1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: story about a good kid, a story about a mad city, 3 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: about Compton, about chaos, about drive bys, missed funerals, red hats, 4 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: blue laces, blacked out in Paula's and the devil on 5 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: both shoulders. 6 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 2: This is a story. 7 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: About hip hop and about the rapper who didn't just 8 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: survive it. He saw through it. He told the truth 9 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: and somehow he lived. This is a story, though, about violence, 10 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: and about trauma, and about the long, slow, brutal climb 11 00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: toward mercy, mercy for yourself, for your city, the people 12 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:02,959 Speaker 1: who nearly killed you, and the ones who still might. 13 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: This is a story about Kendrick Lamar, a man who 14 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: makes great music. Unlike that music. I played a few 15 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 16 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my mellotron called Northern 17 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 1: Exposure MK. 18 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 2: Two. 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: I played you that loop because I can't afford the 20 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: rights to One More Night by Maroon five. And why 21 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: would I play you that specific slice of Oh Man, 22 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: who gives a Shit Cheese? 23 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 2: Could I afford it? 24 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 25 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: October twenty two. 26 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 2: Twenty twelve. 27 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: Then that was the day Kendrick Lamar released Good Kid, 28 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: Mad City and changed the rap game forever. On this 29 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: episode setups the streets near Trauma, more Mercy and Kendrick Lamar. 30 00:01:53,800 --> 00:02:18,240 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan, and this this disgraceland. There were just kids, 31 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: really barely old enough to be able to live on 32 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 1: their own, to make their own mistakes, but wise enough 33 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: to know that change didn't happen overnight, that it took 34 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: time and energy to swing the pendulum away from the 35 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: darkness toward the light. Try as one might, it's impossible 36 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: to make that change with a positive mindset alone. 37 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 2: You have to use. 38 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: Physics, each action having an equal and opposite reaction, you know, 39 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,239 Speaker 1: all the rest. You have to grab the pendulum and 40 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: pull that motherfucker yourself, fill it with your energy, your will, 41 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: and your strength. And so while Paula Oliver saw the 42 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: Gangster Disciples as a means to an end there on 43 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: the South Side of Chicago, where she and Kenneth Duckworth 44 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 1: were trying to make. 45 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 2: Ends meet, the pendulum weighed heavy. 46 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: She didn't want him to be affiliated anymore, even if 47 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: that's all it was, an affiliation some adjacent relationship to 48 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: a notorious criminal organization. The streets, the drugs, the tough 49 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: guys like gangster Disciple leaders Larry Hoover and King David Well. 50 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,239 Speaker 1: Paula wasn't about to knock the hustle, but it wasn't 51 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: a hustle she wanted a part of anymore. The Disciples 52 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: were a darkness that the young lovers had to get 53 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: away from if they wanted to survive, even if that 54 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: meant cutting. 55 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 2: Ties, starting fresh from the bottom. 56 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: But again, they were young, they had time to do it. Over, 57 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: Paula gave Kenneth an ultimatum. He was leaving the Disciples 58 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: and they were leaving Chicago or else she was leaving him. 59 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: So Paula, Oliver, and Kenneth Duckworth grabbed hold and swamp. 60 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: Days later, they were boarding an Amtrak train, five hundred 61 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: dollars to their name, with all their belongings stuffed into 62 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: two large garbage backs. They rode the train all the 63 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: way to the West Coast to Los Angeles, more specifically 64 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: to the city of Compton, where Paula's sister helped them 65 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: settle into their new life. Three days later, in nineteen 66 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: eighty seven, they walked out of the Domingees hospital with 67 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: their newborn baby boy. They called him Kendrick, name for 68 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: the smoothest member of the Temptations, their favorite Eddie Kendricks. 69 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,559 Speaker 1: They buckled little Kendrick into the back seat, and during 70 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: the car ride back to their little three bedroom house 71 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty seventh Street, they christened his tiny 72 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: ears with the hip hop gospel of Big Daddy Kane. 73 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: Hold up, this is how the Kendrick Lamar origin story 74 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: has been told that the first thing he ever heard, 75 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: after the sound of his own cries at his parents' voices, 76 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: was Big Daddy Kane's Ain't No Half Step in East 77 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: Coast bounce, booming from the shitty speakers of the family car. 78 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 2: But this was June nineteen. 