“Institutionalized”
Feat. Bilal, Anna Wise & Snoop Dogg
The bass high and the snares heavy, “Institutionalized” is produced by K. Dot’s frequent collaborator Rahki and Tommy Black. The West Coast rider is seemingly back in his zone with those unique, signature vocals as he spits lines centered on the strong hold institutionalization has on people living in the ghetto. “What money got to do with it / When I don't know the full definition of a rap image? / I'm trapped inside the ghetto and I ain't proud to admit it / Institutionalized, I keep runnin' back for a visit / Hol' up, get it back / I said I'm trapped inside the ghetto and I ain't proud to admit it / Institutionalized, I could still kill me a n----, so what?” he rhymes. Just as he closes the opening verse, the soulful serenade of Bilal chimes in as he serves as a vessel for a message from K. Dot’s grandma. Snoop Dogg eases in on the throwback, hip-hop infused track, which takes you from grandma's house to a conversation at a nightclub. Anna Wise, who also sang on good kid, m.A.A.d city track "Real," puts a female touch on the cut. She can also be heard reciting, "zoom zoom" borrowed from hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock."
"These Walls”
Feat. Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat
With assistance from Bilal, Anna Wise and veracious bass strums from Thundercat -- who can be heard playing bass on Erykah Badu's "Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)" -- Lamar offers sexual innuendos cemented in poetic verse on this hip two-stepper. Comparing the corroded veins of fame to the delicate catacombs of the female pleasure dome, the rapper paints a vivid picture of self-destruction versus self-emancipation. “Walls feeling like they ready to close in / I suffocate then catch my second wind / I resonate in these walls / I don’t know how long I can wait in these walls / I’ve been on these streets too long looking at you from the outside in,” he raps with desperation.