Kendrick Lamar’s ‘How Much A Dollar Cost’ is a harrowing story of an encounter in Africa between a wealthy American (whose situation is not unlike the wealthy singer’s) and a local homeless man who asks him for money. It’s a remarkably cutting and frank look at a meeting in which the narrator exposes both his privilege and his angry defensiveness about it. It’s a culture clash about economic class, not race or religion.

The narrator takes offense and gets defensive because he’s being hustled by a hustler not unlike himself, as he used to be… when he was poor.

He admits to faults and flaws, he exposes his vulnerability and lack of empathy, but still he reacts with aggression to the threat to his identity that the beggar represents. There’s no happy ending. It’s a confrontation between a Have and a Have-Not… which is not resolved.

It doesn’t matter if the narrator of the song is Lamar or not. What matters is what is revealed in his monologue, interspersed with quotes from the homeless man.

The words are hard to separate from Lamar’s skills as a rapper. The lyrics are tremendous, but his flow, his phrasing and rhyming, the way he places the words rhythmically and uses his tone and timbre, along with the evocative music, brings his saga to a high level.

The song starts with a haunting chord progression that underlies most of the song, played by piano, bass, and drums (listen below). The piano and bass play 8th notes… but when the drums enter, the beat turns into a mournful shuffle, as the 8ths rub disquietingly against the shuffle triplets.

||: F | Gbmaj7 | Ab6 | Gbmaj7 :||

The 1st Verse asks the question, ‘How much a dollar cost?’, and sets the scene (‘Deep water, powder blue skies that crack open’). He’s feeling ‘big as Motombo’ in ‘this luxury car’. The man begs him for a little money – ’10 rand’; less than a dollar. The narrator, who immediately sees the beggar as a crackhead, simply turns him down. (‘I told him I ain’t have it and closed my door’)

How much a dollar really cost?
The question is detrimental, paralyzin’ my thoughts
Parasites in my stomach keep me with a gut feeling, y’all
Gotta see how I’m chillin’ once I park this luxury car
Hopping out feeling big as Mutombo
Twenty on pump six dirty Marcellus called me Dumbo
Twenty years ago, can’t forget
Now I can lend him a ear or two how to stack these residuals
Tenfold, the liberal concept of what men’ll do
Twenty on six, he didn’t hear me
Indigenous African only spoke Zulu
My American tongue was leery
Walked out the gas station
A homeless man with a semi-tan complexion
Asked me for ten rand
Stressin’ about dry land
Deep water, powder blue skies that crack open
A piece of crack that he wanted, I knew he was smokin’
He begged and pleaded
Asked me to feed him twice, I didn’t believe it
Told him, beat it
Contributin’ money just for his pipe, I couldn’t see it
He said, ‘my son, temptation is one thing that I’ve defeated
Listen to me, I want a single bill from you
Nothin’ less, nothin’ more’
I told him I ain’t have it and closed my door
Tell me how much a dollar cost

Then follow close harmonies (sung by James Fauntleroy) over a shockingly lush chord progression, an almost Brian Wilson-esque section which happens after each of the three Verses, but only once each time:

|| F | Db | Bb/C | Gbmaj7 ||

The lyrics, repeated each time, are a counterpoint to the harsh rap:

It’s more to feed your mind
Water, sun and love, the one you love
All you need, the air you breathe

The encounter doesn’t end with the shut door. The homeless man stares the narrator down (’Starin’ at me’, repeated – brilliant – six times)… and he takes the bait.

He’s starin’ at me in disbelief
My temper is buildin’, he’s starin’ at me, I grab my key
He’s starin’ at me, I started the car then I tried to leave
And somethin’ told me to keep it in park until I could see
A reason why he was mad at a stranger like I was supposed to save him
Like I’m the reason he’s homeless and askin’ me for a favor
He’s starin’ at me, his eyes followed me with no laser
He’s starin’ at me, I notice that his stare is contagious
‘Cause now I’m starin’ back at him, feelin’ some type of disrespect
If I could throw a bat at him, it’d be aimin’ at his neck
I never understood someone beggin’ for goods
Askin’ for handouts, takin’ it if they could
And this particular person just had it down pat
Starin’ at me for the longest until he finally asked
‘Have you ever opened up Exodus 14?
A humble man is all that we ever need’
Tell me how much a dollar cost

He responds defensively and angrily, with thoughts of violence. He can’t stand that this fool, this crack-smoking beggar, is disrespecting him. He can’t let it go. And to top it off the guy throws a Bible quote at him… about humility.

Guilt trippin’ and feelin’ resentment
I never met a transient that demanded attention
They got me frustrated, indecisive and power trippin’
Sour emotions got me lookin’ at the universe different
I should distance myself, I should keep it relentless
My selfishness is what got me here, who the fuck I’m kiddin’?
So I’ma tell you like I told the last bum, crumbs and pennies
I need all of mines, and I recognize this type of panhandlin’ all the time
I got better judgement, I know when nigga’s hustlin’
Keep in mind, when I was strugglin’, I did compromise
Now I comprehend, I smell grandpa’s old medicine
Reekin’ from your skin, moonshine and gin
Nigga you’re babblin’, your words ain’t flatterin’, I’m imaginin’
Denzel but lookin’ at O’Neal, Kazaam is sad
Thrills, your gimmick is mediocre, the jig is up
I seen you from a mile away losin’ focus
And I’m insensitive, and I lack empathy
He looked at me and said, ‘Your potential is bittersweet’
I looked at him and said, ‘Every nickel is mines to keep’
He looked at me and said, ‘Know the truth, it’ll set you free
You’re lookin’ at the Messiah, the son of Jehova, the higher power
The choir that spoke the word, the Holy Spirit,
The nerve of Nazareth and
I’ll tell you just how much a dollar cost
The price of having a spot in Heaven, embrace your loss, I am God.’

At first he reacts with honesty about his own vulnerability; his guilt, his resentment, his frustration.… but he immediately turns that into aggression (‘I should keep it relentless… My selfishness is what got me here’). He goes back and forth with the dude, who finally tells him he’s the son of God. But… is he nuts? Or is he just saying that, crackhead or no, he’s a child of God?

This last declaration, in terms of the sound of the words and the rapping (listen!), may be the most intense section in the song – the rhyme of ‘word’ and ‘nerve’… and ending with ‘Embrace your loss’!

There is a coda to this, sung by Ronald Isley, which feels like a closing prayer, a hopeful benediction (‘Help me change, right my wrongs’).

I wash my hands, I said my grace, what more do you want from me?
Tears of a clown, guess I’m not all what is meant to be
Shades of grey will never change if I condone
Turn this page, help me change, to right my wrongs

This final section also contains another different 4 bar chord sequence, unrepeated:

|| F | Eb (no3rd) | Db | Bb/C ||

In most songs you can only artificially separate the words from the music. It can be valuable to get a temporary look into any single aspect of a song, just as you would if you focused on a melody or chords. But in many songs – and this is one of them – the words can’t really be pulled out and have justice done to them.

Lyrics are not poetry – though some, like these, are quite poetic. They’re words that are inextricably blended with music.

(For a song about an encounter with some similarities to ‘How Much A Dollar Cost’ – including a wealthy narrator’s corrosively honest self-examination of their encounter with a Have-Not… who may actually have something the singer hasn’t got, and needs – check out my take on Joni Mitchell’s song ‘For Free” here.)

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