79 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: Eighty seven, and The Juice Crew Icon's debut album didn't 80 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:16,159 Speaker 1: even hit stores until one whole year later, so it's 81 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: highly unlikely that Big Daddy Kane was the soundtrack to 82 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: Kendrick's first day on Earth. But that's just a minor 83 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 1: detail in the grand scheme of things. Because, in addition 84 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,799 Speaker 1: to heavy rotation staples like Marvin Gay and the Isisley Brothers, 85 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: contemporary rap music was the soundtrack to the Duckworth Household 86 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 1: that Kendrick Lamar grew up in in the late eighties 87 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:42,359 Speaker 1: and nineties. Kendrick would later remember hearing Biggie Tupac and 88 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: Jay Z playing during his parents' house parties, which were 89 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: frequent and which underscored Compton's deep sense of shared community. 90 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: It was a community that propped up their own, like 91 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,799 Speaker 1: the drug dealer turned rapper Ecee, whose debut single Boys 92 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,679 Speaker 1: in the Hood could be found at the Compton Fashion Center, 93 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: better known as the Swap Meet, local flea market that 94 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: sold the easies hot wax when more traditional outlets refused 95 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: to touch it. It was a community of like minded families, 96 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: all of them trying to make sense of their own 97 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: heavy pendulums. The uncles slinging drugs, the friends tossing up 98 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 1: gang signs for Paula and Kenneth. It was like Chicago 99 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: all over again, only. 100 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 2: This time they weren't going to run from it. This 101 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 2: time they didn't want to run from it. This was 102 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:28,479 Speaker 2: their home. 103 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: This was Kendrick's home now too, and it was the 104 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: home that they taught Kendrick through their actions and through 105 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,360 Speaker 1: their words and through their deeds to honor, values and 106 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: morals above all else, above the narrative that there was 107 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: no free will, that the pistol was the only logical 108 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 1: choice over positivity in times of real struggle, and the 109 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:52,159 Speaker 1: struggle was right here Incompton, rolling down Crenshaw, the US 110 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: Marines going slow as shit in their camouflage hom VI's 111 00:06:55,440 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: while the city burned, and LA's biggest gang, the LAPD 112 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: that thug life out in the open, Or at least 113 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: that's what White America saw when they sat down in 114 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:08,920 Speaker 1: their faux wooden panel dens and living rooms and turned 115 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: on their TV sets. The things that were happening right 116 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: in your neighborhood in front of you, shaping the person 117 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: you were going to become. That was so personal it 118 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: was almost impossible to put into words. Nineteen ninety two, 119 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: five year old Kendrick Lamar pedaled his bike up the street, 120 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: turning around at the top of the block and coming 121 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: back down again, and the bike's plastic training wheels rattled 122 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: behind him. 123 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 2: Up against an apartment building. 124 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: One of his uncle's friends, one of his uncle's associates, 125 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: the affiliated kind, was looking to unload some dope. A 126 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: car around at the corner and began to approach real slow, methodical, 127 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: and then it stopped in front of the apartments. The 128 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: passenger side window came down, and Kendrick stopped his bike 129 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: to watch the scene play out. The affiliated associate one 130 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: with the drugs. He looked around to make sure the 131 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: coast was clear, and then he began to walk towards 132 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: the car, ready for that deal to go down, make 133 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: that money. 134 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 2: And then. 135 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: Kendrick jumped at the sound of the shotgun blast, hopping 136 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: back onto his bike seat and flying back to his 137 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: house as the family friend lay on the ground, his 138 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: chest blown open and the baggy still gripped tight in 139 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: his dead hand. Fast forward three years later, nineteen ninety five, 140 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,679 Speaker 1: Kendrick was eight. He was walking home from McNair Elementary, 141 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: passing through the parking lot of the legendary TAM's Burger Joint. 142 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: His stomach started to rumble as he caught a whiff 143 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: the burgers sizzling on a grill, and a car pulled 144 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: up to the drive through. Its brake lights came on 145 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: as the driver stopped to place his order. Right then, 146 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: another man came tearing around the block on foot, rushing 147 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: past me on Kendrick as he trudged through the lot 148 00:08:58,360 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: with his backpack slung. 149 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 2: Over one shoe. 150 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: That's when Kendrick saw the flash of steel in the 151 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: man's hand. He froze, watching as a man ran right 152 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: up to the car and the drive through, raised his gun, 153 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: aimed it through the car window, and pulled the trigger. 