Auntie Diaries

Auntie Diaries

Kendrick Lamar

“Auntie Diaries” is the sixth track on disc two from Kendrick Lamar’s fifth and final studio album with Top Dawg Entertainment, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers; it is the fifteenth track overall. Kendrick tells the story of two transgender people, using this narrative to critique himself, society and the church’s views on the LGBTQ community.

At the end of the song, he alludes to the controversial moment in May 2018 when he invited a white woman onstage at the Alabama Hangout Festival to perform his October 2012 track, “m.A.A.d. city”. When she proceeded to say the N-word, he asked her to start over and avoid using the slur, however, she was ultimately forced to return to the audience.

Kendrick juxtaposes the misuse of the N-word with his own community’s use of the F-word to denigrate queer people. He uses these parallels not only as a teaching moment for his listener, but as a clever transition to the next song, titled “Mr. Morale,” which begins with the following quote:

It was one of the worst performances I’ve seen in my life
I couldn’t sleep last night because I felt this shit