Kendrick Lamar (4:05)

Building it's probably big as a building Me jumping off of the roof it's me just playing it safe but what am I supposed to do when the topic is red or blue and you understand that I ain't.

Cole Kushna (4:15)

On Verse two, Kendrick uses red and blue to describe flashing police lights, representing another source of danger in his childhood environment.

Kendrick Lamar (4:23)

Every time you clock in the morning I feel you just want to kill all my heinouses While ignoring my purpose to persevere as a better person I know you heard this and probably in fear but what am I supposed to do when the blink and the red and blue flash from the top of your roof and your dog has to say roof and you axe.

Cole Kushna (4:38)

Understanding this motivic use of blue and red to describe various sources of violence during his youth, it seems likely that the children ominously repeating blue. Red symbolizes the trauma of his childhood, the perpetual violence he experienced, witnessed and feared throughout his upbringing in Compton. Of course, confronting childhood trauma is a common practice in therapy. So pairing the voices of children with the first words from the album's therapist, Eckhart Tolle, points to Kendrick finally starting to address his deep seated Issues. This is further supported by what Tole says to Kendrick. If you derive your sense of identity from being a victim, lets say bad things were done to you when you were a child and you develop a sense of self that is based on the bad things that happened to you. This excerpt begins to capture Tolle's teachings about the ego and its proclivity to identify or build a sense of self around concepts or ideas. He teaches that the ego searches for anything to validate its existence, which is not exclusive to just positive things like wealth or beauty. The ego will also use negative things when there aren't positive things to identify with.

Eckhart Tolle (5:39)

And it very often happens that the memory of having been abused is used by the ego and is added to the ego's sense of self. So that means you not only remember what happened to you, the memory of what happened to you, which is a bundle of thoughts and emotions that go with it. The memory of what happened to you is more than just a memory. There is self identification with the memory. In other words, it's not not perceived as just something that happened to you, but it becomes part of who you perceive to be. So I am a victim of that. It's not that this was done to me, but I am a victim of. So it's the transition from memory to.

Cole Kushna (6:29)

Self after making the bad things that happen to you a part of your sense of self. Toly goes on to explain how the ego then twists your victim identity into a form of moral superiority. Because that's always the ego's end goal to validate your existence by being more important than the next person.

Eckhart Tolle (6:46)

And so the superiority, it's a moral one, one could say, because if unjust things were done to you, then by being a victim of unjust deeds perpetrated by other humans, you automatically become morally superior not only to those humans who inflicted that on you, but also to other humans who are not victims or cannot claim, have not as much claim on victimhood as you have, so you are morally superior to them. It's a delusion. It's every egoic identity is a form of delusion. So ultimately it's a delusion that the stronger the ego is, the more deluded you become about who you are.

Cole Kushna (7:38)

When viewed through Tolle's lens, we can see how the ego doesn't necessarily care about what it identifies with. It can twist anything into a form of superiority that's its superpower. And just like identifying with being wealthy or privileged. Tully goes on to explain how a victim identity is severely limiting and takes away personal agency to transcend your individual circumstances.

Eckhart Tolle (7:59)

You're obviously morally superior for everybody who is less of a victim than you, but you condemn yourself almost to powerlessness. When you any kind of victim identity, you really want to remain powerless because to say that you could transcend your your what was done to you, you can overcome the effect of it. You can go beyond it. You have the power to go beyond the abuse that was done to you, which every human has that power. You can never discover that power if you are trapped in a victim identity.

Cole Kushna (8:33)

Of course, this complete understanding of Tolle's view on the ego and victimhood is not provided in the introduction of Savior Interlude. However, Kendrick transcending his childhood trauma and the things that were done to him is ultimately what the entire album is working toward, and Tolle's teachings illuminate how doing this will require Kendrick to dissolve his ego, which he described as the Lord of all Lords back on Count Me Out Now. Another key to fully understanding Tolle's first insight is to recognize its placement as it strategically sits just after Kodak and Kendrick on Silent Hill and just before Baby Keem's first appearance on the album. Tully's insight is the communal mirror shared by Kendrick, Kodak and Keem. The insight applies to all three men, three men who are the album's representative big steppers, the representatives of their community in this morality play. And as we talked about last episode, the reflective relationship between Kodak and Keem is reinforced by the album's strategic tracklist. When looking at the mirrored version of the two discs, where each song on disc one has a corresponding reflection on disc two, Savior Interlude is the direct reflection point of Rich Interlude. Like Rich Interlude and his piano only production, Savior Interlude features a strings only production. Both tracks have the same title structure, and both are the only two songs that do not feature Kendrick himself. And so it's very clear that Kendrick wanted us to consider Kodak and Keem as a pair. Thematically, the two are presented as mirror images of each other who are themselves reflections of Kendrick himself. And with Tole's insight being the clue to what they might all share in common, Keem's opening lines start to make the reason for this pairing both very clear.