154 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: This was the realness of Compton. It was so real that, 155 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: after witnessing this kind of violence up close and personal 156 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: a few times, Kendrick, just a little kid eight years old, 157 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: plainly accepted it as. 158 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 2: Part of his life. 159 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: These weren't random acts, These were to be expected. It 160 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: was the unexpected aspects of Compton life that made all 161 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: the difference, Like the day Kendrick's father threw him up 162 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 1: on his shoulders and walked them briskly down to the 163 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: Compton's Swap Meat, not to buy an easy e record, 164 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: but to watch history being made. 165 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 2: There. 166 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: Surrounding the former Sears Building, an unassuming cultural landmark, a 167 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,840 Speaker 1: crowd had gathered and Kendrick could see lights, he saw cameras, 168 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: and then he saw why Tupac Shakurra walked by in 169 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: his white tank top and black fedora, flanked by Compton's 170 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: own doctor Dre wearing a button down black shirt, both 171 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: looking fly as fuck in every bit the cultural icons 172 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:23,199 Speaker 1: that they were. In this moment, Kendrick squinted from where 173 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,079 Speaker 1: he was perched high up on his dad's back, looking 174 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: at Dre and Poc. 175 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 2: Both ascended, both separated. 176 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: From the bullshit of the streets, at least for now, 177 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: and as they shot the music video for Tupac's California Love. 178 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 2: Kendrick didn't know it. 179 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 1: At the time, but at that moment, at just eight 180 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: years old, he was grabbing the pendulum in his mind 181 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: and pulling it to the opposite direction with all of 182 00:10:48,120 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: his might. The KFC off Rosecrans was like a beacon 183 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: in the night, a greasy oasis frequented by the hungary 184 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 1: and the stone, but also by those looking to escape 185 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,560 Speaker 1: the shadows of Compton for a beat. For Anthony Tiffith, 186 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: the fast food joint was an easy mark. And this 187 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: is not Anthony Tiffith's the music mobile that I'm talking about, 188 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: not yet, at least at this moment. He's already known 189 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: on the streets as Top Dog. But this was years 190 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 1: before we founded Top Dog Entertainment, the mega successful hip 191 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:47,679 Speaker 1: hop in our be label. This was the mid nineties, 192 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,720 Speaker 1: and so Anthony was still just another known neighborhood threat 193 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: hoodie up glock tucked, nothing to lose, He pulled his 194 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: car to the side of the street and put it 195 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: in park, the big red KFC beaming down from on 196 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: high and reflecting off the car's windshield. 197 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 2: He stepped out and walked to the joints front door 198 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 2: with purpose. 199 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,079 Speaker 1: Purpose It went way beyond scoring a bucket of original recipe. 200 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:15,680 Speaker 1: Anthony was a known quantity, nearing thirty years old, street certified, 201 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 1: handled his business with a certain level of finality, and 202 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: at this particular KFC, he was best known as the 203 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,079 Speaker 1: guy who liked to walk in, take no shit, and 204 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: then take money from the register by force if necessary. 205 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: He knew this to be true as he walked inside 206 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: now and the dude working the register instantly clocked the 207 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:39,319 Speaker 1: menace better known as top Dog. But this particular employee 208 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: didn't seem to be phased by Anthony's presence. 209 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 2: The guy didn't even flinch. 210 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: He just went through the motions, went through this little 211 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: song and dance in which Anthony ordered some. 212 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 2: Food, this scripted overture to the. 213 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: Reason why he was really there, and then before Anthony 214 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:57,200 Speaker 1: could reach for his piece and tell the poor bastard 215 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: pull him down five bucks an hour to hand over 216 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: the cash and to till The employee looked Anthony in 217 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: the eye and said. 218 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,440 Speaker 2: You want some extra biscuits with that? They're on the house. Man. 219 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 1: Anthony paused. He wasn't expecting this at all. He clocked 220 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:16,679 Speaker 1: the dude's tone, his lack of fear. It wasn't a softness, 221 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: it was something else, something stronger. Anthony couldn't pinpoint it 222 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,959 Speaker 1: at the time, but it completely disarmed him. 223 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 2: He took his food, took. 224 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,280 Speaker 1: The extra biscuits too, the ones that were on the house, 225 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:34,679 Speaker 1: and turned around and walked out. No stick up, no confrontation, 226 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: just this strange quiet in his chest and a feeling 227 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: that there was a. 228 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 2: Bend in the road up ahead. 