Kendrick Lamar – Average Joe Lyrics

Average Joe

Kendrick Lamar

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"Average Joe." - Kendrick Lamar

Friday, 23 October 2026, 05:47 am

Album: Overly Dedicated

Track No: 09

The hardest thing for me to do
Is to get you to know me within sixteen bars
That's the hardest thing
Who is K. Dot? A young **** from Compton on the curb writing raps next to a gun shot
On the corners where the gangsters and the killers dwell
The fraudulent tender scars that get unveiled
Everyone I knew was either Crip or Piru
Cousins in elementary, relatives in high school
With that being said, each one of their rivals was aiming something at my head, I needed survival
Got jumped, got jacked, shot at, shot back
And I don't even push a line, I'm just tryna push these rhymes
In the midst of staying neutral and discrete
My momma said, "You're judged by the company you keep"
But what you can consider, that if it goes down
They'll kill you if you kill me, it gets deep, ****
So if you ask what I'm doing, I'm tryna duck the influence
Of my city that's brewin', real talk, and
This is why they fuck with me
Real talk, ****, believe it
This is why they fuck with me
Do what I do, you know?
I'm no gangster, no killer, I'm just your average Joe
Know that
But one thing you should consider, I'm the realest you know
I was walking from Centennial
When an unidentified vehicle rolled up, and I was like, "Hol' up"
"Where you from?" "I don't bang"
"Where you stay?" "Westside"
That's a Piru gang to be exact, well aware they had blue across they hat
Dropped backpack and ran inside of the cul-de-sac
Shots rang out, hoping to God I wasn't wet
Crossed to cross Rosecrans and ran inside of the yet
Chirped the homies on the hot ninety-five, they said they already knew what happened
And meet 'em outside the garage, never seen that many guns in my life
I was paranoid like a fiend in the night, but needed revenge
Grabbed the nine-ball, opened up the door, then got in
Somebody said, "Fall back
We gon' make these **** suffer, you my brother like a frat
And that's just to remind you"
Thought about that so long, I had failed my finals
Fuck, but
This is why they fuck with me
I told you, ****
This is why they fuck with me
You fake, ****
I'm no gangster, no killer, I'm just your average Joe
You fake
But one thing you should consider, I'm the realest you know
I don't do Black music, I don't do white music
I do everyday life music
Give 'em cuts like a **** pierced a knife through it
You say you through, but I've been through it, now that's cold
And this is for my county building children
In Hub City on hubcaps, no power-steering
I use perseverance in this mad city
Where the **** drink Remy and hold semis for cutthroats
Bernie Mac died, it's no joke
Don't ask why if you don't know about these killers and thieves
Seven grams of weed, you smoke that, but I'm high off life
I could fall out the sky like twice
And land in the land of the AKs and the minivans
Where the fan never on 'cause it's hotter than a lunatic's underarms in a straitjacket
In other words, we get it cracking, but I keep it cool, you know
This is why they fuck with me
This is why they fuck with me
Real talk
I'm no gangster, no killer, I'm just your average Joe
Come on
But one thing you should consider, I'm the realest you know
So there you have it
But I'ma leave you with this
An O.G. once told me
A real gangster is either dead or in jail
Or behind the scenes getting real money
I'm gone

Writer(s): Kendrick Lamar.

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