Baby Keem (10:08)

You ever see a mama strung out while you study division? Your uncle ever stole from your day after Christmas Seeing both of those in them county jail visits the first day and the 15th the only religion noodles in a microwave shark tank tied away grandma shooting blood on the highway crosses on the dashboard you just want a platform I want to take everything that I asked for.

Cole Kushna (10:26)

Keem opens his extended feature masterfully. You ever seen your mama strung out while you study division? Your uncle ever stole from you? Day after Christmas, seeing both of those and them county jail visits, the 1st and the 15th, the only religion. It's hard to overstate just how well written this opening quatrain is, as Keem paints a succinct portrait of his childhood in just four bars. Younger cousin of Kendrick Lamar, Hakeem Carter Jr. Was born in Carson, California, a neighboring city to Compton, but was raised in Las Vegas. His dad was never in his life, and his mother struggled with addiction. He told I D magazine, quote, I grew up mainly with my grandma. It was just me and her. My family doesn't have a filter. And you grow up quick. You know shit you're not supposed to know, seeing shit you're never supposed to see. I grew up with her, and I was kind of her best friend. I was a little kid. So all the stress that she had financially was laid on me, even if it was unintentional. With Keem's opening bar, we peek into a window of his childhood experience. He begins by pairing his mother's addiction with his learning division, which is typically done in third grade. It's a striking juxtaposition presented as a genuine question as we imagine Keem standing on the theater stage in this play scored by cinematic strings. He's asking the audience, asking you directly, do you know what that's like? Like really think about those circumstances. Actually try to imagine processing that when you're 8 or 9 years old. The dichotomy continues in the next question as Keem asks if our uncle ever stole our Christmas presents when we were kids. Really imagine being a child in poverty on Christmas Day. Finally opening presents you've been looking forward to all year, only to have them stolen from you by your own family member, presumably for drug money. It's a potent, tragic image of innocence lost, the magic of Christmas stolen from a child coupled with the disappointment and confusion that your own uncle, your blood relative, would steal from you. Keem then implies that his family members were in and out of custody by citing his visits to the county jail to see them, and then cites his only religion was the 1st and the 15th, the days of the month in which government assistance checks are distributed. It not only conveys the poverty of his childhood, but also the lack of any spiritual guidance or faith that might help offset his circumstances. Joachim's questions here at the start of his verse are rhetorical. There's Two people we know for sure that could answer those questions with a resounding yes. Kendrick Lamar and Kodak Black. They know exactly what that's like. For Kendrick, the question hits close to home, literally, as Kendrick also had the experience of an older relative stealing from him for drug money.

Kendrick Lamar (12:56)

I still smell crime My little brother crying Smokers repeatedly bind my psychogenesis. Either that or my auntie was stealing it Hit the pipe and start filling it Ooh wee.

Cole Kushna (13:06)

Keem continues his verse with a mosaic of images from his childhood. Noodles in the microwave, Shark Tank, Tidal wave, Grandma shooting n words, Blood on the highway. Each image lends an impression, almost like how memories work. Microwave Noodles implies poverty, while Shark Tank seems like a reference to growing up in front of the television, but also to real threats of violence. This gives way to an image of witnessing his grandmother shooting a gun. Blood on the highway is a horror movie from 2008, so Keem seems to be continuing his blend of TV violence and real life violence that pervaded his complex childhood. Most kids only see violence in TV and movies, yet for Keem, Kodak and Kendrick, it was part of their everyday reality.

Kendrick Lamar (13:45)

Seen a light skinned n with his brains blown out at the same burger sandwich, same gout now this is not a tape recorder saying that he did it but ever since that day I was looking at him different. That was back when I was nine Joey packed a nine pack A stand on every porch is fine we adapt.

Baby Keem (14:04)

A crime Hypnotized I was just nine Black boy robbed the nigga right in front of my eyes Rapping kill time.

Kendrick Lamar (14:11)

The years flew by till I got old enough to run up on you.

Baby Keem (14:14)

With a nine I wanna take everything that I asked for Catch me a body I put that on anybody but my mama she showing a pattern for certain I think it's white panties and minimal condoms. My uncle would tell me the shit in the movies could only be magic. This year I did 43 shows and took it all home to buy him a cash.