229 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: Anthony kept this particular story close to the vest, but 230 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: some years later news of his personal redemption is complete. 231 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 2: One eighty. 232 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: From street hustler to hip hop executive was the kind 233 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: of thing that teenage Kendrick Lamar was watching very closely. 234 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:01,479 Speaker 2: There were very few ways to dodge. 235 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,320 Speaker 1: Some of life's inevitabilities, but Anthony had cracked one of them. 236 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: Music was salvation poetry rhyming. For Kendrick, that was salvation, 237 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: and that was an escape hatch, just like the one 238 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: he glimpsed as a kid on his father's shoulders down 239 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: at the Swap Meat. And so when the rest of 240 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: his crew ducked down an alley in the neighborhood, Kendrick 241 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: ducked into a room with a pen and paper, or 242 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: into a studio with. 243 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 2: A microphone in his hand. 244 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,200 Speaker 1: But leaning into his music didn't immediately lift Kendrick or 245 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 1: k Dot as he was now being called out of 246 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: the fray, and he was squarely in the fray as 247 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: a teenager in Compton. Even if you weren't affiliated as 248 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: Kendrick wasn't, even if you didn't identify as a blood 249 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: or a crip, you still found yourself caught up in 250 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: it all. 251 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 2: It was impossible not to be. 252 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: You were stopped for no reason by the lapd who 253 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: were all too ready to reach for their guns when 254 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: they pulled you and your friend Moose over in that 255 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: dope green Camaro, and Moose took a little too long 256 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: for their liking to locate his driver's license. You watched 257 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: as your friends got jumped, and as your friends got 258 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:09,760 Speaker 1: shot you watched people die in the street and in 259 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: the hospital. You cradled your best friend's brother's head in 260 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: your arms. This kid that everyone called a delinquent, the 261 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: kind of kid that all those talking heads on the 262 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: idiot box would say had it coming. But in your eyes, 263 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: he was a reflection of you. And now here he 264 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: was bleeding out from a gunshot wound, drawing his final breath, 265 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: but doing so with the faith and the knowledge that 266 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: you were going to avoid such a fate, that you 267 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: were destined for something else, that your first mixed kate 268 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 1: was on the horizon. And so as this kid died 269 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 1: in your arms, he looked at you and he said 270 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: that if he didn't make it, tell his story sing 271 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: about him, some would call that a burden, but shit, man, 272 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,680 Speaker 1: you took it as an honor. Still that's when that 273 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: survivor's guilt really started to sink in. Why in the 274 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: hell were you still here? So many of the people 275 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: you came up with were either locked up or six 276 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: feet under. But the moment of your greatest crisis was 277 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: also the moment you decided to do something about it 278 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: all And the way that only you knew how you 279 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: were above all else a student, an observer, an absorber, 280 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 1: And so you took it all in the lifestyle, the violence, 281 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: Compton realness, and he wrote it all down, not to 282 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: glorify it, but to preserve it and to survive it. 283 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: And he studied how the best of the best prepared 284 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: and delivered their own shit, not just Dre and Tupac 285 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: and J on your parents' stereo, but NAS and M 286 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 1: and M and DMX. You dissected their flows like you 287 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: were performing surgery on one of those fatally wounded friends 288 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: you could never save for Kendrick. The game, the rhyme game, 289 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: the spitting versus game, the mixtape game. 290 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 2: It was a hustle, a grind, and it. 291 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,680 Speaker 1: Was loaded with this constant fear of being ignored, a 292 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: failing of recognizing in the most sobering way that you 293 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: were creating music in a city where talent alone didn't 294 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: guarantee success or survival. In two thousand and three, at 295 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: just sixteen years old, Kadot released his first mixtape, which 296 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:28,879 Speaker 1: made the rounds throughout Compton. Unsurprisingly, it wound up in 297 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:32,479 Speaker 1: the hands of Anthony Tiffis, the one time stickup man 298 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: who had just graduated on the streets and launched Top 299 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: Dog Entertainment in the Top Dog Studio, which they affectionately referred. 