life flashback. He sees his life pass in front of his eyes before he dies, right? Maybe, but it's way too early to tell. DNA. In the first verse, Kendrick tells us 23 things that are in his DNA. The same number as the number of chromosome pairs in the human DNA. There's a quite some negative stuff here. Poison, pain, kill [ __ ] and evil, but Kendrick still has some good in him. He's loyal. He's joyous. He's also peaceful. So, uh, yeah, a lot of things in his DNA. But let's take a step back and look at these songs as a whole rather than focus on specific lines because it's really easy to get lost when you're analyzing a Kendrick Lamar record. You can draw meaning from every [ __ ] word in the song, which I'm trying not to do too much. Remember the most important line in this album. Is it wickedness? Is it weakness? What if we took both of these themes and applied them to the songs directly? In other words, if you had to choose, would a song like DNA be more associated with weakness or wickedness? Wickedness, right? You can just look at the list of things Kendrick has in his DNA. Most of them could be associated with wickedness in general. evil, war, kill [ __ ] money, murder. I think these are good examples of wicked things. Or just how Kendrick raps on this song. He seems angry on hedge like he's ready to throw a punch at anybody. So DNA has got to be about wickedness. But that's where it gets interesting. What do you think blood is about? Well, weakness obviously he [ __ ] dies on the song. And if you had to guess which one of those two would be the next song about Yeah. is the third track on Jam. And right off the bat, you'll notice this song is way less energetic than DNA. You'll see this song is way more pessimistic and vulnerable. So, it seems that every song on DAM alternates between wickedness and weakness. And keep in mind, you decide, are we going to live or die? H, there's clearly something here. This song is basically a moment where Kendrick is reflecting on his massive fame. Even though he's one of the best rappers worldwide, he's worried he's going to burn out. He's tired of interviews and news talking about him. In the hook, Kendrick says Kendrick's radars are buzzing, meaning he's starting to be aware of that and to realize what negative effects this has on him. If we look at the title, you'd think yah is just an abbreviation of the expression. Yeah. And that's what I thought until I searched it up. Yah is actually referring to Yahweh, the closest estimation to God's actual name in Hebrew, which you know is kind of fitting because there's so many religious themes in this album. [Music] Wait, what did he just say? He wasn't religious in an album that's literally packed with religious themes. This is actually where we learn a crucial thing about Kendrick on this album. Kendrick isn't religious in any way, but he does identify as an Israelite. So, what's an Israelite? According to the Bible, Israelites are God's chosen people, descendants of Israel. And they're often linked to the book of Deuteronomy where a verse from this book states that these people, the Israelites, will be cursed with confusion, frustration, and illnesses until they follow God's will. Now, what does this mean in this context? Well, we learn a bit later in this album that Israelites are basically all people of color according to Kendrick's cousin Carl. The so-called blacks, Hispanic, and Native American Indians, we are the Israelites according to the Bible. The children Carl says that all the [ __ ] up [ __ ] that's been happening around the world and especially in America with all the racism, he provides a reason for that. why this is all happening. It's because to him, people of color are God's chosen people, Israelites. And until all those people follow God's true commandments, they're going to be cursed with all the bad [ __ ] that's been happening. Right? So, according to Carl, Kendrick is also cursed as an Israelite. But Kendrick doesn't give a [ __ ] Like Kendrick is like, "Oh yeah, God is cursing me, right? Me, the biggest rapper ever, right? Good joke." And even if Kendrick is feeling a little down on himself in Yah, Kendrick just decides to focus even more on his career, staying in his element, new kung fu, Kenny, ain't nobody playing for me. element starts with Kid Capri shouting these lines which will reoccur throughout the album. He says, "Ain't nobody praying for me." Which fits within the religious theme of the last song. But then he says, "Y'all know what happens on earth stays on earth." Which seems like a pretty important piece of the puzzle to me. I mean, not only this phrase is stamped in the jewel case for the CD edition of Damn, but it apparently was the original name of the album before it was changed to Damn. So, what does it mean? Well, when you hear it, it's kind of reminiscent of an expression everyone knows. