The best thing about this album is i have a new favorite track with every listen
Yesterday I was stuck on XXX and today Pride is my shyt
And I'm going to go ahead and say it. Duckworth is the crowning jewel of Kendrick's discography
It's one of the best storytelling songs I've ever heard. Like Nas, he understanding telling a story is NOT about detailing a list of things that happen, in a boring/predictable "this happened and then this happened and then this happened" manner. Telling a story is about painting a picture and bringing it to life with evocative prose or lyricism.
It started with rhythms I heard listenin' to the wall
The bouncin' of basketballs on playgrounds and all
The empty bottles that's hollow, wind blowin' inside 'em
The flow and the rhymin' got my alignment to a Science
Mixin' with my moms in the kitchen, them spoons rattlin'
Pots and pans, faucet water pourin', tunes managin'
To come from all the fussin' and ramblin'
What I noticed was -- pure music, untampered with
By things show biz does; older thugs showed us stuff
Like how to hold a plug, juice from the street light
It almost could have blowed us up
Crates of records, great sessions had the whole hood jammin'
Large speakers, fresh made, smell the wood sandin'
Father did his blues smooth, legendary jazz man
Saw his wife secondary to his true passion
Started with my crew rappin', new jacks in '82
Never looked back, now look what it changed me to.. music
Nas effortlessly takes us through his childhood in one verse, without listing off a litany of things he DID. Instead he narrates his life almost entirely through FEELING. Things he felt, saw, experienced.
That type of storytelling is pretty rare in rap. Few can step outside of their physical self and examine an experience from a higher level, almost like watching yourself on tape. And it's even harder to do this for an entirely different person, which is what Kendrick does so well on this track (and multiple other tracks).
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