The song that “came naturally” to Kendrick Lamar
Given the high levels of output that Kendrick Lamar has been able to sustain for over a decade, it brings up the question: how much work must he put in to produce these unforgettable hooks and iconic bars.
Eminem even questioned Lamar, suspecting he had a ghostwriter, such was his prowess with the pen. Whilst highly nuanced tracks like ‘Sing about me, I’m dying of thirst’ and ‘The Blacker the Berry’ undoubtedly took hours to write, others were a lot smoother.
In an interview with Complex magazine, K-dot recalls a time before the release of his 2012 album Good Kid, M.A.A.d City, when collaborating with producer, Tha Bizness: “I was in Atlanta when Tha Bizness gave me the beat. Immediately I got a vibe where I wanted to talk about a specific girl back when I was growing up. A specific story that leads down the line into the album. I got the track and I started writing and I went back home and laid it down.”
The girl in question would be someone who Lamar had a sexually driven relationship with when he was 17 years old and the track that would come from this sudden jolt of inspiration would become ‘Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter’s Daughter’. The subtitle of the track is in reference to the fact that Sherane’s father was a ‘hood rat’, equating him to the Master Splinter, who is a rat in the cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Explaining this not so uncommon scenario, he would go on to say: “These songs, they come naturally for me to write off the experiences I grew up with, and the things I been around. It was just what we were going through. It’s easy for me to write [real] stories rather than making up a crazy story.” Sherane would not be confined to just this track in Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.d City, popping up again in ‘Poetic Justice’, where their electric connection is explored in more detail, and in ‘Money Trees’, where she is referenced as a conquest more than anything else.
By retelling firsthand accounts of his youth experiences and writing naturally, Kendrick is able to bring an authenticity that resonates even with the most reluctant listener. His focus on creating content based on reality, in conjunction with his epic lyricism, lays the foundation for his success.
In another interview with MTV News, Lamar spoke with a smile on his face about what happens when he visits Compton. “It’s funny because it’s a weird thing when I go back to the neighbourhood and the homies know who I’m talking about. It be a big joke, and I’ve been hearing things that she’s more excited and surprised that I put her in the song more than anything. That’s the funny part about it. It’s all love though. I ain’t got no ill will.”