Cole Kushna (14:33)

One of the more striking sequences of Keem's verse begins when he raps, I want to take everything that I ask for Catch me a body I'll put that on anybody but my mama directly. After describing seeing his grandmother shoot someone, Keem expresses his intuition to take or steal what he wants and is willing to catch a body or take a life to do so. It directly reflects the bars we just heard from Kodak, who witnessed an armed robbery at nine years old and then mirrored that behavior when he was older. Keem then plays off catching a body by saying he'd put that on any body. But his mother then continues by saying she's showing a pattern for certain. I think it's white panties and minimal condoms. It's more body wordplay, alluding to his mother's sexual body count. It's not exactly clear what Keem's implying here. It could be he saw a lot of men coming in and out of the house, or that she was involved in sex work. In any case, it's another less than ideal image of his childhood. The tragic irony of so many men around yet not having a male role model. Then, just like the verse's opening sequence of lines, Keem follows the mention of his mother with a mention of his uncle rapping, my uncle would tell me the shit in the movies could only be magic. This year I did 43 shows and took it all home to buy him a casket. Keem calls back to the TV and movie motif here, relaying how a male figure in his life didn't tell him to follow his dreams, but rather the opposite that the better life he sees in movies isn't obtainable for people like him. Like Kodak did on both Rich Interlude and Silent Hill, Keem juxtaposes this with his current success touring the country and making money from his music, conveying how he beat the odds and obtained some of that movie magic. However, the tragic irony is that his uncle died when he was living out that dream and that magic money paid for his funeral. While we can't know for certain, given Keem's young age, it would seem this uncle died an early death. And if it's the same uncle from the intro, substance abuse might have been the cause.

Baby Keem (16:23)

Jack of all trades got money at the wave put my heart in the faith I'm good love Cousin in the courts heard he jumped off the porch Turned a brick to a Porsche I'm good love catch us you know I'm gon rack up I need the advance and the equity to match up the engineer dead if the drive don't back up these words come from God you can never outwrap us.

Cole Kushna (16:39)

Keem mentions yet another family member as he raps Cousin in the courts heard he jumped off the porch Turn a brick to a Porsche I'm good love this seems to refer not to his cousin Kendrick Lamar, but but another successful cousin of his, former NBA player Nick Young, who is also cousins with Kendrick. With this in mind, we understand the extended entendre Keem executes here, blending basketball and selling drugs. Cousin in the Courts refers to cul de sacs and basketball courts. He jumped off the porch is slang for someone who decides to hustle in the streets, but also alludes to physical jumping, the athletic ability required in the NBA. Finally turned a brick to a Porsche plays with money made from bricks of drugs, but also to bricks, as in missed basketball shots, which almost certainly alludes to the famous Nick Young meme where he prematurely celebrates a shot that he misses that bricks. The mention of a Porsche gives way to some vehicle wordplay as Keem raps catch us, you know I'm gonna rack up. Catch us plays off the fast sports car. While rack up can mean anything from racking up points in the NBA, wins on a racetrack and or racking up piles of money, this gives way to I need the advance and the equity to match up. The multi layered wordplay sustains here as matchup is a term often used in competitive sports, be it the NBA or race cars. However, Keem is also saying he needs the advance, money and equity or ownership of his music. Not one or the other, but both. This direct nod to his music gets us to the next line, the Engineer dead if the drive don't back up. On the surface, Keem is threatening his studio engineer if they fail to back up the hard drive containing his music, the thing that supports him, the thing that allowed him to transcend his childhood circumstances. But Engineer is also a play on a car's engine, while Drive is again what a car does, but also plays on a drive to the hoop. In basketball, this exquisite mastery of words is so good it could only be sourced from the divine. Thus, Keane proclaims, these words come of God, you can never outwrap us. This line reflects the same proclamations Kendrick made on both Rich Spirit and Worldwide Steppers.

Kendrick Lamar (18:36)

We dress up the score Gimme dat brother spirit meeting your mo rap brother ask God to speak through me. That's what you hear now, the voice of yours truly, Teleport.

Cole Kushna (18:45)

We also heard Kodak reflect a similar sentiment back on Rich Interlude Got to.

Kendrick Lamar (18:49)

Come from that we ain't seen this coming.

Cole Kushna (18:53)

Understanding the circumstances they were born into and the odds stacked against them, Keem, Kendrick and Kodak can't help but feel their musical talents are direct gifts from God. However, these gifts and the money and the influence they carry also brings about moral and ethical challenges, a central theme of Mr. Morale. And as Keem continues, we hear him address one of the issues we've heard Kendrick struggle with all album long a lust for women nowadays got a world.

