Songfacts®:

• Spelled as one word (like the movie franchise), "diehard" means extremely passionate, like a fan of a sports team whose loyalty is unwavering. As a two-word phrase like Kendrick Lamar uses it here, it's even more intense. In the song, he wants to know if his lover is "die hard" like he is, and willing to accept his flaws. He admits he has a hard time being vulnerable, and is worried that she'll judge him if he opens up about his demons.
• Los Angeles rapper and singer-songwriter Blxst relays the chorus. He hopes his partner can stay patient with his failings and see the good in him. You might recognize Blxst from his 2021 hit single "Chosen," which features his fellow West coast artists Ty Dolla $ign and Tyga.
• Barbados-born singer Amanda Reifer croons the post-chorus where she lets Lamar know that she understands how he feels. She encourages him to rest his wings on her and to trust her.
  
  Reifer is the former lead singer of the group Cover Drive, who clocked up three Top 10 singles in the UK in the early 2010s, including the #1 hit "Twilight."
• Blxst closes the track with a shout-out to the late Nipsey Hussle's widow, Lauren London.
  
  On March 31, 2019, a gunman fatally shot Nipsey Hussle outside his Marathon Clothing store. Blxst's insecurities about losing his lover prompts him to pray for Lauren, as she's without the love of her life.
  
  Lamar rapped part of his 2022 standalone single "The Heart Part 5" from the perspective of Nipsey in Heaven.
• "Die Hard" is as close to a R&B song that Kendrick Lamar has done. It gave him his first #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B songs chart.
• FNZ, Baby Keem, J.LBS, DJ Dahi & Sounwave produced the cowbell-infused bop. They insert a sample of Kadhia Bonet's 2016 track "Remember The Rain."
• "Die Hard" received its first live outing during Kendrick Lamar's July 19, 2022 show at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.