How Much Dollar Cost

One dollar. In a span of merely seconds, most people would not think twice before spending one dollar. Our subconscious mind allows us to think that this small amount of money is invaluable or worth little to nothing. When approaching the crossroads between intemperance and commiseration, the question of how much a dollar really cost surfaces. In “How Much a Dollar Cost,” Kendrick Lamar exercises his thoughts on the true value of money while questioning the process of attaining wealth. Kendrick Lamar wonders the true extent to which this value is carried out, bringing awareness to a society who feeds on an immoral value of wealth in order to achieve a subtle criticism of the poor religious connectivity and the blatant waste of life.

“How Much a Dollar Cost” implements rapping as one of the main features throughout the song. Rap music flourished as a style of hip hop in the

Kendrick Lamar uses the elements of isolation and madness in order to create emotional tensions, forcing the listeners to perceive the song in a similar way. He is forced to meet at the crossroads between doing what he believes to be the right thing and what is actually the right thing. Kendrick becomes upset at his own ego because of the challenge his ego faces from the confrontation with the homeless guy. With the lines “Crumbs and pennies, I need all of mines / When I was strugglin ', I did compromise, now I comprehend,” Kendrick Lamar emphasizes that he made it to where he is now because of the work and efforts he put in, and accuses the homeless guy of being able to put in the same amount of work in order to be successful. Because of his guilt, Kendrick Lamar presumes to blame the homeless man for being in that predicament. He remarked that a man works for what he has, and he is not given handouts. Ironically, we discover later in the song that the helping a homeless guy was Kendrick Lamar’s works, and after not completing his task, he becomes the beggar, begging for a handout from