King Kunta

The title refers to Kunta Kinte of Alex Haley's Roots. Lamar co-wrote the song with Thundercat and it references Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. It interpolates Johnny Burns' Get Nekkid, re-sings lyrics from Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal, takes elements of James Brown's The Payback and samples Ahmad's We Want the Funk. Whitney Alford sings backing vocals.

Rolling Stone placed it seventh on its list of the 50 best songs of 2015, Pitchfork put it fourth on its 100 best tracks of 2015, and it was second in the 2015 Triple J Hottest 100. Director X filmed the video in Compton, using mostly friends of Lamar who still live there, and it premiered on 1 April 2015. Lamar has performed it on The Damn Tour, The Big Steppers Tour and The Grand National Tour.