Real

This song denotes an incredibly important realization that Kendrick Lamar has felt. The song as a whole stresses the importance of loving yourself (and how this is a necessary component of having some of the powerful insight that Kendrick describes throughout the album).

Notice how much lower, more controlled, and more mature Kendrick’s vocals sound on this song, as opposed to the higher, cracking voices he employed on the songs before (such as the immature anthem “Backseat Freestyle”), or the urgent tone used on “m.A.A.d city”. The song represents his decision to mature and his tone of voice is symbolic of that change he made.

Lamar told Complex in October 2012:

"That’s the start of me recognizing everything I was doing throughout that day, it wasn’t real. Everybody has their own perception of what a ‘real nigga’ is. Most of the time a real nigga is a street cat or someone putting in some type of work and doing violence. That’s what we thought they was. Someone who’s about that life. But on that record, it was me getting an understanding of what real is, and my pops breaking down on that record. It shows the influence he had on my life. Real is taking care of your family. Real is responsibility. Real is believing in a high power, believing in God. Real is having morals. Real is carrying yourself in a manner where you’re not influenced by anybody else. You have your own mind, your own outlook on life. You’re not doing what’s just the trend or doing what people want you to do."