I DON'T THINK I CAN FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT ON THIS EARTH

Honestly feel the same about this like I do with Runaway

Both are undeniably dope but I just don’t feel the same way about these tracks like the majority

I wouldn’t say those are the best songs by either artist tbh idk why I don’t see it

Love me some DAMN appreciation its a phenomenal album

And then i take two puffs

I'M HIGH NOW

Unrelated..well kinda related

But the album that he samples from is so dope

You're absolutely right

I'm talkin' fear, fear of losin' creativity
I'm talkin' fear, fear of missin' out on you and me
I'm talkin' fear, fear of losin' loyalty from pride
'Cause my DNA won't let me involve in the light of God
I'm talkin' fear, fear that my humbleness is gone
I'm talkin' fear, fear that love ain't livin' here no more
I'm talkin' fear, fear that it's wickedness or weakness
Fear, whatever it is, both is distinctive
Fear, what happens on Earth stays on Earth
And I can't take these feelings
With me so hopefully they disperse

that first verse is too real man

First verse hits

Probably my fav song on DAMN

Album is great

The album is mid this song is great though

YUP

Top 5 Kendrick imo

DAMN. man, what an album, classic, Kendrick’s best

This song is the one

Kendrick Lamar is the greatest rapper of all time

just remembered this song was playing when i got caught smoking at like 15 chorus was playing too when i got yelled at

Agreed

Album is aging so good

I beat you ass, keep talking back

You press play

You immediately notice the sample is unmatched and The Alchemist created a timeless masterpiece with this beat, s*** is unreal

For any other artist beat would’ve carried but this is Kendrick we talking about

First he starts the song with eerily pitched down stanza asking God why do we suffer? What’s the point of going through this damned human experience? People are going to keep sinning so Why doesn’t God just burn us all in the fires described in revelation rn?

A sobering thought indeed... but just as you start drift into deep thought and ponder the fate of the world you are smacked in the face with a jarring performance of those same lines again backwards only this time higher pitch and more emotionally intense.

But it’s the first listen. You didn’t know those where the same lines. You had to do a whole dive on google to figure out what the backwards lyrics meant so as for the first listen you are completely mystified

Then you hear the line

“I beat your ass keep talking back” as if Kendrick is threatening himself to stop rapping backwards

“I beat your ass who bought you that, you stole it”

Your in the first verse. As the verse continues you realize Kendrick is performing from the perspective of his mother beating fear into him for his every childhood infraction in masterful fashion. The intense performance triggers memories of your own childhood. The concept is coming together.

The hook comes on... “If I can smoke fear away I’d roll that mf up... and then I’d take twoooo puffs”

the stacked/pitched vocals are executed to perfection. As the line hits you feel like you just hit a blunt yourself.

“I’m high now.....AH.... I’m high now... AH”

The line dances on time with the sample

You realize this is one of the greatest songs you’ve heard in your life and there is still nearly 5 minutes left. You start wondering what other magnificence lurks around the corner

In a melancholic, hopeless, yet emotionless and monotonous tone Kendrick begins the second verse.

“I’ll probably die anonymous, I’ll probably die with promises, I’ll probably die walking back home from the candy house...”

Kendrick continues the verse with these fatal scenarios, each line equal parts clever, profound, and heartbreaking.

The hook grips you again, then the third verse begins:

“When I was 27 I grew accustomed to more fear... accumulated 10 times over throughout the years”

Wait a minute. You recall the ending of the first two verses:

“...7 years old think you run this house by yourself”

“...I’ll probably die cuz that’s when you do when you 17”

You shake your head in astonishment and say to yourself this nigga is the motherfucking goat as Kendrick continues to unravel the fear that comes along with his present circumstances as a young black artist struggling to come to terms with his own success.

As the verse comes to a close you hear:

“What happens on earth stays on earth and I can’t take these feelings with me so hopefully they disperse, with in 14 tracks, carried over wax, wondering if I’m living through fear or living through wax”

You realize the entire album is to purge himself of these impure emotions, FEAR, LUST, PRIDE, he can’t take any of that with him. S*** is deep. Damn

The song then closes with a bridge sung by Bēkon damning us all and Kendrick’s uncle putting down some heavy hebrew israelite game

You leave the experience changed forever, knowing you will NEVER hear anything remotely like that ever again.

This why Kenny stands out from those lyrical miracle niggas.

They can't do this.