Kendrick Lamar has never shied away from baring his soul on wax, but his latest album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers contains some of the most personally revealing moments of his career.
On the penultimate song “Mother I Sober” featuring Beth Gibbons of Portishead, the Compton native opens up about battling with what he calls “lust addiction” and confesses to cheating on his longtime partner, Whitney Alford, with whom he shares two children.
Of course, K. Dot has famously avoided drugs and alcohol since his first blunt had him “foaming at the mouth,” but in his own 4:44 moment, he admits sex has been his vice of choice in his career.
“I was never high, I was never drunk, never out my mind/I need control, they handed me some smoke, but still I declined/I did it sober, sittin’ with myself, I went through all emotions/No dependents — except for one, let me bring you closer,” he raps over the somber piano instrumental.
“Intoxicated, there’s a lustful nature that I failed to mention/Insecurities that I project, sleepin’ with other women/Whitney’s hurt, the pure soul I know, I found her in the kitchen/Askin’ God, ‘Where did I lose myself? And can it be forgiven?'”
Later in his verse, Kendrick reveals Alford — who appears on the album cover along with their two young kids — urged him to seek professional help for his addiction.
“Broke me down, she looked me in my eyes, ‘Is there an addiction?’/I said ‘No,’ but this time I lied, I knew that I can’t fix it/Pure soul, even in her pain, know she cared for me/Gave me a number, said she recommended some therapy,” he says.
Delving deeper into the psychology behind his infidelity, K. Dot raps, “I made it home, seven years of tour, chasin’ manhood/But Whitney’s gone, by time you hear this song, she did all she could/All those women gave me superpowers, what I thought I lacked/I pray our children don’t inherit me and feelings I attract.”
“Mother I Sober” also finds Kendrick Lamar reflecting on watching his mother being beaten when he was 5 years old and harboring guilt that he didn’t “grab a gun.” The stirring song ends with a short spoken word interlude from his fiancée and their young daughter, who was born in 2019.
“You did it, I’m proud of you. You broke a generational curse. Say, ‘Thank you dad,'” Alfred says, before their daughter adds, “Thank you, daddy. Thank you, mommy. Thank you, brother… Mr. Morale.”
Kendrick Lamar's 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers' Double Album Features Ghostface Killah, Kodak Black + More
Elsewhere on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar addresses his infidelity on “Worldwide Steppers,” on which he raps, “Ask Whitney about my lust addiction/Text messagin’ bitches got my thumbs hurt.”
Later in the song, he recalls sleeping with a white woman for the second time in his life while on tour in Europe: “Next time I fucked a white bitch was out in Copenhagen/good kid, m.A.A.d city tour, I flourished on them stages/Whitney asked did I have a problem, I said, ‘I might be racist’/Ancestors watchin’ me fuck was like retaliation.”
Listen to “Mother I Sober” below.
i was addicted to pornography for about ten years it destroyed my education it destroyed friendships and family relationships and believe me i have been there i smashed all the windows in our house i would punch walls because it just made me so angry. 2022 is here and i have left a lot of that behind i tell myself to hate porn and how it degrades women i keep on thinking that. anyway, good luck kendrick.
Damn bruh, hope you got help!!! You did all that over some porn?!??!
i am a changed man because porn is out of the equation. i would come home from school, get sexed up for the rest of the day. i would go to internet cafe and load porn on my external hd even if the clips were only like 30 seconds and go home with it. i used to think i was on the moral high ground when i was younger because like kendrick i didn’t do drugs but did porn. i was wrong. pornography perverts your mind.
its rare to see such vulnerability in a place like this and I have to commend you. God bless you and your journey.
Sheesh. Stay away from it. Drugs too. Clearly you have an addictive personality and probably aren’t built for anything addictive. Not that anyone should do the stuff either way
@casor_Greener
Porn regardless is bad for humans whether you’re sensible to addiction or not. Jerking off pixels or other humans is not healthy and unnatural. You do not have to be as you mentioned an addictive personality.
There are soooo many more people with a porn addiction, but don’t realize it or just don’t want to admit. In general, porn isn’t a positive for the human mind (at any stage of life). It naturally perverts the idea of sex. Grow up and allow the man to be vulnerable
That’s real dude. Props for drawing your line publicly. Porn dismantles cognitive function
In the words of Kevin Samuels ”High value men exercise options”. I am going to laugh at these kind of stories 99% of these men with unlimited options of women will eventually smash some other chick. I got more respect for dudes like Andrew tate who say shit upfront for what male nature is instead of all these catering towards women. And of course her girl didn’t leave him. How many men like Kendrick Lamar you’re going to find in this world vs millions of women like her? He did what he natural instinct did. As far as sex, ain’t nothing wrong about that as long as it doesn’t become some porn addiction cause that’s a whole different story.
Here we go with Kevin Samuels! He was the biggest hypocrite breathing air. Just because you have money it doesn’t mean you have the right to disrespect your wife and family. The high value man is a line of bs. If we go by the “high value” standard you have women who fit into that category and they would never be excused from cheating. Kevin Samuels was a male activist and what’s funny is so many of his male supports are not high value men but they preach the high value standard. Andrew Tate’s theory about practicing nature, well if it’s okay for men to practice nature and go and cheat, well it should be for women as well because women have sexual desires as well. The hypocrisy of all these “male activists” is laughable!
Kevin Samuels spoke truth 2 power. R.I.P. Guess dat too much 4 ya 2 handle huh?
