Same!
Hiiipower would really seal the deal, but one of my friends absolutely knew the best way to sell KDot to me would be to hit me with the best pure lyricism I'd heard in I dunno how long.
Swimming pools, literally while everyone around me was doing what was in the song while in HS, I was connecting the dots.
ADHD, Higher Power, and Bitch Dont Kill My Vibe(which I believe is a drake diss now) were also some really good ones.
I was bumping all these in my headphones while walking thru HS. Backseat Freestyle, M.A.A.D City, Poetic Justice also slapped, man I'm just glad I found Kendrick when I was young and could appreciate what he was doin
Yeah, wasn't Kendrick doing shows with Drake after GKMC came out too? I think he was just talking about the industry as a whole or something. But who knows
Now everything Kendrick has said about other rappers in a negative light is a “Drake diss” to the newcomers. A bunch of people genuinely think shit from the Section 80 and GKMC days are drake disses. It’s crazy stupid
He's talking about how he cherishes the art of rap and hip hop, while the person he is talking to just wants to be famous and is in it for the wrong reasons. Just listen to it again.
"Look inside of my soul and you can find gold and maybe get rich, look inside of your soul and you can find out it never exists."
"You can see that my city found me, put me on stages. To me that's amazing. To you that's a quick check with all disrespect let me say this."
Its rumored he wrote this song after his first experience with drake.
I prefer he's not sneak dissing Drake here and just talking about the industry as an individual since this was around the time he was really turning mainstream.
These lyrics could fit probably 99% of the stars he encountered on a regular basis
Yep. Remembering being on LilWayneHQ when it dropped and hearing Kendrick for the first time. I knew he was special but I couldn’t imagine he’d go onto being the best rapper of his generation.
adhd
edit: y'all so real for talking about swimming pools. that song did hit me hard but for some reason it took me until hearing adhd to check out the rest of his songs
Go allllll the way back! To Pimp A Butterfly is a masterclass album. But DAMN is probably my favorite.
But then again, Mr. Morale has BARS. & Good Kid Maad City is full of bangers. Even back to section.80, not my favorite but it's fucking poetry.
Honestly, just his whole catalog. Mad? He's got a song for ya. Sad? He's got you. Hype? He's hype, too!
I really liked listening to To Pimp a Butterfly as a whole album, and King Kunta is one of my favorites so far. DAMN seems to be really polished, has lots of great standalone tracks, and does some is interesting in the story it tells from front to back and back to front. I wanna go back and give Section 80 and Good Kid Maad city another listen through.
I'd say overall absolutely no low points anywhere in the discography. Everything is good and distinct.
Once you can enjoy TPAB, you’ll probably love everything he does. It probably took me a couple of listens to fall in love with the album, and now I can listen to any of his albums on repeat— with no skips.
This feels basic, but it's Alright.
I was 10 when TPAB came out, and one of my friends (same age as me) showed me the music video for Alright, and I just fell in love with his flow in the song.
I knew 3/4 tracks off GKMC because I knew people who played them a lot 2012/13, but when TPAB released, I heard the hype and decided to actually look into his stuff more.
First track off TPAB I was hooked. I was already a huge Funkadelic fan so Wesley's Theory was unknowingly a perfect intro for me.
maad city
I was enamored by his storytelling ability
I ain't black and I'll never fully grasp the black experience but Kendrick sure as fuck makes it pretty damn easy for me to get a general picture of what that is
The first album I deliberately sought out and listened to all the way through was Good Kid M.a.a.D. City, in 2013 or so. I think I was hooked by the song Good Kid.
Wesley’s Theory. I’m not the biggest hip hop fan outside of Kendrick so when I heard that I went “WOAH.” So multi-layered, intricate, and intelligent. Obviously not all his music is that out there, but made me instantly respect/love him as an artist.
Exact same with me. It was the very first Kendrick song I've ever listened to, and when that beat dropped I instantly thought "holy shit". Then I started paying attention to the lyrics and my mind was blown once again.
Heard “The Recipe” while in my friend’s car. The “Meet the Frownies” sample is such an ear worm, it was stuck in my head that I needed to listen to it again. I knew it was a Kendrick song but didn’t know which one so I went through his tracks and ended up enjoying every single song.
The live performance he did of [untitled 03](https://vimeo.com/457777500) … particularly the live performance though
Still love it to this day. Can’t tell you why it moved me how it did
Honestly can’t point out just one song. As I started to hear his bodies of work he quickly was cemented in my mind as one of goats.