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And it means like if you go to Vegas and gamble your life savings on drugs and hookers, uh, nobody has to know and they won't. So if you take it in the context of this album, Kendrick realizes, well, nobody's praying for me and no matter what I do on this earth, uh, I'm going to end up damned anyway. So why does it matter? I don't give a [ __ ] I don't give a [ __ ] I don't give a I don't give a [ __ ] I don't give a [ __ ] Element is a song about Kendrick asserting himself as the best rapper in the game, even more than on DNA. And this is a direct response to what happened on Yah with Kendrick learning he's apparently cursed. He doesn't give a [ __ ] He's a successful rapper. What's going to happen? Right? Anyway, Kendrick is shouting out loud that nobody is praying for him as kind of a flex, right? A rapper flex. [ __ ] my grandma's dead, so ain't nobody praying for me. I'm on your head. But strangely, Kendrick comes to the realization that wait, is there really nobody praying for me? The transition from element to feel is a very important one because in element, Kendrick mentioned nobody prayed for him, but he didn't give a [ __ ] However, the first few seconds going into feel show us that yes, Kendrick gave a [ __ ] One thing very interesting about those very first seconds in the song, you'll notice a female voice is saying the same phrase as Kendrick alongside him. [Music] Nobody praying for me. This is the voice of Chelsea Ble who works ANR for Colombia Records and is a part of Kendrick's team of managers and producers. And this is to show that even in the music industry, nobody prays for him. Nobody's really loyal to him. Not even in his team. Nobody pray for me. This is crucial because in Element, Kendrick takes refuge in his rap career to escape the fact that he's apparently cursed. But when he realizes that he can't hide there anymore, that's when Kendrick opens up about what he really feels. The song is pretty straightforward. It's almost all written in the template of I feel like blank. So, what does Kendrick feel like? I feel like my shoulders. I feel like I'm losing my focus. Kendrick feels like nobody's looking out for him, obviously, but he also feels like isolating himself from everyone. He also talks about his place in the music industry. How when he's on that stage, he feels like the best out there, but he's all alone in that world. And everybody in the industry are just enemies to him. The villain is toxic. I feel like I'm boxing demons. But see how every song compliments each other using the wickedness or weakness theory on element wickedness. Kendrick addresses his place in the music industry as he's the best one in the game and [ __ ] on everyone else. However, on feel, Kendrick still talks about the music industry and how he's the best, but also how this industry he dominates is full of toxicity, therefore showing weakness again. But the most crucial thing we can take away from this song is that Kendrick might be cursed for real. Like Deuteronomy says, he's confused. He's frustrated. He can't sleep. He can't breathe. So before in yah an element it was like I'm not religious enough so God's going to curse me. Oo spooky. But on this song Kendrick realizes wait what if it's [Music] real. Loyalty is a direct response to feel in a way. [Music] Nobody prays for him. So, he wants loyal people close to him who are going to pray for him. Basically, there's also a video for loyalty, which honestly adds so much to the song and the album. So, I can't talk about this song without mentioning the music video. First of all, the video is filled with imagery that we could take as anything really. We got this dog barking in the beginning with red eyes, a portion of a street with red making a form of cross. Then we have Kendrick literally being murdered by Rihanna while blindfolded. Maybe as a test of loyalty, but then Kendrick and Rihanna fall in love after he beats up a dude. And we get this playing. [Music] We also get a scene with a Kendrick dressed in black kidnapping another Kendrick dressed in white. That Kendrick is then choked to death with a bag. Maybe because he wasn't loyal. Keep in mind, we had two Kendricks on the covers, too. Maybe something to think about. But the thing the video illustrates the best is how only the most loyal people get into Kendrick's inner circle with all these people trying to approach Kendrick but then sinking into the ground. All in all, Loyalty is a song about Kendrick trying to fix his problem of nobody praying for him by only having the most loyal people beside him. That's going to get your kid, but Pride's going to be the pride starts with another interesting song phrase. And when you first hear it, it's kind of hard to decipher the real meaning here. He says, "Lo's going to get you killed, but pride also." Like, what? But there's clearly a distinction. Kendrick makes here between killed and death, body and spirit. Basically, he says love's going to put you in the ground, but pride will infect your mind and damage the ones around you. That's why he says pride is going to be the death of you and me. This here is extremely significant especially for the story because it brings a whole new meaning to the song Blood where if you remember Kendrick is killed by a gunshot after trying to help an elderly blind woman. Maybe Kendrick didn't literally die from being shot. Maybe it's his spirit that was shot or wounded. After all, the lady says he's lost