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Originally, we thought “take your time” was a sarcastic sentiment much like that seen in Nirvana’s “Come As You Are”:

Take your time, hurry up
The choice is yours, don’t be late

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This is an interpolation Ice Cube’s opening lines from his 1991 song “A Bird in the Hand”“:

Fresh out of school cause I was a high school grad / Gots to get a job cuz I was a high school dad

Both “A Bird in the Hand” and the second part of “m.A.A.d city” sample B.B. King’s “Chains and Things.”

These lines establish the shift back to Kendrick’s teenage years, complemented by the pitch of his voice, made to sound like a boy who’s just hitting puberty. The timbre of these lines were described by Pitchfork as a “pleading, near-hysterical sob.”

Kendrick’s second line stands in contrast with Cube’s, as he’s still staying with his mother rather than trying to support a child. Though many middle-class Americans take high school graduation for granted, the graduation rate in Compton is just 57%, making it a more notable accomplishment in the area.

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The Warriors is a 1979 film/2005 video game about street gangs, while Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He mentions these violent movies in order to allude to Compton gang members and how they see themselves as warriors of their hood.

Kendrick also references Conan later in the album on “Compton”:

Kendrick Conan nigga
Where you sword at, hand on the cross and swore that

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Coroners use trolleys to move corpses. In this case, “hopp[ing] on the trolly” means you’re a corpse.

However, there is also a trolley system that runs through Compton and Lynwood. Depending on where you hop on, you might encounter a Blood or a Crip, so the colors of your clothes better be in line with their affiliations if you want to stay safe.

Ice-T’s iconic 1988 song “Colors” similarly discussed the territorial differences between Bloods and Crips.

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A rather holocaustal image: the corpses from the killings are everywhere, piled on top of each other, and the hospitals are packed with the wounded and dying.

IV is the acronym for the intravenous drip inserted into many hospital patients' arms to get fluid directly into the bloodstream. Gunshot victims would almost certainly be given blood transfusions by this method. In another context, the intravenous needles could be those from addicts shooting up heroin and other drugs in the streets.

IV is also the Roman numeral for 4, which may be a way for Kendrick to imply that there are .44 magnums everywhere. Perhaps too, this is a reference to Imperial Village Crips, alluded to later as a tag by MC Eiht: “A couple of IVs with a fucking spray can.” The multiplicity of this one line, its ability to take on multiple meanings is part of Kendrick’s genius.

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AK-47s (pictured, top) and AR-15s (bottom) are the kinds of high firepower weapons Kendrick was surrounded by while living on the streets of Compton, California.

The AK was Ice Cube’s favorite weapon, as he says in “Straight Outta Compton”:

AK-47 is the tool
Don’t make me act the motherfucking fool

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Rather than glorify drug dealing, as is common in the rap game, Kendrick’s story is about his “good kid” upbringing in the “m.A.A.d city” around him. He also refers to the cul-de-sac on his 2010 track “Average Joe”:

Well aware they had blue across they hat
Dropped backpack and ran inside of the cul-de-sac

The cognac he mentions may represent coping techniques and alcoholic influences that are expounded upon later in the tracklist, on the album’s lead single, “Swimming Pools.”

Major Payne is a 1995 comedy starring Damon Wayans as a drill sergeant tasked with training the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps—i.e. junior highers and high schoolers.

Unlike Major Payne, which is humorous and lighthearted, Kendrick plays on its title to describe the “major pain” and hardships he experienced growing up. He also uses “weighin'” as a homophone.

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In football, there are two ways to score:
1. Touchdown (6 points + pending PAT)) – scored by running or completing a pass into the end zone
2. Field Goal (3 points) – scored by kicking the ball through the goal posts

You have 4 downs, or plays, in football to advance the ball forward 10 yards. Doing so resets the downs and you get another 4 chances, getting you closer to scoring.

On fourth down, if you do not convert a first down the ball goes to the other team. Therefore, the team has a few options as to what they want to do:
1. Fourth Down Conversion (“Go for it”) – the team runs or passes the ball in attempt to get a first down
2. Kick a field goal – if they are in field goal range (typically within 50 yards in the NFL) the team can attempt to kick the ball through the uprights/
3. Punt – They kick the ball to the other team’s returner (who “runs it back”), ceding their possession and moving to defense.

If you want to win in football you go for the touchdown, or at least a field goal so you can earn points. His girl is punting and waiting to run it back like she is giving up.

She wants to “kick it”, aka chill with Rockie, just like you “kick it” (punt or kick a field goal) in football.

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When someone puts a “notch in their belt” it means that they have added another person to the list of people they have dated.

Taylor learned from other people’s gossip that he moved on from their relationship quickly. All she will be be to him is a name on that list. Until he becomes a name on hers.

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Rockie is “it” because of his dope music so if a chick touches him they are “feeling it.”
Women want to have sex with him. Groupies…..

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