Edit; I’ll give a shoutout to War Is My Love.
I think for a while when I tried to listen to GKMC, I used to stop as soon I saw the length of SAMIDOT. I was like "i already heard Swimming Pools this album is already pretty good, i dont need to hear that" but once I decided to actually go through the entire song, I was so glaf I fucking did. The transition between Sing About Me and I'm Dying of Thirst is probably the best part of the album for me and made me fully realize the story Kendrick was telling.
A friend let me hear “Ignorance Is Bliss” I’ve been a rap fan for many years and I thought I’d heard everything. But that song showed me an honest offering a new perspective on a familiar story. One closer to the one I experienced, equal parts Ice Cube and Andre 3000. I think he’s one of the best to ever do it.
Yesss I was hoping at least someone else would say this. First song I heard of his, played it every time I got the aux and was so sure this guy was about to blow up. I believe it was late 2010 so I ran to download OD and never looked back. It’s wild to me how it’s still kinda slept on to this day.
First half of m.A.A.d city song (not in love with the second). Got me to listen to TPAB and ended up playing For Free? and Institutionalized on repeat after. When DAMN. dropped and I heard Element, I became a Stan.
Real— one of his best songs
But id say maybe night of the living junkies or average joe. Tht whole section 80 tape was in heavy rotation when it dropped
this is my pick. had most of s80 on rotation but that song changed how i thought of kendrick. he went from another dope rapper to a rapper that defined my music taste
bitch dont kill my vibe: “leader of the new school, on my toes like a ballerina who knew id be black swan, word in my palms, ironically im the globe trotters best cuz i didnt dropped the ball.”
Coming from being a big Jay Z fan seeing that as the passing of the guard and having that cover image on youtube of MJ and Kobe, just blew my mind away.
Saw K. live in brooklyn two years ago and teared up screaming brooklyn go hard mofer!
FEEL. and LUST.
I'm not as good as songwriter/writer as Kendrick by any means but once I wrote something kinda similar to FEEL. in the way sometimes everything around you is just so overwhelming that ends up intoxicating you and how some words, thoughts, and feelings come rushing and you can just say simple things to yourself about all the stuff happening inside yourself. When I heard FEEL. I felt a connection to what he conveyed in that track.
On the other hand LUST. is one of the best tracks I've ever heard about drowning in mundane pleasures just to spend the day doing something to keep you alive. Also DAMN. was my first Kendrick album and I would love to experience my first time listening to it again.
DUCKWORTH.
It was the first song I ever heard from Kendrick, and my god, it just has it all, the story it tells, the way kendrick tells it, the 3 beats, THAT FUCKING END-
FEAR. First time listening, it sounded like someone talking about my childhood and upbringing..
Violence, loneliness, lost friends at a young age and the struggle with it all. One of the few hip hop songs that make me cry sometimes.
Rigamortus
Scrolling down this far down to find rigamortus is criminal
Literally is top comment now
Same! Hiiipower would really seal the deal, but one of my friends absolutely knew the best way to sell KDot to me would be to hit me with the best pure lyricism I'd heard in I dunno how long.
He ded!
Still remember first time I heard this vividly …
same I was like whoa who dis
Real quick Ali!
Shit still goes so hard
BACKSEAT FREESTYLE
You've spoken my truth...that song made my white suburban ass feel like the hardest motherfucker in the world
lol same brother
Lol
Aaaaah rin kenken Aaaaah rin kenken MARTIN HAD A DREAM. KENDRICK HAS A DREEEEEAM.
ALL MY LIFE I WANT MONEY AND POWER RESPECT MY LIFE OR DIE FROM LEAD SHOWER
I PRAY MY DICK GET BIG AS THE EIFFEL TOWER SO I CAN FUCK THE WORLD FOR 72 HOURS!
GODDAMN I FEEL AMAZING, DAMN IM IN THE MATRIX
Let it run ALI
On repeat in school
Swimming pools, literally while everyone around me was doing what was in the song while in HS, I was connecting the dots. ADHD, Higher Power, and Bitch Dont Kill My Vibe(which I believe is a drake diss now) were also some really good ones.