his life by being too focused or blinded by the success of his career. Pride is considered as a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements. Hence, Kendrick's pride is his rap career. Obviously, with the past few songs and everything, you can tell that pride is slowly infecting his mind with the fact he's the greatest rapper of all time. I mean, he can't stop talking about it. DNA, yah, and element were just about his rap career. Pride is also considered like the worst possible sin in the Bible because pride makes you feel like you're more worthy and above everyone else, even God. And in Christianity, nobody's supposed to feel superior to God. Right? In the song, Kendrick talks about struggling with pride in his rap career. I don't love people enough to put my faith in man. I put my faith in these lyrics. He's literally living through his rap career. He just said he cares more about his lyrics than other people. [Music] In the hook, Kendrick mentions he wasn't taught to share and care. But in another life, in that perfect world, maybe he was there. Maybe in that perfect alternate universe, there's a Kendrick that cares about people and shares what he's gained. But then in the hook, Kendrick starts doubting there's even one universe in which he doesn't have pride. [Music] is the eighth track on down and is a braggadocious rap song where Kendrick takes shots at other people but also at himself. By the way, fun fact, the instrumental for this song was actually this close to being given to Gucci Mane, which would have been a [ __ ] disaster. But anyway, the first verse is organized like a classic braggadocious rap. He's not really taking shots at anyone else. He's just talking about himself and how great he is, how he's the best rapper of all time. Who would have guessed? sit down. But then the chorus comes and Kendrick is basically reflecting on what he just said, thinking to himself, I got to be humble about that. Humble is the turning point in the album, and it's where we enter what I like to call the healing phase of this album. It's really where it becomes evident how the transitions between the tracks of the album are crucial to understanding what's happening. The only way Kendrick can overcome his biggest sin, pride, is with humbleness. And this is hard for Kendrick. So hard that he can't help himself to not throw shots at other people, too. In the second verse, it's like, [ __ ] I got to be humble, but uh you too. I mean, it's not for nothing that we hear Rihanna say this in loyalty. Still, Kendrick manages to get rid of one of his biggest sins. But what about the [Music] others? Lust is the ninth. Ninth. Water. Water. I need some water. That's [ __ ] funny. Lust is the ninth song on dam and another one of the seven deadly sins. Lust is considered as a very strong sexual desire. But as a sin, it's considered more as when sexual pleasure is sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes. Anyway, this song fits its title pretty well because it's a really sexual song. Just looking at the hook as blood rushed my favorite vein. Gee, I wonder where that is. Let me put the head in. I respect the cat. I promise. Just a touch. Dude, I don't know what's wrong with me. Okay. I've listened to this album probably more times than I've jerked off in my life. No, that's not true. No, but I've listened to this album so many times and I've never picked up on that. Like, what the [ __ ] is wrong with me? Anyway, the first verse of the song is telling the routine of a man and a woman who just live for short types of pleasure. Wake up in the morning and just go to sleep to do it all over again. The second verse though tells us of the routine of Kendrick, a rapper who's stuck in his ways. He's telling himself he needs to change, but at the end of the day, he doesn't. call is 11:30. Did this before. I promise myself I'd be an hour early. This is another example of Kendrick exposing his weaknesses. He also states he's not only been lusting over sexual pleasures, but now fame and money. One more interesting thing is that Kendrick now seems to fear God because of his lust. Let's turn into fear. In James 4:4 says, "Friend of the world is enemy of the Lord." This is actually the first time in this album Kendrick talks about a fear of being damned by God. And I can't help to think that this is so [ __ ] interesting because like Kendrick is supposedly cursed by God in feel track five, but nowhere in that song he mentions he's scared of God. Right? It's only when he starts his healing process that he starts fearing God. It's like he's slowly becoming more religious just because he fears what God could do to him, which is just crazy to me. You'll see this sentiment of fear will only grow stronger in the next tracks. He's slowly starting to drift more towards weakness. Right from the start, we can tell that there's a strong connection between love and the last track, Lust. Love is the literal opposite of lust. And on this song, love is the main subject. Kendrick mainly talking about his relationship with his wife, Whitney Alfred. Although Kendrick still emphasizes he values one thing more than love, loyalty. trust me to love me. This