Songfacts®:

• Here, Kendrick Lamar talks about how hard it is to balance all aspects of his life while maintaining a rich spirit. Kendrick is undoubtedly wealthy, but a prosperous spiritual life is far more important to him than money. To that end, he fasts, keeps away from social media, and tries to maintain a firm grip on reality. During the chorus, he stands firm against naysayers, doubters and critics:
  
  Stop playing with me before I turn you to a song
• Top Dog Entertainment's in-house producer Sounwave and LA hip-hop musician DJ Dahl created the smooth, bouncy beat along with New Zealand producer Frano and frequent YG and Ty Dolla $ign collaborator Mustard.
  
  The original idea for the song came from Frano, a producer DJ Dahl works with regularly. After he gave Dahl the original chord progression for his track, Dahl played around with the drums a tad and Sounwave messed with the vocal chops that came into the record. "Originally it was just that raw melody," Dahl told Rolling Stone.
  
  When Dahl gave the track to Lamar, the Compton rapper got inspired. "Oh, this is perfect," he said. "I think I got something."
• The producers played all the musical instruments: DJ Dahi (bass and percussion) Frano (percussion) Sounwave (drums).
• Lamar and the four producers co-wrote "Rich Spirit" with Chicago singer-songwriter Sam Dew. Sam Dew also provided the background vocals.
• "Rich Spirit" was the first of three Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers tracks Lamar performed on the October 1, 2022 episode of Saturday Night Live. He also delivered "N95" and "Father Time."
  
  This marked Lamar's third appearance as the musical guest on the comedy show, following performances in 2013 and 2018.
• The Calmatic-directed video shows Kendrick Lamar performing the song while confined within a sparsely decorated house.
  
  Los Angeles filmmaker Calmatic has also worked with the likes of Khalid ("Young, Dumb and Broke") and Lil Nas X ("Old Town Road").