10 underrated Kendrick Lamar songs on the king of Compton's birthday
Kendrick Lamar is not the next pop star. He's not the next socially aware rapper. He's just a human being over dope instrumentation. Or, at least, that's what the To Pimp A Butterfly artist affirmed on Ab-Soul's Outro from 2011's Section.80.
But it's precisely Kendrick's acute sense of self-awareness that has shaped his art and rendered his oeuvre a classic body of work. And so, in recognition of that — and in honor of the rapper's 29th birthday — here are 10 underrated Kendrick Lamar songs.
1. Average Joe
From: 2010's Overly Dedicated
Quotable lyrics: "On the corners where the gangsters and the killers dwell / The fraudulent tender scars that get unveiled / Everyone I knew was either Crip or Piru / Cousins in elementary, relatives in high school / With that being said, each one of their rivals / Was aiming something at my head, I needed survival..."
2. Ab-Soul’s Outro
From: 2011's Section.80
Quotable lyrics: "See I've spent 23 years on the earth / Searching for answers / 'Til one day i realized I had to come up with my own..."
3. Faith
From: 2009's Kendrick Lamar EP
Quotable lyrics: "We can't believe what we can't see and reality seems stronger than prayer / 'Cause you tried to change your life, and now you live in a wheelchair / And your son was born with cancer and he live in urgent care / At the tender age of 12, and you feel that no one cares / Searching for answers, that's human nature, you ain't in the wrong / Just know, when you feeling that way his spirit's in the room..."
4. Jason Keaton & Uncle Bobby
From: 2009's Kendrick Lamar EP
Quotable lyrics: "The government help? No, just put us on death row / Just give us some more guns, then give us some more coke / Then give us another chair, then give us some more rope..."
5. R.O.T.C
From: 2010's Overly Dedicated
Quotable lyrics: "Sometimes I wanna say (expletive) rapping, I need money now / Like should I start trapping? If what I write down / Don't connect this very moment, then I'm on it, no question..."
6. The Heart Part 2
From: 2010's Overly Dedicated
Quotable lyrics: "The school of hard knocks, we was the first ones in attendance / You walking down the block, he got shot, you wouldn't know I witnessed / You just mind your bidness / You just turn your head, kneel down, and then tie your tennises / It's kinda scary ain't it..."
7. Untitled 08
From: 2016's untitled unmastered
Quotable lyrics: "You're banking on good luck, you wishing for miracles / You never been through (expletive), you're crying hysterical / You settle for everything, complain about everything / You say you sold crack, my world amphetamine..."
8. Vanity Slaves
From: 2009's Kendrick Lamar EP
Quotable lyrics: "See what we facing is now coming, back to the roots / Remember whips on our back and if we would run they would shoot? / Call us n— and figured that we'd never lived in pursuit / Of happiness, we captured these feelings in things that we do..."
9. Wanna Be Heard
From: 2009's Kendrick Lamar EP
Quotable lyrics: "My momma believed in me, she let me use her van to go to the studio / Even though she know her tank is empty, that's who I do it fo'..."
10. West Coast Wu-Tang
From: 2010's C4
Quotable lyrics: "Even atheists play my (expletive) / And say, "My god, Jesus, Joseph and Mary, he’s nice" / Don’t compare me to them / Just compare me to Mike / Jordan when i’m recording..."