makes a whole lot of sense, especially if we look at the music video for Loyalty where it's basically a love story between Kendrick and Rihanna. Also, remember the two Kendricks from the Loyalty video where one chokes another one to death? Well, they kind of reappear in the video for love with the one wearing black being happy and in love and the one wearing white being unhappy and in a sort of toxic relationship. Note that in the beginning, Kendrick presents a choice again, like in Blood. Love or lust, wickedness or weakness. Kendrick goes from lust to love on this album. Obviously with the transition from the track Lust to the track love. Also the Kendrick and Black represents what's happening right now in the story. He overcome his lust with love. So why is there another Kendrick doing the complete opposite? He obviously chose love in the end. Why why do you need to mention it? Well, dude, I love doing this. me knowing something you don't know yet. There's a big reveal coming soon, trust me. So, it seems that Kendrick overcomes his pride with humbleness and overcomes his lust with love. He's letting go of his wickedness, this evil side of him by getting rid of all his sins. Kung Fu Kenny. Ah, there he is. Kung Fu Kenny. XXX is all about painting a very poor picture of America in general. It's not for nothing that the first verse is cut off in the intro, showing a poor understanding of America's problems. The first verse talks about the mindset of young black men growing up in poverty and crimeinfested areas. Basically saying that in harsh situations, they're going to find a way to survive. But if you take the gratitude from them, they'll become ruthless and willing to kill. Kung Fu Kenny, am I right? Then we get introduced to a character by the name of Johnny. Johnny, but instead wants to be a rapper like his big cousin. Looking back on it from today, it's very likely the character Johnny is actually Baby Keem. Kendrick Lamar is Baby Keem's older cousin. So Johnny wants to be rapper. That's Baby Keem. Anyway, in the second verse, Kendrick gets a call from a friend who says his son has been killed because he had some kind of money problems and asks Kendrick for advice. kill my son. On the same phone call, Kendrick says that if anybody touched his family, it would result in him killing that person and openly admitting, "Bitch, I did that." This also ties into Kendrick's loyalty, right, towards his family. I'd rather you trust me than to love me. But then Kendrick abruptly ends the call by saying he has to speak at a convention. before I hit this lap. Matter of fact, I'm about to speak at this convention. Call you back. [Music] All right, kids. We going to talk about gun control. Pray for me. Then we get the chorus by YouTube, which says a lot on its own. This country is to be a sound of drum. This first line is probably referring to the US in general, which is not only associated to a place, but also an idea, the American dream. However, he then follows with the phrase, [Music] you look around. Even with this American dream, people are still turning a blind eye to corruption, gun violence, and just evil acts in the country, which are huge issues, especially in America. [Music] In the final verse, Kendrick addresses these issues in the form of a convention speech. This also ties in with that verse from Pride where Kendrick talks about a perfect world. Right? The way Kendrick talks about his country is the complete opposite of a perfect world. But now if we go back to the title of the song, the first thing that would come to mind is that this title is like censored, right? Or inappropriate, like X-rated. And there's a line in the song that supports that. But since this song is mainly about America, this title could also be USA just censored or X-rated. And by realizing all of this, Kendrick can't help but be afraid of the future. Fear is the 12th song on Dam and my personal favorite. Fear starts with a voicemail from Carl Duckworth, Kendrick's cousin, who calls him because he's heard that Kendrick has been struggling with the fact that nobody prays for him. I know you feel like, you know, people ain't been praying for you, but you have to understand, we are cursed people. Carl explains that the reason Kendrick feels this way is because they're cursed. And this confirms what Kendrick thought on Yah. Remember Deuteronomy 28-28 says, "The Lord shall smack thee with madness and blindness." Carl quotes Deuteronomy 28. It's a common passage used by Hebrew Israelites to explain why African-Ameans and other minorities experience so many atrocities from slavery, disease, and poverty to lack of civil rights. Hebrew Israelites believe that Africans, Latinos, and Native Americans need to embrace their true identity as God's people. in order for their punishment to subside. So until Kendrick follows these commandments, he's going to feel cursed. Why God? Why God do I got to suffer? But then we get a verse from Kendrick sung backwards. This is actually the verse that was just sung normally before that. But this is there for a reason, guys. That means we're going back in time. [Music] In 1994, Kendrick was 7 years old, living with his father and