Deciphering Which Kendrick Lamar Feature Was Better
Between his early September verses on Travis Scott’s “Goosebumps” and Isaiah Rashad’s “Wat’s Wrong”.
September is not even halfway done yet, and already two heavily awaited rap albums have been released (Travis Scott’s Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight and Isaiah Rashad’s debut album The Sun’s Tirade), with more anticipated drops coming before the month ends.
After an already very dope spring/summer of rap, it appears as if the genre is heading for a sublime fall as well. This is very good news, and something that should undoubtedly make music fans everywhere happy and blah blah blah, yeah whatever.
That doesn’t really matter. What matters is that Kendrick Lamar has had guest verses on two new songs this month. He was featured on “Goosebumps”, which is probably the best song on Travis Scott’s new album, and “Wat’s Wrong”, which is probably the best song on Isaiah Rashad’s new album. Coincidence? Not at all.
To be clear, a Kendrick Lamar guest verse is something that should always be appreciated in full. The majority of Kendrick’s verses, whether on a song of his own or someone else’s, are magnificent. But his guest verses are particularly special because of his ability to make another artist’s song his own.
He puts himself into the forefront, and usually decides to absolutely destroy any discussion over who the better rapper on the song is — really who the best rapper alive is.
Furthermore, a Kendrick guest verse can most accurately be compared to something like Anthony Hopkins’ ten minutes of screen time in Silence Of The Lambs, which won him an Oscar, or Omar Little’s very brief yet undeniably memorable moments from The Wire. His verses are what people come and stay for.
Before comparing these two new entries into Kendrick’s Holy Bible Of Guest Verses, let us first review some of his historic ones from the past:
“Nosetalgia”, Pusha T — Pusha T is the king of cocaine rap. It sometimes seems like he only raps about drugs. Somehow Kendrick one-upped him here.
“Blessed”, Schoolboy Q — An uplifting verse from Kendrick, mapped out with his smoothly transcendent flow.
“Darkside Gone”, Dr. Dre — Took subliminal shots at Drake, who is the king of subliminal shots, and somehow did it better.
“Hood Gone Love It”, Jay Rock — Jay Rock and K. Dot work together in perfect unison. It’s really as if a prophet walked through the streets of Compton, saw Kendrick on one sidewalk and Jay Rock on the opposite, and decided the world would be a better, more complete place if they were introduced.
“His Pain”, BJ The Chicago Kid — Very underrated song, and so also a very underrated verse. Go listen to it, it’s a true hidden gem. You’ll probably start crying if your ears work and if you’re a sympathetic human. The verse is that profound and the story he weaves is that deep.
“Fuckin’ Problems”, A$AP Rocky — When this song dropped in 2012, A$AP, Kendrick, and Drake were arguably the biggest names in rap. Yet still, the line that resonates most and gets chanted louder than any other when this song comes on in a club (or in the car, or in the shower, or on a plane, or anywhere on earth) is Kendrick’s “Girl, I know you want this dick,” line.
“1Train”, A$AP Rocky — Save for maybe Big K.R.I.T.’s verse, Kendrick owned a track that had SIX other features on it, plus Rocky’s.
“Control”, Big Sean — This was the verse where Kendrick called every other notable rapper out (by name). It’s Basically him telling the rap world “fuck all you guys, I’m the best, you can all go S a D.”
Intro Lines
“Wat’s Wrong” starts off with Kendrick rapping “How many souls do you touch a day? / How many hoes do you fuck a day? / How many flows do your thought convey? / How many know you can’t walk away? / Depending on the way I feel I might kill everybody around me / Might heal everybody around me.”
Those six lines have more meaning than my entire life has had up until this point. He packed as much into those six lines as Ernest Hemingway packed into The Sun Also Rises, which is saying a lot.
“Wat’s Wrong”: 1
“Goosebumps”: 0
Most Profound Line
On “Goosebumps”, Kendrick’s most profound moment comes when he raps, “Put the pussy on a pedestal / Put the pussy on a high horse / That pussy to die for, that pussy to die for.”
What he is saying here is that a good woman should be treasured, and more specifically that women in general are an incredible gift to the world. This is very true, and something that every man/person should take into real consideration. Respect women, I feel you Kendrick.
He may also just be saying that a woman he is sleeping with knows what she’s doing. Let’s go with the former ideal instead.
On “Wat’s Wrong”, he raps, “Told Zay I’m the best rapper since 25 / Been like that for a while now, I’m 29 / Any n***a that disagree is a fucking liar.”
When he raps this last part, he says it with the confidence and aggression of someone who knows that he is absolutely 100 per cent telling the truth. The line, no pun intended here, gave me goosebumps.
“Wat’s Wrong”: 2
“Goosebumps”: 0
Flow
Kendrick’s flow is always flawless and exquisite.
“Wat’s Wrong”: 2.5
“Goosebumps”: 0.5
Alliterative Skills
One of Kendrick’s greatest linguistic abilities is his use of alliteration. It shows up in damn near every verse he has. He’ll string together four or five S’s in a row, and all of a sudden it’s like, holy shit I need to rewind that part and play it 50 more times so my brain can accurately comprehend it.
After saying the “put the pussy on a pedestal” line in “Goosebumps”, Kendrick follows it up by saying “Peter, piper, picked a pepper.” If you add up all the P’s in those lines, it makes seven P’s, which is a truly astounding use of his literary devices.
“Wat’s Wrong”: 2.5
“Goosebumps”: 1.5
Narrative
The narrative involved in “Goosebumps” is sweet. It revolves around Kendrick saying that he wants to take his shot with a certain female, and he wants to treat her well and such and such. It is, like all things Kendrick, an intricate way of saying something that is actually quite simple. He does that better than anybody.
The narrative of “Wat’s Wrong” is not simple. In the verse, which lasts exactly one minute, Kendrick does all of the following:
- Tries to explain Isaiah Rashad’s self-worth to him.
- Raps about his complex mind and the fact that on any given day his emotions might peak on both ends of the spectrum.
- Brings up the fact that Jesus Christ may indeed have been a black man.
- Reiterates once again that he is the best rapper alive.
- Gives a big ol’ fuck you to Donald Trump (always a very welcome addition to a rap verse, or any song for that matter).
- Shows his devotion to his community/hometown, by stating that he always wants to give back.
So, yeah.
“Wat’s Wrong”: 3.5
“Goosebumps”: 1.5
Result:
Kendrick’s verse on “Wat’s Wrong” is the better verse. This is not a slight to his verse on “Goosebumps” in any way.
What’s crazy about all of this, though, is that his verse on “Wat’s Wrong” might not even be his best of the entire year. That distinction should go to the verse he lets loose during the middle segment of “Untitled 7”, or maybe the verse at the end of “Untitled 2”, in which he transitions from a cool-headed individual to a fire-breathing dragon. Everything this man touches turns to gold.