300 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 2: To as the House of Pain. 301 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:45,639 Speaker 1: Anthony laid down the gauntlet by playing increasingly difficult beats 302 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: and asking Kendrick to get on the mic and flow. 303 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,119 Speaker 1: He changed the beats up on the fly, and he 304 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: suddenly split into double time. 305 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 2: Anything to trip the kid up. Kendrick went hard. 306 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: He met each challenge like a season pro, well beyond 307 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: his years. Top Dog gave Kendrick studio access, and that 308 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 1: gave him structure. The streets didn't go anywhere. They were 309 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,440 Speaker 1: still there, still calling out, but Kendrick had a different 310 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:14,639 Speaker 1: kind of crew now, guys like Jay Rock and Absol 311 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,880 Speaker 1: and Schoolboy Q the foundation of the hip hop collective 312 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: that would be known as Black Hippie, and in Anthony Tiffeth, 313 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: Kendrick had found a mentor, a guy who could pass 314 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: down his own mistakes in his own lessons. Early on 315 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: in their professional relationship, Anthony sat Kendrick down and said 316 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 1: he wanted to tell. 317 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:34,480 Speaker 2: Him a story. 318 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: It was a true story, but one that he rarely 319 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,600 Speaker 1: told anyone. It was about this one night years ago 320 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: when Anthony went into a KFC planning to rob the 321 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:46,640 Speaker 1: place and shoot anyone stupid. 322 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 2: Enough to get in his way. 323 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 1: Instead, he was stymied by an unexpected act of human kindness. 324 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: It sounded GOOFEO as fuck, but again he reiterated that 325 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 1: it was true. Kendrick paused, Wait, He asked, what KFC 326 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: are you talking about? Anthony shrugged the one over on 327 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:12,359 Speaker 1: rosecrans real quiet. Motherfucker behind the counter gave me extra 328 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: biscuits on the house, almost like he knew something may 329 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: have saved his life that day, Sure as fuck saved mine. 330 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,199 Speaker 1: Kendrick leaned back in his chair. Time came to a 331 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 1: slow crawl. That was my pops, Kenneth. 332 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 2: They call him Ducky. He used to work at that joint. 333 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 1: For a moment, Kendrick and Anthony were silent, each thinking 334 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: the same thing that they were both at these inflection 335 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:43,680 Speaker 1: points in their lives because of Kenneth Duckworth, a man 336 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:47,400 Speaker 1: of morals, of values, a man who acted the way 337 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 1: other men wanted to act, men who aspired to true greatness. 338 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:54,560 Speaker 1: And if it wasn't for Ducky, not only would Kendrick 339 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 1: and Anthony not be the men they were, but the. 340 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 2: Entire course of hip hop would have been altered. 341 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:06,360 Speaker 1: Sometimes fate doesn't need a pendulum, sometimes just needs. 342 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 2: A couple of extra biscuits on the house. We'll be 343 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:20,760 Speaker 2: right back after this. We're we're, we're, she said. 344 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: Her name was Charene, long hair, gold hoop, earrings, looked 345 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:28,359 Speaker 1: good and low rise jeans, and seventeen year old Kendrick 346 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: took one look and felt like he'd been smacked in 347 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:31,919 Speaker 1: the face. 348 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:33,479 Speaker 2: He went loopy. 349 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,200 Speaker 1: Suddenly she was the only thing at this house party 350 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,679 Speaker 1: that mattered. They talked and he got her number, but 351 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,399 Speaker 1: she played hard to get. Days went by and Kendrick 352 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: tried to get an address. They texted back and forth, flirting, 353 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: Kendrick trying to play it cool but knowing deep down 354 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 1: that she knew she was driving them wild. Finally, she 355 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:56,600 Speaker 1: told him where she lived and said he should come through. 356 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: He borrowed the Dodge Caravan from his mom and drove 357 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: it down Central, passed tams Burger's, passed the liquor store 358 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,119 Speaker 1: with a sign that was always busted through a neighborhood 359 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: that he knew wasn't neutral. None of this mattered, and 360 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,480 Speaker 1: his current state of mind at this moment, there was 361 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 1: only Charine and he pulled up on the side of 362 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,760 Speaker 1: the street across from the apartment complex where she said 363 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 1: she lived, and he got out of the minivan and 364 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: he could see her. 365 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 2: Out front waving at him. 366 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:27,200 Speaker 1: His heart raised, his blood was pumping. He looked both 367 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: ways and then jogged through the street to the other side, 368 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: coming up on the sidewalk, getting closer, now already smelling 369 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:40,399 Speaker 1: her perfume, her hair, and then right there, coming up 370 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,400 Speaker 1: fast on his right out of nowhere, two dudes, their 371 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: hoods up, hands and pockets. They didn't ask who he was, 372 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,719 Speaker 1: didn't ask who he was there to see, and they 373 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: were just dead set on getting their hands on him. 374 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 1: Kendrick averted his gaze from Charine, where she was standing 375 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 1: just a few hundred feet away. He wasn't about to 376 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: stick around and find out what happened when these two 377 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: dudes got any closer, so he. 378 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 2: Spun around and ran. 379 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,359 Speaker 1: His feet pounded the cracks in the pavement as he 380 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: fled back across the street. A car nearly missing him, 381 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:13,679 Speaker 1: laying on the horn, and he tripped and almost at 382 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 1: the ground, but regained his balance and made it back 383 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: to the caravan, dove inside and peeled out the tires screaming, 384 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,679 Speaker 1: his heart jackhammering inside his chest. 