mother in a rather abusive setting. I beat your ass. Kendrick's worst fear as a kid was his mother violently punishing him for his actions. Whether it was for crying in public or him jumping on the couch, his mother would tell him, "Well, do that and I'll beat your ass." As Kendrick's mother becomes more and more aggressive with time, she says, "I beat your ass. You better run to your father. I beat your ass." As Kendrick's father is the only one who could protect him from his mother. In fact, Kendrick's father was really around during his youth and he looked up to him a lot. [ __ ] you going to fear me if you don't fear no one else. This concludes the first verse out of three on the song fear. Each verse representing the worst fear of Kendrick at a certain age. The second verse, however, takes place 10 years later. In 2004, Kendrick was 17 years old, still living in Compton, and taking part in gangs and illegal activity. Like in the first verse, Kendrick only mentions one fear, death. Anonymous. I'll probably die with promises. Kendrick is terrified of dying from really anything with each line speculating on a way he could die at that age. Maybe it's going to be from being shot at by police officers or maybe just because he's young and living in a high crime rate neighborhood. This concludes the second verse on fear. And now we get to the last verse once more 10 years [Music] later. In 2014, Kendrick was 27 years old and was working on his album Tab. With this newfound fame, Kendrick not only had one fear, but many, many more. When I was 27, I grew accustomed to more fear. Among others, his biggest fear was losing it all as a famous rapper. Remember, Kendrick thinks he's cursed, so he doubts why God would lend him all this fame and money, thinking it's just a joke. All this money is God. And he finally says this. Damn. This is literally referring to the first line of the album. Kendrick wonders on this album if he's still alive because of fear and weakness or because of his rap career and his wickedness. Keep that in mind. Until you come back to these commandments, we're going to feel this way. We're going to be under this curse. All in all, Fear is an eyeopening track for Kendrick where he reflects on previous events in his life and decides to finally change his ways. I love you, family, and I pray for you. God bless you. Shalom. God is a direct response to fear and especially that voicemail. In order to not feel cursed anymore, Kendrick chose to follow God and his commandments. In other words, he chose weakness. And now I'm not personally saying that uh being religious or anything is a sign of weakness. This is just what Kendrick implies on this song for many reasons. Following the weakness/wickedness structure, God is a weakness song. Also, it's interesting that when you read the last two tracks together, it forms the phrase fear God. And that's not for nothing because there's a sense of weakness and fear coming from Kendrick on this song. Kendrick is repeatedly saying, "Don't judge me." before mentioning a bad thing he's done in his life. This contrasts so much with, for example, a song like Ky where he's like, "Get money, get bitches," you know? And now this is his way of saying, uh, God, I know I've been bad, but please don't send me to hell. So, going back to that line in fear, wondering if I'm living through fear or living through rap. Kendrick is finally telling us he lives through fear. Fear of God. Is it over? Did we just answer that question? Wickedness or weakness? You're like, "Oh, well, it's weakness. We've we've done it. We've solved it." I guess that's that's what Kendrick chose in the end. He chose salvation. You decide, right? He chose salvation. But what if and that's where this album becomes [ __ ] mind-blowing. What if he was never meant to choose and instead you were meant to choose for him? It was always me verse the world [Music] until I found it's me. On Duckworth, the last track of this album, Kendrick realizes that even though he always thought his biggest obstacles in life came from other people, like being cursed for example, he now realizes his biggest obstacle was him. this whole time. We going to put it in reverse. But anyway, let's get to the core of the song, which unlike what you would think, is not Kendrick just healing or tying up loose ends in a nice bow to end this album. It's actually just a story, a story of two men, one named Anthony and the other named Ducky. Anthony was the oldest of a family of seven, a wellrespected and calm guy, but his life quickly turned into a life of crime. At the age of 15, he was already drug dealing and he quickly climbed in the business and got assigned to larger and larger amounts of drugs to sell. And that's when he was approached by cops. The cops were suspecting he was part of some illegal activity and told him, "You know, you seem like a good kid. maybe he could help us out as a confidential informer. Go in deep cover, figure out what's the whole operation. However, Anthony was loyal, so he said no and just went back to KFC to get something to eat with his homies. At this KFC, there was a guy that worked the window there. That guy was Ducky, a rather nice