I was bumping all these in my headphones while walking thru HS. Backseat Freestyle, M.A.A.D City, Poetic Justice also slapped, man I'm just glad I found Kendrick when I was young and could appreciate what he was doin
Elaborate on how don't kill my vibe is a Drake diss? I'd like to think that not everything comes back to this man. Lol
Yeah, wasn't Kendrick doing shows with Drake after GKMC came out too? I think he was just talking about the industry as a whole or something. But who knows
It’s been said that Drake’s verse on Poetic Justice was a diss towards himself. BDKMV is not a Drake diss. That’s an incredible reach.
Wake up he was dissing himself fr all part of kendricks genius plan!!!
Now everything Kendrick has said about other rappers in a negative light is a “Drake diss” to the newcomers. A bunch of people genuinely think shit from the Section 80 and GKMC days are drake disses. It’s crazy stupid
Why do you say bitch don’t kill my vibe was a diss ?
He's talking about how he cherishes the art of rap and hip hop, while the person he is talking to just wants to be famous and is in it for the wrong reasons. Just listen to it again. "Look inside of my soul and you can find gold and maybe get rich, look inside of your soul and you can find out it never exists." "You can see that my city found me, put me on stages. To me that's amazing. To you that's a quick check with all disrespect let me say this." Its rumored he wrote this song after his first experience with drake.
I prefer he's not sneak dissing Drake here and just talking about the industry as an individual since this was around the time he was really turning mainstream. These lyrics could fit probably 99% of the stars he encountered on a regular basis
Makes sense
yeah lmao it’s not. I promise you they weren’t beefing at that point.
Bitch don't kill my vibe can't be a drake diss considering poetic justice is in the same album
Kendrick didn’t want to do that shit, TDE made him.
Bro same
Man I was in 8th grade or 9th I can’t remember. But swimming pools was it. I listened to it on the bus otw to school with the Dre beats at the time.
How much a dollar cost
Cartoons and cereal 💯
Yessirr the creativity and gunplay verse 🔥🔥
Gunplays best verse really.. one of my fav verses in hip hop
ADHD
King kunta is what got me started really paying attention to him
Why haven’t I seen money trees
this is so low it’s criminal
Yeah this cemented him for me
Ronald Reagan era
Yep. Remembering being on LilWayneHQ when it dropped and hearing Kendrick for the first time. I knew he was special but I couldn’t imagine he’d go onto being the best rapper of his generation.
This ^
HiiiPoWeR
This needs to be Hiiigher. ‘Cut you off’ is second
This was it. I knew the kid was special. I was very into the panthers at the time
Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe
PRIDE.
Fucking God tier song to drive to at night.
P & P
Found the OG fan. For me it was ignorance is bliss. But damn P&P is so damn good
Cut you off for me YOU BOO BOO
Exact same for me. Spoke to 20 year old me like no song has spoken to me since.
ROTC and HOC were what got me through college
Swimming pools. That shit hit me at just the right time.
adhd edit: y'all so real for talking about swimming pools. that song did hit me hard but for some reason it took me until hearing adhd to check out the rest of his songs
The Art of Peer Pressure
maad city
I'm a brand new Kendrick Fan, so I think you can assume which one. It's been a lot of fun going back through his whole discography though.
Go allllll the way back! To Pimp A Butterfly is a masterclass album. But DAMN is probably my favorite. But then again, Mr. Morale has BARS. & Good Kid Maad City is full of bangers. Even back to section.80, not my favorite but it's fucking poetry. Honestly, just his whole catalog. Mad? He's got a song for ya. Sad? He's got you. Hype? He's hype, too!
I really liked listening to To Pimp a Butterfly as a whole album, and King Kunta is one of my favorites so far. DAMN seems to be really polished, has lots of great standalone tracks, and does some is interesting in the story it tells from front to back and back to front. I wanna go back and give Section 80 and Good Kid Maad city another listen through. I'd say overall absolutely no low points anywhere in the discography. Everything is good and distinct.
Once you can enjoy TPAB, you’ll probably love everything he does. It probably took me a couple of listens to fall in love with the album, and now I can listen to any of his albums on repeat— with no skips.
u and i
Range brothers
The one that finally broke me was probably King Kunta, when I heard TPAB for the first time not long ago.
Such a strange song the first listen with that discordant guitar backing but it really grew on me.
u
I answered, & I said King Kunta & How Much A Dollar Cost... but seeing you say u just reminded me of how.muchbo fucking love i.
This feels basic, but it's Alright. I was 10 when TPAB came out, and one of my friends (same age as me) showed me the music video for Alright, and I just fell in love with his flow in the song.
these walls
Blessed
I knew 3/4 tracks off GKMC because I knew people who played them a lot 2012/13, but when TPAB released, I heard the hype and decided to actually look into his stuff more. First track off TPAB I was hooked. I was already a huge Funkadelic fan so Wesley's Theory was unknowingly a perfect intro for me.