385 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 2: And there were no punches, no shots. He knew a 386 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 2: setup when he saw. 387 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: One, and he knew when he was being tested, because 388 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: Compton tested you constantly, made you choose between instinct and 389 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:38,560 Speaker 1: ego survival in pride. 390 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 2: Kendrick passed the test that day, but he never forgot it. 391 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:44,880 Speaker 2: In fact, he wrote it down. 392 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: This story may have been fictionalized to an extent, but 393 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: like all of Kendrick Lamurra's stories, it's based in truth, 394 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: and it served as the inspiration for the opening track 395 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,240 Speaker 1: on his twenty twelve breakthrough album, Good Kid, Mad City 396 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: is a coming of age story, a document of Kendrick's 397 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,439 Speaker 1: teenage days navigating Compton's streets and crews, and about how 398 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 1: time and again he made the choice to observe instead 399 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:14,840 Speaker 1: of act, to write instead of retaliate. And this is 400 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,640 Speaker 1: not softness, in fact, it's the opposite. Just like his 401 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 1: father Ducky at that KFC, to be able to fight 402 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: the urge to as Kendrick himself once put, it make 403 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: the next family hurt, because they hurt your family. But 404 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: this is the thing about Kendrick, and it's what everyone 405 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 1: saw on him. Long before Good Kid, Mad City was 406 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 1: universally embraced by critics fans in the hip hop world 407 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: at large, including Compton's own resident taste maker, doctor Dre. 408 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: Dre saw how Kendrick wasn't a showman, he wasn't flashy, 409 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: but he had that hunger that control the way that 410 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 1: he could tell a story like he was building an 411 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 1: entire scene and walking you through it, transgression by transgression, 412 00:23:55,920 --> 00:24:00,399 Speaker 1: body by body, beat by beat. Most remarkably, though, he 413 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: did this by not following a hip hop blueprint. He 414 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: flipped the script that had been written by all those 415 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: who came before him, from Dre, Snoop and Tupac to 416 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:14,680 Speaker 1: Biggie J and Eminem. Instead of defining himself with braggadoccio 417 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: and persona, Kendrick turned inward, deconstructing the streets where he remained, 418 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:24,400 Speaker 1: if not a participant in all things, then certainly a witness. 419 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 1: The next year, in twenty thirteen, he bore witness to 420 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: the entire hip hop game, which, in his eyes, needed 421 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,360 Speaker 1: a swift kick in the ass. He jumped on Big 422 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 1: Sean's track control for a three minute verse of Biblical 423 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: fire and Brimstone, simultaneously putting respect on and calling out 424 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:43,640 Speaker 1: the names of other rappers, from j Cole and Asat 425 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: Rocky to Mac Miller, Tyler, the Creator and Drake. Kendrick 426 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: wanted the bar raised, and he dared everyone and anyone 427 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,119 Speaker 1: to meet him there. The verse sent to seismic shock 428 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,920 Speaker 1: through hip hop. It did what Kendrick had intended to do, 429 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: to shock, but to shock in a positive way, to 430 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 1: shock other mcs out of a slumber and out of complacency. 431 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: Kendrick topped himself a few years later in twenty fifteen 432 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:13,679 Speaker 1: with his album to Pimp a Butterfly, which boasted a 433 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,479 Speaker 1: completely different production style than its predecessor. It was heavily 434 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,480 Speaker 1: influenced by the music of Miles Davis in Parliament Funkadelic. 435 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 1: It took the small scale of Good Kid, Mad City 436 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:28,120 Speaker 1: and transposed it onto a national scale, delivering a state 437 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: of the Union for Post Trayvon post ferguson Black America. 438 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: In two years after that, Kendrick's album Damn, which, in 439 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: addition to being his second number one album in a row, 440 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:43,399 Speaker 1: earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Music. No Easy feat 441 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 1: seeing that in the history of the Pulitzer Prize, no 442 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 1: artists outside the classical or jazz genres have ever won it. 443 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: As of this recording still holds that distinction. By the 444 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,119 Speaker 1: dawn of the twenty twenties, Kendrick had established his domination 445 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:03,439 Speaker 1: over the charts, the airwaves, and the intelligentsia alike, and 446 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: he landed in an illustrious prize, one that had always 447 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: seen far beyond. 