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What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
What is this?
The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.
To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.
Kendrick Lamar and Talib Kweli
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What is this?
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Three gunshots end the verse, signifying the death of Dave’s brother before the album drop. The three sequential gunshots operate as a sort of sonic ellipsis, as well as a narrative gap.
Almost immediately after Dave’s brother went to get revenge for Kendrick, he was gunned down. This demonstrates the “eye-for-an-eye” mentality in the hood.
The beat goes on, regardless of the gunshots. In other songs—such as “m.A.A.d city” with the “Yawk, yawk, yawk, yawk”—the track pauses for emphasis while the ad-lib/sample continues.
I think the abrupt and simultaneously non-aggressive nature of the gunshots is equally important to mention here. It essentially juxtaposes the traditional onomatopoeia we would expect from gunshots, particularly those of which would result in death as it does here. I believe this is intentional from Kendrick as it essentially represents the frailty of life within the hood and how it can end so suddenly and non-dramatically.
The continuation of the instrumental (as you mentioned) despite the gunshots and sudden end to the lyrics furthers this notion… reflecting a ‘life goes on’ attitude present within these communities despite such an important tragedy happening. He wastes no time going straight into the hook.