and social guy. He also came from the streets but now had a young son. He was actually working pretty hard cuz he had a goal to send his son to college obviously as it's pretty expensive especially in the US. But he's not the only one who needs money. Anthony does too but he didn't plan to work for it. He just planned to rob it. Rob the KFC. However, Ducky was aware of that. Not only he came from the streets, but Anthony had robbed the place a few years ago and even knew he shot a random customer there. Of course, he doesn't want Anthony to rob it again and maybe risk his life for that job. He's got a son. He needs to go to college, right? But at the same time, he's just a drive-thru worker. What is he going to do about it? That's when Ducky thought, I'm going to try and get on their good side. See, Anthony came often to that particular KFC, and every time he went to the drive-thru, Ducky thought about it and said, "I got to do something about this." So, he just thought, "Well, um, have some free chicken, extra biscuits on the house." Every time he went through. And believe it or not, that worked. Anthony became so fond of Ducky that in the end, Anthony didn't even rob the place. That man, Ducky, was actually Kendrick's father. And 20 years later, when Kendrick was signed to Anony's label, Top Dog Entertainment, and entered a recording studio with his son, Kendrick, just to see Anthony sitting there again. They couldn't help but burst out laughing cuz they realized something. If Kendrick's father didn't do what he did and Anthony had robbed the KFC, killing everyone inside, including Ducky, Anthony may have been arrested for murder and never could have started his label, Top Dog Entertainment. So Kendrick would have never been a rapper and would have gone further into the cycle of gang crime and death that he barely avoided. Even though it's a [ __ ] insane story, uh why include it as the final track on Dam? Well, when you think about it, this story breaks the curse, the curse of Deuteronomy. It breaks the curse of Deuteronomy that Kendrick is so affected by. These two guys, Anthony and Ducky, found a way to navigate a situation without conflict without acts of wickedness. Ducky and Anony's good karma made Kendrick success. Kendrick became Kendrick Lamar the rapper because this curse of violence was broken for once. And honestly, it could end there, right? Kendrick has decided to live in the light of God, even if it means living in weakness because he realizes that wicked acts could have forbidden him from being who he is today. It could end there, but it doesn't. I grew up without a father and die in a gunfight. And then we hear a gunshot followed by the song Duckworth just reversed. But it doesn't end there. So I was taking a walk the other day. What the [ __ ] is happening? We know reversed audio on fear was used to rewind back in time, right? So maybe it's a way to illustrate Kendrick's uh life passing him by after he's killed, but why would he be killed? The whole album is maybe like a flashback after he died. Uh but still, it doesn't make sense. Let's hear what Soundwave, Kendrick's closest producer, has to say about this album. The album is half the battle. The real battle is making everything cohesive. That's the most challenging part. But the funnest part for me and Kendrick, we'll sit there for hours eliminating songs that are so amazing because they don't fit. It has to make sense. It has to be a perfect circle. It has to connect. About a week after the release of Damn, fans started to pick up on some clues left on the last track of the album, Duckworth, especially about the concept of reverse things. We're going to put it in reverse. So, what if we played the album in reverse, like the audio, for example? Okay, never mind. There's no way it's that. It just sounds unintelligible. Okay, but what if we took all the tracks and just went through them in the reverse order? At first, that sounds so stupid. Like, that would be like watching a movie uh backwards or just reading a story from the end to the start. It wouldn't make sense. Right. Right. Well, Damn is not just a story. It's two themes, two concepts, two stories. We've heard one story by now. Kendrick's path to salvation, the one where Kendrick is cursed, then finds God and decides to live in weakness. But what about wickedness? At the end of Duckworth, we're left with a chilling possibility. What if Kendrick's father died? That gunshot at the end of the song is not Kendrick dying to show how the album is cyclical or something. It's Kendrick's father being murdered by Anthony. It's not for nothing that a few months later Kendrick released a collector's edition for Dam with the same songs but just in the reverse order. Is it wickedness? Is it weakness? You decide. Are we gonna live or die? By playing the album in either direction, you get an entirely different story. In the reverse one, it's an alternate timeline where Kendrick's father is killed in the first track Duckworth and the rest of the album is answering that very question. If Kendrick's father had died, what would have Kendrick [Applause] [Music] become? On the reverse track list, if Ducky dies on the first