448 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 2: Hip hop's league. 449 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:13,200 Speaker 1: But despite all this resounding acclaim and unprecedented achievement, it 450 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,719 Speaker 1: was room for misinterpretation, like those who were still on 451 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: this stupid trip, that hip hop was destructive, not constructive, 452 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: that it was tearing communities apart rather than bringing them together. 453 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,160 Speaker 1: I'm thinking in part of the samples of news anchors 454 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,560 Speaker 1: you hear at the beginning of Dan but I digress. 455 00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 1: And then Kendrick saw an opportunity to make himself perfectly clear. 456 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: He saw it in the public persona of one of 457 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:42,479 Speaker 1: the rappers he targeted in his control verse, Drake. But 458 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 1: Drake wasn't just another rapper. He was the opposite of 459 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: Kendrick in almost every way. Drake was a brand. He 460 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: was a performer. He was Toronto's slickness to Kendrick's Compton grit. 461 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 2: He was also the. 462 00:26:56,160 --> 00:27:01,159 Speaker 1: Biggest star on the planet, and Drake Kendrick saw a 463 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,399 Speaker 1: target and so Kendrick the observer chose not to stand 464 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: by and observe anymore. Kendrick got Drake in his sights, 465 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: aimed and fired, all right, so. 466 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 2: We had Drake Horsus meet Mill. A lot of people 467 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:37,119 Speaker 2: were sweating that. 468 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:39,479 Speaker 1: To me, we kind of know the outcome of that. 469 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 3: But if Drake and Kendrick Lamargan in. 470 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:43,640 Speaker 2: A rap battle, who do you think would win? 471 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:48,240 Speaker 3: Gotta go with I'm just saying I think Drake is 472 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 3: UH an outstanding entertainer, but Kendrick his lyrics, his last 473 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 3: album was outstanding, best, the best album I think last year. 474 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:00,200 Speaker 2: You gotta go. 475 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,920 Speaker 1: There's no better sign of weakness than to actually show 476 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,439 Speaker 1: your opponent that they've rattled you, and Kendrick knew that 477 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,000 Speaker 1: he had Drake good and rattled. 478 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:13,920 Speaker 2: It only took two weeks for. 479 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:17,240 Speaker 1: The Canadian rapper to respond to President Barack Obama's twenty 480 00:28:17,359 --> 00:28:20,879 Speaker 1: sixteen take on social media that Kendrick would trout him 481 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:25,360 Speaker 1: in a rap battle. Drake's comeback, Yo, Barry, you got 482 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: it wrong. 483 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 2: He was bulletproof. Yeah right. Tell that to your ego. 484 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 2: Tell that to. 485 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:35,119 Speaker 1: Your pride, which just took one to the chest, and wait, 486 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 1: what's up with that? He's in words like bulletproof? Had 487 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 1: Drake actually seen a bullet before? 488 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 2: For real? 489 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: Kendrick smelled blood in the water, bad blood that had 490 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,520 Speaker 1: gotten worse over the years. And once upon a time 491 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: there was no beef. Actually, that's not it exactly. There's 492 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: always beef. It's baked into hip hop's DNA. But once 493 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: upon a time Drake was guessing. 494 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 2: On you Kendrick's tracks. 495 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,600 Speaker 1: And that was before Control, before the Cipher, at the 496 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 1: BET hip Hop Awards, where Kendrick dropped that line about 497 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 1: tucking a sensitive rapper back into his pajamas, before things 498 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: got really bad between Kendrick and Drake, they were all 499 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: these subliminal hints they both started taking out on each other, 500 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: stealth verses that, well, if you knew, you knew. Kendrick 501 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: liked to think that he had better evasive maneuvers, better 502 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: counter attacks when those hits came at him, and those 503 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: hits didn't always arrive as expected. They were smuggled inside 504 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,680 Speaker 1: trojan horses, and there were wolves dressed. 505 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 2: In sheep's clothing and all that. 506 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 1: On Drake's twenty twenty three track First Person Shooter J 507 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,480 Speaker 1: Cole wrapped it keyed Drake and Kendrick were. 508 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 2: A big three in hip hop. 509 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: Kendrick course corrected in early twenty twenty four in a 510 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: verse on Future and Metro Boomin's like that motherfucked the 511 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: big three, It's just big Me. It didn't matter if 512 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 1: Kendrick believed it. It was good for the dialogue, good 513 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: for hip hop. All got under Drake's skin. Kendrick didn't 514 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: run marathons, but he can only assume that the high 515 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: he got from fucking up Drake with his words was 516 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,200 Speaker 1: exactly what those link he asked dudes felt when they 517 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: crossed the finish line. 518 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 2: But Kendrick wasn't out the finish line, not yet. 519 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 1: In April twenty twenty four, Drake came out him responding 520 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: to the Future Verse with the tracks Push Ups and 521 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 1: Taylor Made Freestyle. Kendrick hit back on April thirtieth with Euphoria, 522 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 1: which quickly racked up over nine million streams on Spotify, 523 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 1: and then with six sixteen in La on May third, 524 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,560 Speaker 1: and yes, the dates are important, just bear with me here. 525 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:41,440 Speaker 1: The flurry of activity was part of it to get 526 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: Drake to react quickly, to overheat and to overwhelm. Kendrick 527 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,720 Speaker 1: made sure he was overly prepared. He had producers like 528 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: the Alchemist and Mustard working on beats in the background. 