Kendrick Lamar, dodger blue | Bangerz N Bopz

In the 23rd edition of Bangerz N Bopz (2025), we highlight “dodger blue,” performed by Grammy and Pulitzer-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar.  

Bring on the bold, fierce songs! Bangerz N Bopz serves up background info and insight into songs of various styles, especially songs that raise eyebrows and stir the pot.  Featured records can be classic or brand new. In the 23^rd edition of Bangerz N Bopz (2025), we break down “dodger blue” performed by Kendrick Lamar.

“My neck on Tarantino, Alejandro, Spike Lee / Just know you took a scenic route if you stand by me.” Ooh-wee! Grammy and Pulitzer-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar never ceases to impress with his rhymes.  At the end of the first verse of “Dodger blue”, the eighth track from his 2024 album, GNX, he cleverly shouts out three visionary, Academy Award-winning directors/filmmakers (Quentin Tarantino, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Spike Lee).  While all three filmmakers had roots elsewhere, they have been big in Hollywood and have connections to Los Angeles. “Dodger blue” (which references the Los Angeles Dodgers), despite its brevity, is jam-packed – the expectation of any Kendrick Lamar song.

Kendrick enlists the services of Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x, and Roddy Ricch on “dodger blue.”  All three artists appear in the melodic chorus, which only occurs once:

“So fly in this bitch

Fifty on me, don’t die tryin’ and shit (Ooh-ooh)

You know I’m up and down when I slide in this bitch

Dreamers and the Jets outside in this bitch

Westside, get the money, yeah, that’s fo’ sho’

Streets don’t love you, better respect the code

Ain’t no sleepin’ in on Sunday

If it’s ’bout the money, then my niggas on go.”

From an instrumental perspective, the production (Sounwave, Terrace Martin, Jack Antonoff, Tane Runo, and Tim Maxey) is sleek.  The groove is infectious as hell, while the overall vibe is smooth… like butter, of course! Lamar shines with his sharp melodic bars.  He is confident: “When I walk in, oh yeah, bring that / It’s unanimous, how I pop shit.” Word.  Sure, “Dodger blue” is shy of two-and-a-quarter-minutes of song, but it’s fab, nonetheless.

Kendrick Lamar // GNX // pgLang / Interscope // 2024

Kendrick Lamar, dodger blue: Bangerz N Bopz No. 23 (2025) [: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; pgLang / Interscope;; Bigshow Lamar Campton, Daniel Duarte, Eduardo López from Pexels; AcatXIo, djexpectations, OpenClipart-Vectors, Thai Zeo from Pixabay]