track, the next track would be God. This order changes everything because right from the start Kendrick is religious unlike the normal tracklist where in Ya for example Kendrick says he ain't about no religion. We can assume this is a younger Kendrick as his father just died. Kendrick is also getting introduced to the world of crime on the streets. [Music] See how these songs are so carefully crafted. It's the same [ __ ] song, but just in what order you play it, it takes an entire new meaning. In the normal track list, Kendrick has just implemented godly ways in his life. So, it's a way of saying, "I used to be more in the streets, but now I can't afford to do that anymore." While on the reverse track list, it's a way for young Kendrick who just had his dad killed to say, "I'm starting to be on the streets and I need money." But it's not just in the lyrics that this makes sense. It's also in the transition between [Music] songs. With the death of his father, fear takes on an entirely new meaning. The voice call from Carl where he says, "Nobody has prayed for him. That could refer directly to the death of his dad." If you remember, the verses on this song are separated into three ages. Kendrick at 7, at 17, and at 27. And it's interesting that Kendrick's father is only mentioned in the first verse where Kendrick is 7 years old. you better not run to your father because at 17 or 27 in this theoretical timeline, he's dead. This is also an example of how transitions are crucial in this album. In the normal track list, Kendrick goes from fear to God, as in he fears God. He lives in weakness. But in this one, he doesn't fear God. He fears what's happening to his country, America. [Music] XXX is the first appearance of Kung Fu Kenny in this new track list, but it's also the first time we see a glimpse of what Kendrick is becoming as a result of not having a father. If you remember, this song has a friend of Kendrick calling him to say his son has been murdered. And Kendrick's response was a [ __ ] Without having a father figure, Kendrick is having more and more violent thoughts, wicked thoughts, and thinking about getting into a life of crime. He's slowly becoming kung fu Kenny. And now we get to love, a relatively nice song talking about what Kendrick would do for his significant other and how he loves them. Remember the beginning of the song? Love or lust. And the normal track list, Kendrick is on a path to salvation. He goes from lust, a purely sexual desire, to love, a heartfelt connection. But on this tracklist, it's the opposite. In this track list, instead of getting rid of sins, he's committing sins. Hence why this is Kendrick's path to wickedness. I need some water. Kendrick needs to be cleansed of his sins. He needs water. Holy water. But an interesting thing to notice as we get further into the tracks. We get further away from God. Literally the track God. It's like Kendrick leaves his godly ways behind and weaknesses behind, like love, for example, because love gets you killed and slips further into wickedness. This is Kendrick's path to [Music] wickedness. As humble in the original tracklist was about Kendrick being humble, this time it's about others being humble to Kendrick. Remember how this song felt a bit like of a disc, right? And even in the video, you can see that. That's because here it's not about being humble yourself. It's about others being humble to Kendrick. And that shows even more when you get to [Music] Pride. If you remember, Pride was a song about being too satisfied with your own achievements. And that's the biggest sin you could do because you're feeling superior to everyone, even God. When pride comes, then comes disgrace. But with the humble is wisdom. In this instance, Kendrick doesn't go from pride to humbleness. He goes from humbleness to pride. He just gains pride. [Music] Remember that video for Loyalty? A lot of things now make sense with this new track list. For example, the fact we hear Pride in the video since it's the previous song that was played. It makes more sense in this instance. But also remember that scene with the two Kendricks, one wearing black and one wearing white. This could be the two different possible versions of Kendrick meeting face to face. the one who's lost his father slowly getting into a life of crime and the one who still has a father and is a successful rapper. But why would the one in black kill the one in white? Well, this Kendrick is on a path of weakness, submitting himself to God, and this one is on a path of wickedness. So, it's no surprise that the weakness Kendrick gets murdered, he's weak. This is really the part of the album where we see this new Kendrick is getting deep into a life of crime. Here loyalty takes an entire new meaning cuz in the normal track list it's about people around Kendrick to be loyal to him because nobody prays for him if you remember. But on this tracklist nowhere in those previous songs he's mentioned that nobody prays for him. That's kind of significant. So when he says he needs loyalty, he needs loyalty as in he needs for example loyal henchmen. Then we get to the part of the album where Kendrick starts to feel different. The