Bring It Back

Kendrick Lamar Breaks Down “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”

blame it on Shake October 22, 2017

On this day in 2012, Kendrick Lamar released his classic major label debut, good kid m.A.A.d city. And to celebrate the fifth year anniversary, we’re looking back at a few of our favorite memories from around the album’s release.

A few days before GKMC dropped, Kendrick had a show in Las Vegas. After, our feature writer Andreas Hale and I linked up with the TDE crew at a random studio to talk about the album and, without prior knowledge, witness Kendrick, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock record “The Heart pt.3.” Talk about an epic night.

In between recording, we sat down with Kendrick Lamar to have him break down one of the album’s standout tracks, “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst,” for Jay-Z’s Life+Times.

“That’s one of my favorite verses on the album,” Kendrick said. “It’s an obvious true story. It hits home, as far as the past members of tragic situations that happened in my life. That one particular situation is my homeboy getting smoked while I’m right there, and I’m being the last one right there just seeing him take his last. The verse is his brother being irrevocable, a street cat, and him just thanking me for being right there, and wishing that he could’ve found a passion in something – maybe music, maybe sports – but it’s him recognizing the fact and truth that he was already in too deep.”

Last year, for the four year anniversary, Eminem went as far as calling the album a “masterpiece.” Do you agree?