Now, in a perfect world, I probably wont be insensitive — Kendrick Lamar

"Hail Mary, Jesus and Joseph The great American flag Is wrapped and dragged with explosives Compulsive disorder, sons and daughters Barricaded blocks and borders Look what you taught us Its murder on my street, your street, back streets Wall Street, corporate offices, banks Employees and bosses with homicidal thoughts Donald Trumps in office, we lost Barack And promised to never doubt him again But is America honest or do we bask in sin? Pass the gin, I mix it with American blood Then bash him in, you crippin or you married to blood? Ill ask again—oops—accident Its nasty when you set us up Then roll the dice, then bet us up You overnight the big rifles, then tell Fox to be scared of us Gang members or terrorists, et cetera, et cetera America’s a reflection of me Thats what a mirror does"

"My focus hold these thoughts and dreams Control this pen (look over your shoulder) Boldest lines in rhymes and things Devote my time and mind it seems Supposed to shine, remind Im king Provoke the blind and bomb the fiends The pros the cons, the diamond rings The forward time, but Ima bring The soul divine and cross between Whats yours and mines, the gold, the green The roads that show just what it mean That grabbed Shakur and by the wing And fly before my vocal scream"

"Where was your presence, where was your support that you pretend? You aint no brother, you aint no disciple, you aint no friend A friend never leave Compton for profit or leave his best friend Little brother, you promised youd watch him before they shot him Where was your antennas, on the road, bottles and bitches You faced time the one time, thats unforgiven You even FaceTimed instead of a hospital visit You thought he would recover, well The surgery couldnt stop the bleeding for real Then he died, God himself will say "you fuckin failed" You aint try"

"The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it Its only job is to eat or consume everything Around it, in order to protect itself from this mad city While consuming its environment the Caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive One thing it noticed is how much the World shuns him, but praises the butterfly The butterfly represents the talent, The thoughtfulness, and the beauty within the caterpillar But having a harsh outlook on life the caterpillar sees the Butterfly as weak and figures out A way to pimp it to his own benefits Already surrounded by this mad city the caterpillar Goes to work on the cocoon which institutionalizes him He can no longer see past his own thoughts Hes trapped When trapped inside these walls certain ideas take roots, Such as going home, and bringing back new concepts to this mad city The result? Wings begin to emerge, breaking the cycle of feeling stagnant Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations that The caterpillar never considered, ending the internal struggle Although the butterfly and caterpillar are Completely different, they are one and the same."

"Lord forgive me Kill him where he stand and stand over him, shake his hand Then jump back in that mini van, double back to his block and blam I aint backing down for nothing Ima back em down like Shaq with this black 2-2-3 in my hand Better pray that this chopper jam like a radio single, man Police radio signals sayin that a 187 land on your corner Coroners comfort your mama "Mama hes dead," the next morning I toasted up with my homies We drink and smoke marijuana, want us to change our ways? Uh-huh You see this game we play come from uncles that raised me in Compton Ask me what I have accomplished I dont know I dont have conscience I just load up and start dumpin on enemies; Im head hunting No sympathy, aint no love when you in these streets just get something Protect ya neck cuz they comin for sets, respect, split your onion Then chop your deck your head tumblin like gymnastics Cause ignorance is bliss"

"A piece of mines Thats what the white man wanted when I rhyme Telling me that he selling me just for $10.99 If I go platinum from rapping, I do the company fine What if I compromise? He said, it dont even matter You make a million or more, you living better than average You losing your core following, gaining it all He put a price on my talent, I hit the bank and withdraw Hit the bank and withdraw, hit the bank and withdraw Put myself in the rocket ship and I shot for the stars Look at what you accomplishing, what he said to the boy Ima make you some promises that you just cant ignore Your profession anonymous as an artist if I dont target your market If you aint signing your signature when I throw you my wallet A lot of rappers are giving their demo all in the toilet Your world tour, your masters, mortgage, I need a piece"