"DNA" (stylized as "DNA.") is a song by American rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

from his fourth studio album '' Damn''. Despite not being released as a single, the song received support at rhythmic radio after its official music video was released. The second track on the album (thirteenth on the ''Collector's Edition'' of ''Damn'')'','' it was written by Lamar, while the production was handled by

Mike Will Made It Michael Len Williams II (born March 23, 1989), known professionally as Mike Will Made It (often stylized as Mike WiLL Made-It) or simply Mike Will, is an American record producer. He is best known for producing trap beats for several Southern hi ...

. The song's

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was released on April 18, 2017, and features American actor

Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (, ; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his roles in film and television, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Don Cheadle, multiple accolades including two Golden Globe Award ...

Recording and production

"DNA" was the second song from ''Damn'' to be recorded by Lamar and Mike Will, after " Humble". After the first verse was recorded with the beat that Mike Will had already prepared, Lamar started rapping the second verse

a capella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

, requesting that Mike Will build the beat around the rap. Lamar proposed that it sound like "chaos", and Mike Will put together the second half of the song with the intention to make it "sound like he's battling the beat". The song samples " Mary Jane" by

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

Critical reception

The song has been described as "the most virtuosic display" on ''Damn'' by ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

''. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' praised the song as "technically peerless" and Lamar's "astonishing flow". Music critic Neil McCormick, for ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

,'' called "DNA" a "punchy electro mantra about identity". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' named "DNA" as the thirty-first best song of the year in their list of the 100 best songs of the year.

Music video

The song's music video, directed by

Nabil Elderkin Nabil Elderkin (born February 11, 1982) is an American-born Australian film and music video director and photographer, who is of Iranian and American descent. He is mononymously credited as Nabil in his videos. Elderkin has directed videos for ...

and released on April 18, 2017, features American actor

. The video, directed by Nabil and The Little Homies, begins with Cheadle entering an interrogation room, where Lamar is being held captive and attached to a

lie detector A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a pseudoscientific device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a pe ...

machine. After Cheadle mocks Lamar, he turns the machine on where he's shocked with Lamar's life force and begins rapping the track. From here, Cheadle and Lamar switch back and forth from rapping the song, mirroring each other's movements along the way until Cheadle finally succumbs to Lamar and lets him go. Afterwards, scenes of Lamar rapping alone along with some of his friends, including American rapper

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

, follow. The video ends with an extended outro for the song, as Schoolboy Q approaches and punches the camera in slow motion. The video features the use of Chinese in the second half, with Kendrick subtitled "功夫肯尼" ("Kung Fu Kenny", an alternate name used throughout the ''Damn'' album) and Kendrick's crew being given "的家庭" (''De jiātíng''; "the family"). The

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...

logo is presented alongside "顶级狗娱乐" (''Dǐngjí gǒu yúlè'', literally "top level dog entertainment"). Upon release, the music video received positive reviews from critics.

Live performances

Lamar performed "DNA" at the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...

on April 23, 2017. Lamar also performed "DNA" on

The Damn Tour The Damn Tour (stylized as The DAMN. Tour) was a concert tour by American rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar, in support of his fourth studio album, '' Damn'' (2017). The tour's North American leg began on July 12, 2017, in Glendale, Arizona a ...

. He also performed the song at the

60th Annual Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongch ...

. He also performed "DNA" at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show.

Usage in media

An unreleased version of the song, with a new verse, was used during ESPN's coverage of the

2017 NBA Finals The 2017 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2016–17 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven series, and a rematch of the 2016 NBA Finals, the Western Conferenc ...

, and Lamar also appeared in accompanying promos. It was also used to introduce '' NBA Live 18'' in promotional material. The song was also used as a part of '' Madden NFL 18''s soundtrack, along with '' NBA Live 18''. The song was featured in a Beats headphones commercial starring

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

quarterback

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...

. The song was also featured in a Beats X commercial featuring

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

. The song was also featured on

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

HomePod The HomePod is a series of smart speakers developed by Apple Inc., Apple. Designed to work with the Apple Music subscription service, the HomePod incorporates beamforming and eight speakers and is sold in two colors: white and midnight. It is s ...

smart speaker advertisement named "Beat". The song is featured in the first trailer for ''

Creed II ''Creed II'' is a 2018 American sports drama film directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Creed'' (2015), a follow-up to '' Rocky IV'' (1985), and the eighth installment in t ...

''. On October 12, 2018, the soundtrack for the film '' The Hate U Give'' featured the song. The song appears in the third episode of the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

science fiction series '' Utopia Falls''. The song was played to close

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...

's 2019 stand-up special '' Sticks & Stones''. The song was also featured in the launch trailer of ''

Mortal Kombat 11 ''Mortal Kombat 11'' is a 2019 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the eleventh main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series and a sequel to '' Mortal Kombat X'' (20 ...

: Aftermath'' expansion.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the official ''Damn'' digital booklet. *Kendrick Lamar – vocals, songwriter *

– songwriter, producer *Matt Schaeffer – additional

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Derek Ali – mixing *Tyler Page – mix assistant *Cyrus Taghipour – mix assistant

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Aftermath Entertainment singles Interscope Records singles Kendrick Lamar songs Music videos directed by Dave Free Music videos directed by Kendrick Lamar Music videos directed by Nabil Elderkin Song recordings produced by Mike Will Made It Songs written by Kendrick Lamar Songs written by Mike Will Made It Top Dawg Entertainment singles