Kendrick Lamar has long been in contention for the GOAT label. He’s the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize (for his 2017 album DAMN.) and his last three albums (Good Kid, MAAD City, To Pimp A Butterfly, and DAMN.) have all been critically praised. However, even after all those heaps of achievement have been lavished onto him, it turns out Kung-Fu Kenny is still capable of blowing fans’ minds — even with his older work.
A new video from Dissect podcast breaking down one of Kendrick’s old verses is making its way around Twitter, and fans are expressing their awe at the complexity in Kendrick’s writing that it reveals. The verse is from Pusha T’s 2013 single, “Nosestalgia,” which appeared on the Virginia rapper’s album My Name Is My Name. Released in the wake of Kendrick’s incendiary “Control” verse, which dropped just a few months before, it’s easy to see how some rap fans might have overlooked its quieter impact.
Rather than naming names, Kendrick employs a mind-bending numerological approach to the wordplay in the verse, which sees him comparing himself to a brick of cocaine and reminiscing on his loose connections to the drug game through his father. As Dissect points out, Kendrick cleverly uses the numbers nine and ten to accomplish this, with Dissect carefully explaining the underlying genius behind the technique.
Kendrick Lamar is the best rapper alive. pic.twitter.com/qLKOgiuQcA
— Dissect Podcast (@dissectpodcast) April 12, 2022
The tweet, which reposts a video from TikTok, has accumulated thousands of interactions (over 16,000 retweets and 68,000 likes as of this writing), with fans gushing about the Compton rapper’s prowess. In addition, more accounts have reposted the original TikTok uncredited, meaning those numbers are just a fraction of the attention the video has received. Fans are calling Kendrick a national treasure, suggesting his lyrics should be studied in school, and generally expressing amazement over the nearly decade-old verse.
Boy wtf Kendrick
https://t.co/NqdM25AfQu
— NoLifeShaq (@NoLifeShaq) April 13, 2022
Kendrick Lamar always relied on using entendres that are structured in the simplest way. You have to check majority of his verses more than once to even catch what it was. A true wordsmith, but y’all knew that already. https://t.co/Ew3cu2AUKw
— Dedee
(@thoughtfulbae) April 12, 2022
schools need to be studying Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics, this shit is insane pic.twitter.com/DhviTP4jhC
— Z E N (@real_zen1) April 12, 2022
I just watched a indepth fact about kendrick Lamar’s verse on Pusha T’s “Nosetalgia” and i must say… This man right here is a National Treasure!!!
@kendricklamar pic.twitter.com/uHLmq0jPwK
— Quasimodo at heart/ Chocolate Zeus
(@illie_kNOwAH) April 13, 2022
If nothing else, the video has certainly increased anticipation for his comeback album, which will be his last under Top Dawg Entertainment.