The song starts with an introduction by Mexican singer Deyra Barrera,[1][2] who sings in Spanish "Que reflejan tu mirada / La noche, tú y yo" ("That reflect your look / The night, you and me").
[3][4] Over the instrumental of "Made Niggaz", Kendrick Lamar performs in cadences evoking 2Pac's vocal style[2][3][5] and raps from multiple perspectives,[5] namely that of singers John Lee Hooker and Billie Holiday,[3][4][6][7][8][9] himself,[4][10] God[8][11] and Lucifer.
[9] The first two verses[10] find him recounting being a guitarist that manipulated and lied to the masses and music industry for unfair profit (Hooker) and a Black woman performer on the Chitlin' Circuit whose drug addiction led to her death (Holliday).
[7][8][10] Speaking between the viewpoints of himself and Lucifer,[7] Lamar expresses shame for his past mistakes[8] and asserts he has reformed, discussing he has been preventing his fame from negatively influencing him[7][10] and now uses his gifts to perform acts of kindness, bring peace and protect and help others[4][13][14] (e.g. "I put 100 hoods on one stage"),[4][14] promising to continue doing so.
[14] Reviewing the album for MusicOMH, Ben Devlin wrote "It culminates with Kendrick appearing to break the cycle of fame and corruption, and while this resolution isn't as detailed or hard-won as Mother I Sober the track is certainly powerful with production cribbed from 2Pac's Made Niggaz.