song feel of course talked about how Kendrick felt like nobody prayed for him and how he felt cursed. This is also a song where Kendrick starts to isolate himself from friends and family, but it's really weird when you listen to the album in that way because it just seems like it pops out of nowhere. There was this kind of pessimistic view of the world on the song Pride, but that was directed at the world. Everyone except Kendrick. Kendrick is starting to maybe feel cursed. by God. But on element, he clearly states, "I don't give a fuck." Even though what he experiences on feel is probably a sign of God telling him change or you'll just continue feeling like that. But Kendrick is as wicked as ever on Element. You'll notice Kung Fu Kenny is much more present in this leg of the album cuz that's what he's become now. This figure you shouldn't [ __ ] with. Ya is also starting with the classic kung fu Kenny adlib and is another low point for Kendrick who talks about his insecurities being a bit paranoid and again strongly implying he's not about no religion. DNA is the second to last track on this reverse track list because it really wraps up this album in an interesting way. Everything is stripped off Kendrick until all that remains is his DNA and what's in it, which is mostly negative, like a big ball of anger. It's ironic that the normal track list starts with a Kendrick that has nothing but aggressiveness and sin inside of him, but ends up healing himself. And the reverse trackless is the complete opposite. He lost so much. His father, his faith in God, love, humbleness, and all he's left with is lust, pride, and what's in his DNA. And keep in mind, this is all because he's lost guidance. His father wasn't there to raise him. So, to me, it's like he's just become this cartel head, right? or something. It's all about crime, making money, and [ __ ] There's only one place Kendrick can go from [Music] here. At the very beginning of this video, I told you a story that didn't really make sense. And honestly, I apologize because I don't like to leave uh you guys uh in the dark for too long. But right now, it makes sense more than ever. In the story, Kendrick was taking a walk and saw a blind woman looking for something on the sidewalk. And Kendrick, wanting to help this woman, offered to help her look for that thing just for the woman to answer, "Yes, you've lost something. You've lost your life and Kendrick is shot. I believe that with all of this, we can now guess who that lady is. The old blind lady seemed like she was looking for something. Seemed like she had lost something. What if that blind lady was God? Stay with me. What if that lady was God and was just looking for Kendrick in order to kill him? And here's my reasoning. There is a goddamn line in Yah that to me is so obvious. It's related to this story. I know he walks the earth in reference to God. Kendrick knows God is walking this earth. And at first it might seem so insignificant, okay? But let's take this phrase literally. God is walking this earth. So, you know, if Kendrick was taking a walk the other day, maybe God was also taking a walk the other day. He's walking this earth and was trying to find Kendrick until Kendrick came himself to God in a final act of kindness. This is so goddamn ironic when you consider the whole album because he's just been going downhill into a path of damnation. He's sinning left and right and he doesn't give a [ __ ] But at the beginning before his father died, Kendrick wasn't like that. He was still religious. And maybe in the end he was like, I'm going to try and do something good for once. As simple as helping a blind lady cross the street or look for something, right? He just wanted to help this blind lady, a chance at redemption, a chance to get closer to God after all those years. So, in a final act of kindness, a final act of weakness, Kendrick hopes to be forgiven for all his sins. But I guess God didn't have much mercy for him. Damn is a kind of choose your own adventure in a way. It sounds kind of silly when I put it this way, but is it wickedness? Is it weakness? You decide. Are we going to live or die? By playing the album in either direction, you choose if Kendrick lives or dies. In the normal way, Kendrick takes a path to salvation and lives out of weakness. In the reverse track list, Kendrick's father dies and he follows a path to damnation where he dies to the ends of God out of wickedness. and it's dangling in your [ __ ] face from the beginning of this album and I can't get my mind off of it. It was right in front of you from the beginning of this video. I got you again. So, in the end, it's kind of like, damn, godamn. I hope you enjoyed this video. I really do cuz making it took so much more [ __ ] time than I planned it to take. I'd like to take a moment maybe to like thank you guys. This channel has grown out of proportions. I never imagined it to be really like thank you for sticking around and to the new ones. Um I'm going to give you I'm going to mail you Cheezits actually uh right to your front door if you subscribe and like this video. Good night and good luck with your life. I'll see you in the next video. Bye-bye.