Kendrick Lamar Fries Don Cheadle’s Circuits in the “DNA” Video
"See you's a, you's a, you's a—bitch..."
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth sits in a gray-walled interrogation room, chained to the table. A polygraph machine sits nearby, ready to verify the veracity of his every utterance.
In strolls a black cop, portrayed by Don Cheadle, dressed in standard-issue detective drab. Having sold his soul to the man, he attempts to intimidate his prisoner. “You know what DNA stands for?” he queries, after clowning the rapper for having two first names. “Dead N***a Assocation.” (Fact check: “Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule that carries the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms,” per Wikipedia.)
Chuckling at his own gallows humor, Cheadle takes a seat and punches the polygraph, suddenly receiving a gazillion-volt-shockwave straight to the cerebral cortex. As his body vibrates from the voltage, the sound of Geraldo Rivera talking smack on Fox News—as heard on the closing seconds of “Blood”—plays in the background as Kendrick looks on, impassive.
Transformed by the surge of Duckworth Hii Power, Cheadle begins bopping around the interrogation room, signifying along to Kendrick’s bars—which concern questions of loyalty and royalty within the Black (aka Negus / Israelite) genome, facts that get those polygraph needles bizz-ouncing. Kendrick takes over rapping duties at precisely this juncture:
“See, you’s a, you’s a, you’s a—
Bitch, your hormones prolly switch inside your DNA
Problem is, all that sucker shit inside your DNA
Daddy prolly snitched, heritage inside your DNA”
A short while later K-Dot gets unchained, flips Cheadle’s “joke” into a 187, and strolls off into the night. A whole bunch of other shit pops off too, but why not just watch for yourself? Visuals by Nabil up top.