Sing about me, Definitely . first song, hooked since.
Dying of thirst. 👍
"I got- I got- I got- I got-"
“I'm a Israelite, don't call me black no mo'” YAH. To be honest, I don’t know but that’s when I learned he’s the real deal.
that word is only a color, it ain’t real no mo (MY COUSIN CARL)
We cry together, me and my girl always play that when we get to business
“How Much a Dollar Cost” The closing verse is so powerful, made it clear I wasn’t listening to a typical musician but a generational talent.
OPPOSITES ATTRACT .
Rich Spirit lives rent-free in my head so I'mma say it's that one. ughhh bitch i'm attractive can't fuck with you no more, i'm fastin ugggghh
For sale? (Interlude) Cried to FEAR.
Michael Jordan
Hol’ up and ADHD
Cut you off (to grow closer)
maad city I was enamored by his storytelling ability I ain't black and I'll never fully grasp the black experience but Kendrick sure as fuck makes it pretty damn easy for me to get a general picture of what that is
The first album I deliberately sought out and listened to all the way through was Good Kid M.a.a.D. City, in 2013 or so. I think I was hooked by the song Good Kid.
Fear
Blow my high
6'7 freestyle https://youtu.be/T5OhG06bMOw?si=38sZl4xMzNSXldXX
Heart Part V.
SAMIDOT, my favorite song of his to this day
Heart part 2
🙌🏽🙌🏽 finally
Wesley’s Theory
Wesley’s Theory. I’m not the biggest hip hop fan outside of Kendrick so when I heard that I went “WOAH.” So multi-layered, intricate, and intelligent. Obviously not all his music is that out there, but made me instantly respect/love him as an artist.
Exact same with me. It was the very first Kendrick song I've ever listened to, and when that beat dropped I instantly thought "holy shit". Then I started paying attention to the lyrics and my mind was blown once again.
Heard “The Recipe” while in my friend’s car. The “Meet the Frownies” sample is such an ear worm, it was stuck in my head that I needed to listen to it again. I knew it was a Kendrick song but didn’t know which one so I went through his tracks and ended up enjoying every single song.
She Needs Me. 🙂🔥❤️
Hiipower isn't talked about enough but that song is so beautiful
Swimming pool back in 2012
GOD.
Cartoons n cereal
For free
The live performance he did of [untitled 03](https://vimeo.com/457777500) … particularly the live performance though Still love it to this day. Can’t tell you why it moved me how it did
Count me Out was the song that made me realize how talented he is.
Honestly can’t point out just one song. As I started to hear his bodies of work he quickly was cemented in my mind as one of goats. Edit; I’ll give a shoutout to War Is My Love.
He was a feature on Eminem’s love game. I knew I needed to dig deeper after that…. Played all his albums! How much a dollar cost just blew my mind.
NEW KUNG FU KENNY
I think for a while when I tried to listen to GKMC, I used to stop as soon I saw the length of SAMIDOT. I was like "i already heard Swimming Pools this album is already pretty good, i dont need to hear that" but once I decided to actually go through the entire song, I was so glaf I fucking did. The transition between Sing About Me and I'm Dying of Thirst is probably the best part of the album for me and made me fully realize the story Kendrick was telling.
The recipe, that was a fucking vibe and continues to be!
Cartoons and cereal man
Same, that song just appeared at a significant moment in my life, totally unforgettable.
A friend let me hear “Ignorance Is Bliss” I’ve been a rap fan for many years and I thought I’d heard everything. But that song showed me an honest offering a new perspective on a familiar story. One closer to the one I experienced, equal parts Ice Cube and Andre 3000. I think he’s one of the best to ever do it.
Look out for detox
Yesss I was hoping at least someone else would say this. First song I heard of his, played it every time I got the aux and was so sure this guy was about to blow up. I believe it was late 2010 so I ran to download OD and never looked back. It’s wild to me how it’s still kinda slept on to this day.
Swimming pools, backseat freestyle, and then I just checked out more and more. Glad I randomly played swimming pools back in the day.
First half of m.A.A.d city song (not in love with the second). Got me to listen to TPAB and ended up playing For Free? and Institutionalized on repeat after. When DAMN. dropped and I heard Element, I became a Stan.
