The Heart Pt. 2

Album: Overly Dedicated (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • The first track off Overly Dedicated finds Kendrick Lamar rapping over an extended version of The Roots' How I Got Over cut "A Piece of Light." Speaking with Rolling Stone, the Compton MC explained what led to this song:

    "I remember saying to myself, 'I just wanna show a spew of emotion on a record. I don't care how long the bars are, but people are literally gonna have to feel me.' I told myself that if I can't connect that way, then it ain't no point in me just putting a bunch of good words together. So that spaz-out toward the end, where I just choke up and lose my breath – I wanna keep all that."
  • The song starts with a clip from an interview with New York graffiti artist Dash Snow, in which he describes how music keeps him alive. Sadly, Dash died of a drug overdose in 2009.

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