Every NBA reference Kendrick Lamar has made on Pulitzer Award-winning album DAMN.
When Kendrick Lamar dropped 'The Heart Part IV' a week after Drake talked his talk about being the best rapper alive on 'Gyalchester' from More Life, the entire world of hip-hop and pop culture listened with rapt attention.
'Hoppin out before the vehicle crash/I'm on a roll/Yellin one-two-three-four-five/I am the greatest rapper alive,' sent out an unmistakable signal that "Kung Fu Kenny" would be doubling down on his GOAT talk through the course of DAMN., scheduled to drop two weeks later.
And when DAMN. did arrive, music and basketball fans alike vibed out to numbers like 'Humble,' 'DNA' and 'Element' all summer long. TNT overplayed 'DNA' to the point where it's the only song I can remember from broadcasts of Kevin Durant lifting the Larry O'Brien for the first time.
DAMN. went on to become Kendrick Lamar's most successful commercial release at the time of writing. By August 13, 2024, DAMN. was the only hip-hop album from the 2010s to record over a billion streams in 2024, which speaks to the record's impact on culture - it may be the last true certified hip-hop classic!
Every NBA reference made by Kendrick Lamar on DAMN.
Lamar has always been a huge basketball (and sports) fan, often citing the influence of the Lakers and Kobe Bryant through his mixtape run and later in his albums. Consequently, he threw in a smattering of NBA-related references on DAMN., which would become the first (and only) hip-hop album to win a Pulitzer.
We take a look at the 3 of them that we could find:
#1 The Heart Part IV
Kendrick has prefaced each of his album releases with a song from his acclaimed 'The Heart' series. Ahead of his 3rd major label release, he released the 4th installment of this series.
The NBA references on this joint are in the extended 2nd verse, with lines such as:
"Tables turned, lesson learned, my best look/You jumped sides on me, now you 'bout to meet Westbrook/Go celebrate witcha team and let victory vouch you"
"Just know, the next game played I might slap the shit out you/Technical foul, I'm flagrant, I'm foul/They throwin' me out, you throw in the towel"
People also assumed that a line preceding this, referring to LA county sheriff Lee Baca, was initially about Serge Ibaka. However, subsequent listening sessions proved that it was a reference to the police officer.
#2 FEEL.
FEEL. is one of Kendrick's most introspective yet powerful songs. Rappers like Nipsey Hussle, among others, have spoken about how this song touches them.
FEEL. enters the NBA discussion in the 2nd verse of the song, where Kendrick lays out how he truly feels about the rap game in a poetic fashion.
"I am legend, I feel like all of y'all is peasants/I feel like all of y'all is desperate/I feel like all it take is a second to feel like/Mike Jordan whenever holdin' a real mic/ I ain't feelin' your presence"
#3 FEAR.
FEAR. may perhaps be Kendrick's magnum opus from a songwriting POV. The song starts with an intro in spoken word, similar to many others on this record. This section sets the context via a refrain by Kendrick played in reverse.
The three verses on the song depict Lamar's fears at the ages of seven, 17 and 27. Verse one depicts how Kendrick is most afraid of his mother. He refers to his fear of dirtying his Air Jordans (which cost a fortune and his parents were from Section 8 housing). Here's how the verse goes:
"Your teachers better not be b*tchin' 'bout you in class/That pizza better not be wasted, you eat it all/That TV better not be loud if you got it on/Them Jordans better not get dirty when I just bought 'em"