Baby Keem (19:17)

Cautious hey nowadays I'm a New prophet hey, gang dead, no autopsy hey, city girl with a new hobby Catch a body, put the product in the T Bout to get some pussy give me five gun dirty, got the 30 in the purse Purse tight bitch put a perky in a cellar I gotta pray for the basic I never seen Seen my bust down faces them not tasteless I only had one chance I ain't.

Cole Kushna (19:40)

Even wasted Keem details his experience with a woman, which we might assume he's with because he's wealthy and famous. He raps City girl with a new hobby. Catch a body, put the Prada in the Tata and we're about to get some pussy Give me five. Keem flips his previous use of catching a body, this time referring to picking up a woman and putting her in his car, presumably to go have sex with her. Adding to his body count, he brags to his friends about the encounter, looking for a high five or approval. It's yet another expression of astonishment as we get the sense Keem can't believe the kind of women he's now able to pull with his money and fame. He continues with more clever wordplay. Gun dirty, got the.30 in the purse tight bitch put a perky in her salad the.30. Here is the double entendre, referring to both the compact Glock 30 gun in her purse as well as the M30 or Percocet pill she puts in her salad. This makes the tight and tight bitch an entendre as well, referring to her tight body she maintains by eating salad, but also denoting that she's uptight and thus takes a Percocet to mellow her out. This might be what Keem was referring to when he said the city girl had a new hobby. This scene with the woman gives us an impression of the influences Keem is up against. Like Kodak and Kendrick, drugs, sex and violence are available to Keem now in abundance. He's still incredibly young, and his upbringing didn't seem to offer much in the way of role models or spiritual guidance. How will he handle himself with so many vices at his disposal?

Baby Keem (21:01)

Been down on my luck, Been down on my luck When I fuck, I gotta get up I gotta get back up and ball rip under my people. I'm proud of my people. I'm proud of my dogs. My ex got a Beamer she want me to see it. I still ain't gonna see it. Like, okay, I lowen and ratchet. I done do a paddock I still do the watches, the. Oh, wait, she think I'm conceited I'm thinking about chicken I don't do the flowers of rope now how can I fold? Look at that 20 million. This money don't come with a probate Mama I said it'd be okay.

Cole Kushna (21:32)

Keem breaks into a more melodic section of his extended feature, singing Been down on my luck Been down on my luck When I fall I gotta get up I gotta get back up and ball. This is a direct reflection of Act 2's opener, Count Me Out, a song that features the choral refrain and I'm tripping and falling. It's an acknowledgment of life's ups and downs. It's and the importance of getting back on your feet when you inevitably fall. One of the reasons for Keem's low moments may be implied in the following lines. Rip under my people I'm proud of my people. I'm proud of my dogs. Like Kendrick and Kodak, Keem has experienced his fair share of loss of grief, making him even prouder of the winds of his community, those who survived their rough environment and thrived despite their circumstances. He then continues sharing how his ex girlfriend got a BMW and wants him to see it, but but he won't, likely because he recognizes she's trying to lure him back because he's famous, or that he's genuinely not interested in a real relationship because, as he says next I love when they ratchet. I don't do her protect, I still do the watches. The old way she thinks I'm conceited, I'm thinking about cheating. I don't do the flowers or roleplay. Here we get a sense of Keem's intuition to womanize, to cheat. Just like Kendrick, there's wordplay in the word ratchet, referring to both a quote unquote trashy woman, but but also to the mechanical ratchet used in watch construction. This gives way to his line about not buying her a Patek, an expensive luxury watch that wouldn't suit a ratchet girl, but also nods to the fact that he isn't here to wine and dine women. He doesn't do the flowers or roleplay, he just wants sex. He then continues, now how can I fold looking at 20 million? This money don't come with a probate. Keem sees a net worth of $20 million in his future and that money is self earned. It wasn't an inheritance. It didn't come through a probate court. While there is technically a literal meaning here, we also understand Keem is talking broadly about his life, how his current success as a young man, and the enormous opportunity to build on that success in his future was not something that was handed to him, and surely his childhood circumstances only made his path more difficult. This gives way to the line, mama, I said I'd be okay. It's an endearing way to end this passage, calling back to the opening lines about his mother struggling with addiction. Despite his circumstantial inheritance being less than ideal, he assures his mother that he made it out okay.

Baby Keem (23:46)

I got this shit Bragging in four days Four eyes four eyes two eyes switch sides nigga be fresh out Suicide doors a suicide suicide lambo body who gonna stop me Baby Keem is too wild Functioning at the temple Jesus pieces in the luau Mr. Morrow.