529 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:56,720 Speaker 1: He didn't stop writing, plotting, planning, and so when later 530 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,480 Speaker 1: that same day, May third, when Drake responded to six 531 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: sixteen in LA with the track Family Matters, Kendrick was ready. 532 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,560 Speaker 1: And by the time Family Matters hit, the days of 533 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 1: the subliminal discs were long gone. The gloves were off, 534 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: tossed in the trash bin, and rotting in the landfill. 535 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:18,680 Speaker 1: On Family Matters, Drake accused Kendrick of domestic abuse and 536 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: claimed that his son wasn't even his son. 537 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 2: Kendrick wasn't rattled. Kendrick didn't get rattled. 538 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 1: Kendrick got inspired, and as I said earlier, Kendrick also 539 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 1: got prepared, so prepared, in fact, that twenty minutes later 540 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: Kendrick dropped Meet the Grams, his response track, which accused 541 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:40,600 Speaker 1: Drake of being a sexual predator. 542 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:43,400 Speaker 2: But he wasn't done. 543 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 1: The very next day, May fourth, Kendrick released Not Like Us. 544 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:51,080 Speaker 1: The track was dripping in that La G funk bounce, 545 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: and it was catchy, hooky and at its core, it 546 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 1: was a cold, calculated and yes funny, master stroke of 547 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 1: character assassination. Like Us took everything that Drake built, the myth, 548 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: the image, the sheen. 549 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 2: And burned it down, and it delivered on the promise 550 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:10,120 Speaker 2: of the leader of the free world from eight years earlier. 551 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: You gotta go with Kendrick. The real point of Not 552 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 1: Like Us, however, was to separate the Drakes of the 553 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:21,680 Speaker 1: world from the Kenneth Duckworths, those men of values and morals, 554 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 1: men whom Kendrick held in high. 555 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 2: Regard and aspired to be like. 556 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: And in doing so, Kendrick made it clear this was 557 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: his culture, his people, his city. If you go ahead 558 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: and let some outsider or some insider turned outsider, a 559 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: Charlottan like Drake fuck with all that, grab onto your 560 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: pendulum and swing, well, that would be a disgrace. 561 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:58,800 Speaker 4: I'm Jake Brennan, and this this Disgraceland. 562 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:04,880 Speaker 2: All right, hope you dug this episode. 563 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: Apple podcast listeners, make sure you got auto downloads turned 564 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:09,880 Speaker 1: on so you never miss a drop from disgracelam this 565 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: week's question, what's the greatest act of mercy in music history? 566 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 2: Okay? Was it? 567 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,520 Speaker 1: Kendrick Lamar choosing peace rather than life on the streets. 568 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: Was it Johnny cash at fulsom Was it Brian Wilson 569 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: forgiving his father? Or was it something smaller, something personal? 570 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: Text me, leave me a voicemail six one seven nine 571 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: oh six sixty six three eight. You'll hear your answers 572 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:30,720 Speaker 1: on the after party. It's up next to the feed. 573 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 1: And if that's not enough, you want the real deep cuts, 574 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: the dirt we don't put. 575 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 2: Into the main feed. 576 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:37,960 Speaker 1: That Become a member at disgracelampod dot com slash membership 577 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: get all kinds of free perks, including a bunch more 578 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: content because some stories are. 579 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:43,800 Speaker 2: Just too raw for the wide release. 580 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 1: All right, you know what we do here is myth work. 581 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 1: We uncovered the truth, confront the story, reclaimed the music. 582 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:50,960 Speaker 1: Kendrick Lamar did that and so do you. Every time 583 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:51,440 Speaker 1: you listen. 584 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 2: Thank you. Discos Here comes some credits. 585 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: Disgracelam was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 586 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 587 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,080 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 588 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:08,239 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, Thank 589 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and 590 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,319 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 591 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:17,600 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com slash membership, rate and review 592 00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:20,040 Speaker 1: the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and 593 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com 594 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:33,439 Speaker 1: slash at disgracelampod, Rock a rolla, He's a Man.