Apr 25, 2017

...when playing the album backwards, d---. tells a completely different story. A key point in this conclusion is through the tracks "BLOOD." and "FEAR."

Where the order from top to bottom follows suit, it also answers the opening question on the album, "is it weakness?" As a Reddit user points out:

"When you play the album front to back, we see a confident Kendrick exposing his anxieties very subtlety until FEAR. where he lays out an entire lifetime of what scares him. He does admit insecurities on FEEL., but I view this as more an awareness of people treating him differently because of his success; a theme that makes sense leading into LOYALTY. This is the story of him not wanting to show weakness by admitting he is living through fear of losing his career or his life. I also believe this is the story of the real Kendrick, the one addressed on DUCKWORTH. that came out of Anthony not killing his father."

"You decide are we going to live or die?"

According to this duality theory, playing the album from top to bottom tells the story of Kendrick living through fear — better yet, it answers the immediate words that follow the (fatal?) gunshot on "BLOOD.," which happens to be: "Is it weakness?" This order portrays the weakness side. Through this version, we find Kendrick exposing his wounds and insecurities and it's on a record like "FEAR.," where he really digs into a lifetime of anxieties that have haunted him. Playing it in reverse, tells the "is it wickedness" side of the narrative. Where the former order tells the story of the Kendrick Duckworth we know today, thanks to Anthony not killing his father (as detailed on "DUCKWORTH."). When playing it backwards, the album details the "reverse of good karma" and reveals a story of what would have happened had K. Dot "grew up without a father and died in a gunfight."

As the Reddit post notes:

"On DUCKWORTH., Kid Capri says "We gon' put it in reverse!" The track ends with Kendrick saying, "Because if Anthony killed Ducky, Top Dawg could be servin' life while I grew up without a father and die in a gunfight," followed by a gunshot and the entire album sonically reversed until the, "So I was takin' a walk the other day" of BLOOD. This gave me the idea to play d---. back - front. This is the story of the Kendrick that would have resulted in Ducky being killed."

 

Apr 25, 2017

Walk me through it.

The narrative seems to be circular, with the story ending where it began, but people have also hung heavily on the "we're gonna put it in reverse" that echoes on duckworth, indicating that the story tells two different narratives when doing so. But in both scenarios, Kenny dies. Is this the "d---ed if you do, d---ed if you don't" people are referring to?

Walk me through that and the 2 stories. I'm having trouble grasping how they actually tell two different tales.

And is the blind lady definitely Lady Liberty? Or could she be Lucy? There doesn't seem to be a tie-in from what I can tell to give us enough clarity on the opener/outro.