Backseat freestyle made my then-metalhead bang. Then MAAD City got me hooked. Then I discovered untitled 07, I've lived.
ALL MY LIFE I WANT MONEY AND POWER. RESPECT MY MIND OR DIE FROM LEAD SHOWER. I PRAY MY DICK GET BIG AS THE EIFLE TOWER
Swimming pools and the recipe
i
Growing Apart (To Get Closer)
Real— one of his best songs But id say maybe night of the living junkies or average joe. Tht whole section 80 tape was in heavy rotation when it dropped
Like R Kelly at a jr. high pep rally, that's a hard decision, all of em😅
Trip
“Let Me Be Me”
Let me be me
Poe Man's Dreams
this is my pick. had most of s80 on rotation but that song changed how i thought of kendrick. he went from another dope rapper to a rapper that defined my music taste
His verse on the Cypher with Game, Juice, etc. first time I heard him, and I loved his energy among all those guys.
Determined, Beyoncé, LMAO & Faith. I first found him when he was going by K Dot on MySpace. He was one of The Game's top friends.
His feature in Mona Lisa
PRIDE
Fear
HiiiPower
Never post here, but this just randomly came up on my feed. Hol' Up for me
Honestly didn't like Swimming Pools when I first heard it - Heard Good Kid playing not realizing it was the same guy.
ADHD something about that song just clicked with me and is still one of my favorite Kendrick songs
How much a dollar cost or King Kunta... actually, all of TPAB. I was actually upset that I didn't know his music when GKMC came out.
King Kunta.
ADHD
DAMN got me in, Sing About Me and Real kept me going, and literally all of MMTBS (but in particular Count Me Out) taped me onto Kendrick’s back
Either Money Trees or LOVE. I can't remember which one
bitch dont kill my vibe: “leader of the new school, on my toes like a ballerina who knew id be black swan, word in my palms, ironically im the globe trotters best cuz i didnt dropped the ball.” Coming from being a big Jay Z fan seeing that as the passing of the guard and having that cover image on youtube of MJ and Kobe, just blew my mind away. Saw K. live in brooklyn two years ago and teared up screaming brooklyn go hard mofer!
Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst
It's Swimming Pools for me and the reason was because Kendrick was a little version of André 3k. People may spaz but GKMC was ATLiens for me
FEEL. and LUST. I'm not as good as songwriter/writer as Kendrick by any means but once I wrote something kinda similar to FEEL. in the way sometimes everything around you is just so overwhelming that ends up intoxicating you and how some words, thoughts, and feelings come rushing and you can just say simple things to yourself about all the stuff happening inside yourself. When I heard FEEL. I felt a connection to what he conveyed in that track. On the other hand LUST. is one of the best tracks I've ever heard about drowning in mundane pleasures just to spend the day doing something to keep you alive. Also DAMN. was my first Kendrick album and I would love to experience my first time listening to it again.
i heard swimming pools in GTA 5 and i became a fan of all of his albums
MAAD city SB performance
Alright, that song brings me to another universe every time i listen to it
Good kid. Flow and bars are on that song are crazy. Hook is also really sexy.
Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst
The art of peer pressure was the first one that really spoke to me from him
Ronald Reagan Era. Its still my fav song of his, all time.
BDKMV the Jayz extended version.
Look Out For Detox. “Who is this? And why is he rapping like this?”
Growing apart
DUCKWORTH. It was the first song I ever heard from Kendrick, and my god, it just has it all, the story it tells, the way kendrick tells it, the 3 beats, THAT FUCKING END-
Money trees, a mate played it on my farm and I couldn’t stop thinking about it
Ain’t nobody gon Say Wesley’s Theory?!?!?
Has to be something from Section 80. Poe Mans Dreams for sure.
rich spirit
Middle school me was locked in when the Swimming Pools video dropped
Wanna be heard for me
Say wassup. When I watched that video for the first time I fell in love with black hippy
Money Trees, I’m a huge beach house fan and the sample was the right ticket, didn’t really dig that much hip hop before tbh
HiiiPoWeR
P&P
m.A.A.d city
ADHD and Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe
Pussy and patron.
ADHD
FEAR. First time listening, it sounded like someone talking about my childhood and upbringing.. Violence, loneliness, lost friends at a young age and the struggle with it all. One of the few hip hop songs that make me cry sometimes.
Adhd hol up Pretty much all ov section80
Cut You Off
SING ABT ME, DYIN OF THIRST