CEITEDMOFO
Banned
“It’s completely honest.”
Everyone has their own favorite Kendrick Lamar song, but critic and fan opinions don’t hold quite as much weight as that of the Compton rapper himself. In a new interview with Vice, Lamar noted that there’s one song he’s written that approaches perfect: “FEAR.” The The Alchemist-produced song appears as the 12th track on his April 2017 album DAMN., and (as the title suggests) details his personal fears from childhood to now.
“It’s completely honest,” he told Vice. “The first verse is everything that I feared from the time that I was seven years old. The second verse I was 17, in the third it’s everything I feared when I was 27. These verses are completely honest.”
Lamar puts these fears on display throughout the song, as Genius' Insanul Ahmedbreaks down in an annotation:
He also reflects on his teenage fears in the second verse, which interpolates “Die”by Philly veteran Beanie Sigel:
I’ll prolly die anonymous
I’ll prolly die with promises
I’ll prolly die walkin' back home from the candy house
I’ll prolly die because these colors are standin' out
“FEAR.” peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of DAMN.’s release and fell off soon after. DAMN. produced five Top 20 hits: “HUMBLE.,”“DNA.,” “LOYALTY.,” “ELEMENT.,” and “LOVE.”
Everyone has their own favorite Kendrick Lamar song, but critic and fan opinions don’t hold quite as much weight as that of the Compton rapper himself. In a new interview with Vice, Lamar noted that there’s one song he’s written that approaches perfect: “FEAR.” The The Alchemist-produced song appears as the 12th track on his April 2017 album DAMN., and (as the title suggests) details his personal fears from childhood to now.
“It’s completely honest,” he told Vice. “The first verse is everything that I feared from the time that I was seven years old. The second verse I was 17, in the third it’s everything I feared when I was 27. These verses are completely honest.”
Lamar puts these fears on display throughout the song, as Genius' Insanul Ahmedbreaks down in an annotation:
He also reflects on his teenage fears in the second verse, which interpolates “Die”by Philly veteran Beanie Sigel:
I’ll prolly die anonymous
I’ll prolly die with promises
I’ll prolly die walkin' back home from the candy house
I’ll prolly die because these colors are standin' out
“FEAR.” peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of DAMN.’s release and fell off soon after. DAMN. produced five Top 20 hits: “HUMBLE.,”“DNA.,” “LOYALTY.,” “ELEMENT.,” and “LOVE.”
if you asked me to name a memorable Kendrick line