Too much of men’s self worth is tied to see. The fact is, if you want to keep a happy, healthy relationship, you shouldn’t cheat. Being rich doesn’t make you “high value”. Many rich men are terrible people. Just saying.
* tied to sex
Shut the fuck up
get laid
What did Kendrick mean by ‘But Whitney’s gone, by time you hear this song, she did all she could’ ? Isn’t this false?
Stfu bich nicca
Or did he honestly think she was gonna leave while he was writing this song?
I think he’s more or less discussing that he is no role model, he has felt the urge to be unfaithful like many do. I don’t he’s actually saying he’s a serial cheater.
He said he did. He said he has a sex addiction.
One of the best comment threads this site has produced no trolls no Stanleys just real everyday people rap, yeah get off that screen. It’s not healthy go connect with yourself and someone who wont allow a screen to taint their relationship with you, get personal but social media and tech has made it increasingly difficult for genuine connection
And you think you gettin girls cus of your looks? Nee Grow Please..
This is EXACTLY why we don’t like these TOXIC ASS MEN. Literally bragging about their SELF-INFLICTED hurt through song. You did it to yourself, we know who you are, we’ve seen you for years, we’ve seen MANY GENERATIONS OF YOU – save us ALL the SHXT and EXCUSES. ABUSER. COLORIST. PREDATOR. WE DO NOT CARE. If you ain’t a monogamous man (or woman), STAY THE H3LL AWAY from those who are. Stick with the population that fits you. But THESE MEN NEVER do that. They ALWAYS cheat and then BEG for forgiveness. Do what they want, THEN want to come back. They aren’t “sorry”. They care about NO ONE but themselves. Go straight to the h3ll you created. Nobody wants to hear about these “men’s issues” when THEY CREATE THESE ISSUES. These aren’t issues, these are CONSEQUENCES resulting from YOUR BEHAVIOR. Hold your sorry arse self accountable for YOUR DESTRUCTION. Nobody is going to love you because you DON’T DESERVE LOVE and ARE NOT OF LOVE. (We DON’T want to hear about how she “took your money” when the separation happens due to YOUR TOXICITY when you LITERALLY abused her for YEARS in SO MANY WAYS; it’s the LEAST you can give after TAKING SO MUCH.) Feel bad for your sorry arse self. Then got the NERVE to talk about he broke generational “curses.” NXGGA PLEASE. YOU LITERALLY REPEATED THE SAME ABUSIVE CYCLE AND YOUR PARTNER AND KIDS DIRECTLY WITNESSED THIS AND WERE SADLY AFFECTED. You ain’t did SHXT but continue to perpetuate the cycle. “FALSE PROFITS” spelled as such as intentionally as his BETRAYAL, LIES, & NONSENSE. Literally CLOWNS AF. Undisciplined. Unloyal. Undeserving. Hiding behind the “words” of righteousness. Sitting in the “Jesus Christ Pose.” Are WE supposed to FEEL BAD for YOU for HURTING OTHER PEOPLE DUE TO YOUR CONSCIOUS AND INTENTIONAL CHOICES???? The actions ARE ALL REVEALING. Then they want to use “the family” THEY BETRAYED as album art. LMAO GO TO H3LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE BIGGEST JOKE AND WORSE – NONE OF IT IS FUNNY. If sexual discipline is “not natural”, then how about we START TEACHING THAT and STOP GETTING UPSET when these types of people are called out on their SHXT???? Imagine creating an obligation YOURSELF and defaulting while TRAUMATIZING OTHERS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU. Hit the DIRT UNAPOLOGETICALLY. Life is BETTER without these types of people who CHOOSE to perpetuate HURT, TRAUMA, & ABUSE – ALL OF THEIR OWN CHOOSING. THEY and their GENERATIONAL CHOICES are the CURSE. #BEGONE #REALBOSSSHXT
Somebody in dey feelins today! Must be dat time! LMAO
You sound dumb as hell
We tend to lack a capacity to forgive until someone to forgive us.
It sounds like you are expressing a lot of anger and frustration towards Kendrick Lamar and other toxic men who cheat on their partners and then beg for forgiveness.
It is understandable to feel this way, as infidelity and abuse can cause a great deal of pain and suffering for the people involved. However, it is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes and it is possible for people to change and learn from their actions.
It is not productive or helpful to write someone off as a “predator” or “abuser” and wish harm upon them. Instead, it may be more effective to focus on setting healthy boundaries and taking care of oneself.
Yo i dont know who you are, but i wish i could be as level – headed as this all the time. But on some levels, i agree with SMH NO. I aint angry enough to write an essay like that, but i feel the hurt.
Seems like the abused always gotta forgive the abusers. And the abusers get off scott free. Shit, in kendriks case, even cop a couple bands off that shit.
I dont wish harm on kendrik but at the same time, its crazy that he gets to air out Whitneys pain to the whole world just so he can clear his own conscious. But addiction is real and all that. I guess.
This song is sad asf on so many levels.
It’s funny how people hold some of these artists and celebs up so high and look up to them and then you find out they’re no better (or sometimes even worse off) than “normal” people.
Very brave of K. Dot
His lady seems biracial (white momma kind). Based on that I care less about this man. His daughter is brown skinned. Since her daddy don’t prefer brown skinned women who look like his own mom his baby daughter is in for a rocky trip since she is a beautiful brown skinned girl and not high yella like her mom.
His lady seems biracial (white momma kind). Based on that I care less about this man. His daughter is brown skinned. Since her daddy don’t prefer brown skinned women who look like his own mom his baby daughter is in for a rocky trip since she is a beautiful brown skinned girl and not high yella like her mom.