Cole Kushna (24:12)

The instrumental transitions from strings to piano, closing the interlude on a more intimate note, Keem raps I got this shit bracken in four days, a nod to just how rapid his rise to fame has been. Keem started making music in high school, and by the time he was just 18, he had production credits for Beyonce, J Rock and schoolboy Q. At 18, he also released his first solo project, Die for My Bitch, which gained him considerable buzz before Kendrick's public cosign. While the specifics are different, this journey essentially mirrors Kodak Black's, who was also just 18 when he found national success with music. Kodak is just three years older than Keem, a similarity in age that adds to the mirrored aspect of their pairing. Importantly, Keem contrasts his overnight success with potent wordplay rapping Switch sides N word be fresh out Suicide doors I suicide suicide the surface meaning is that Baby Keem has spent some of his newfound money on a car with suicide doors, which are hinged at the rear, not the front. Hence switch sides. It's most likely referring to a Rolls Royce coupe, one of the more popular modern luxury cars with suicide doors. Uncoincidentally, this is a direct reflection point with Kodak's verse on Silent Hill, where he raps about a Rolls Royce that he describes as a suicide coupe. First part Rolls Royce breaking the hood.

Kendrick Lamar (25:28)

And worried deal we good the AP Roman numeral everybody go I need pharmaceuticals I ran my whole Congo I was just mapping shit out in the cubicle.

Cole Kushna (25:36)

Suicide coup was a funeral like Kodak's suicide coupe was a funeral. Keem plays with the idea of suicide doors, proximity to actual suicide or death. He repeats I suicide suicide to describe the danger that comes with young adults like Keem and Kodak being handed so much money and influence at such a young age, especially considering their upbringing. Thus we get the lines Lambo body who gon stop me? Baby Keem is too wild. Lambo or Lamborghini continues the car motif and he's asking who's gonna stop me from spending my money so recklessly? Who's gonna stop me from driving these sports cars, these toys so recklessly? At the same time, Keem could also be talking about a woman's body, and in this sense he's asking who's gonna stop me from sleeping with a bunch of women because, as he said, he's too wild. This gives way to the final lines, which present two back to back Dichotomies Function at the Temple Jesus Pieces in the Luau this creates a full circle moment Recall Keem's feature began with back to back dichotomies, where he described how the innocence of his childhood was tainted by the sin of the adults around him.

Baby Keem (26:42)

You ever seen a mama strung out while you study division? Your uncle ever stole from your day after Christmas seeing both of those in a county jail vision KE began the.

Cole Kushna (26:50)

Verse describing the disjunction of his childhood and now ends the verse describing the disjunction of his current day, a party or function at a temple or place of spiritual worship, and a diamond Jesus piece or pendant worn at a luau, another word for party or function. It's also likely that the piece doubles for a gun similar to the 30 kept in the purse from earlier in the verse. This closing couplet is Baby Keem's two wild lifestyle. He's prioritizing parties over spiritual guidance, Jesus pieces or material possessions over Jesus himself. Alternatively, we can also interpret it as describing Keem's own dichotomous nature, someone who is both spiritual and ratchet, reflecting exactly the dual meaning of rich spirit. Like both Kodak and Kendrick, Keem is experiencing the tension between being rich financially and spiritually. He's also experiencing the way his new lifestyle has the ability to devour his spirit if he's not careful, if he's unable to navigate it correctly. Indeed, over the course of Savior Interlude, we've heard Baby Keem's intuition to spend his money recklessly and exploit his fame to womanize the very vices Kendrick described falling victim to throughout Mr. Morale, vices that were also reflected in Kodak Black's features. At the same time, just like Kodak and Kendrick, Keem also shared the traumatic circumstances of his childhood. And as Toley suggested at the beginning of the track, this baggage is carried into adulthood and has made all three men predisposed to the same vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities become magnified when suddenly they have money, power and influence at an incredibly young age. Without any role models to help them, Kodak and Keem had no father figures, nor were they raised with any spiritual or religious guidance. As Kodak said on Rich Interlude, a bunch of lost souls in survival mode. It wasn't no way for us unless we found our own. Thus, Baby Keem's final words on Savior Interlude are essentially a plea, a cry for help as he calls out into the void for Mr. Morale. Keem and Kodak are looking for moral and spiritual direction. They're looking for a father, and the father they're looking for a savior.

Kendrick Lamar (28:55)

Kendrick made you think about it, but he is not your savior. Cole made you feel empowered, but he is not your savior.

Cole Kushna (29:05)

Of course, this is Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. Next track Savior, a song we'll examine note by note, line by line, next time on Dissect. If you enjoyed today's episode, please leave a comment, share with a friend or post about Dissect on social media. It all really helps. You can also support the show by purchasing limited season 13 merchandise@dissectpodcast.com all right, thanks, everyone. Talk to you next week.