[Produced by Tae Beast, Sounwave & Thundercat]

[Intro: Dr. Dre]
K-Dot, pick up the phone, n***a
Every time I call, it's going to voicemail
Don't tell me they got you on some weirdo rap shit, n***a
No socks and skinny jeans and shit, ha
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haha
Call me on Shaniqua's phone!

[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]
I been A-1 since day one, you n***as boo-boo
Your home boy, your block that you're from, boo-boo
Lil' hoes you went to school with, boo-boo
Baby mama and your new bitch, boo-boo
We was in the hood, fourteen with the deuce-deuce
Fourteen years later, going hard like we used to
On the dead homies
On the dead homies

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]
I don't give a fuck about no politics in rap, my n***a
Our lil' homie Stunna Deuce ain't never comin' back, my n***a
So you better go hard every time you jump on wax, my n***a
Fuck what they talkin' 'bout, your shit is where it's at, my n***a
Came in this game, you stuck your fangs in this game
You wore no chain in this game, your hood, your name in this game
Now you double up, time to bubble up the bread and huddle up
Stickin' to the scripts, now, here, if them Benjamins go cuddle up
Skip, hop, drip, drop
Flip, flop with the white tube sock
It goes, "Sherm sticks, burn this"
That's what the product smell like when the chemicals mix
50-n***a salute, out the Compton zoo, with the extras
El Co's, Monte Carlos, Road Kings, and dressers
Rip Ridaz, P-Funkers, Mexicans, they fuck with you
Asians, they fuck with you, nobody can fuck with you
[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]
I been A-1 since day one, you n***as boo-boo
Your homeboy, your block that you're from, boo-boo
Lil' hoes you went to school with, boo-boo
Baby mama and your new bitch, boo-boo
We was in the hood, fourteen with the deuce-deuce
Fourteen years later, going hard like we used to
On the dead homies
On the dead homies

[Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar]
Hopped out the Caddy, just got my dick sucked
The little homies called and said, "The enemies done cliqued up"
Oh, yeah? Puto want to squabble with mi barrio?
Oh, yeah? Tell 'em they can run it for the cardio
Oh, yeah? Everything is everything, it's scandalous
Slow motion for the ambulance, the project filled with cameras
The LAPD gamblin', scramblin', football numbers slanderin'
N***as' names on paper—you snitched all summer
Streets don't fail me now
They tell me it's a new gang in town
From Compton to Congress
Set-trippin' all around
Ain't nothin' new but a flu of new Demo-Crips and Re-Blood-icans
Red state versus a blue state—which one you governin'?
They give us guns and drugs, call us thugs, make it they promise to fuck with you
No condom, they fuck with you, Obama say, "What it do?"
[Interlude: Kendrick Lamar]
Obama say, "What it do?"
Obama say, "What it do?"
Obama say, "What it do?"

[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]
I been A-1 since day one, you n***as boo-boo
Your homeboy, your block that you're from, boo-boo
Lil' hoes you went to school with, boo-boo
Baby mama and your new bitch, boo-boo
We was in the hood, fourteen with the deuce-deuce
Fourteen years later, going hard like we used to
On the dead homies
On the dead homies

[Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar]
Everybody want to talk about who this and who that
Who the realest and who wack, or who white or who black
Critics want to mention that they miss when hip-hop was rappin'
Motherfucker, if you did, then Killer Mike'd be platinum
Y'all priorities fucked up, put energy in wrong shit
Hennessy and Crown Vic, my memory been gone since
Don't ask about no camera blocking at award shows
No, don't ask about my bitch, no, don't ask about my Vogues
'Less you askin' me about power, yeah, I got a lot of it
I'm the only n***a next to Snoop that can push the button
Had the Coast on standby
"K. Dot, what up? I heard they opened up Pandora's box"
I box 'em all in, by a landslide
Nah, homie, we too sensitive, it spill out to the streets
I make the call and get the Coast involved, then history repeats
But I resolved inside that private hall while sitting down with Jay
He said, "It's funny how one verse can fuck up the game"
[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]
I been A-1 since day one, you n***as boo-boo

[Poem: Kendrick Lamar]
I remember you was conflicted
Misusing your influence
Sometimes I did the same
Abusing my power full of resentment
Resentment that turned into a deep depression
Found myself screaming in a hotel room
I didn't want to self-destruct
The evils of Lucy was all around me
So I went running for answers
Until I came home
But that didn't stop survivors guilt
Going back and forth
Trying to convince myself the stripes I earned
Or maybe how A-1 my foundation was
But while my loved ones was fighting a continuous war
Back in the city
I was entering a new one