Fear

"Fear" (stylized as "FEAR.") is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, from his fourth studio album DAMN., released on April 14, 2017. The twelfth track on the album (third on the Collector's Edition of Damn), the song was written by Kendrick and produced by The Alchemist, with additional production by Bēkon. At seven minutes and forty-one seconds, it is the longest song on the album. Although not released as a single, the song charted in multiple countries in 2017. The song, structured in three parts, describes events in Lamar's life, specifically his worries and fears, at the ages of seven, seventeen, twenty-seven, and at the time of recording. The song has received critical acclaim from music critics, with multiple critics calling the track as Damn's centerpiece, as well as a huge standout. Composition The song begins with a voicemail from Lamar's cousin, Karni Israel Duckworth (then Carl Duckworth), who, in the voicemail, speaks a verse from the Book of Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Torah (a section of the Hebrew Bible). Specifically, he speaks , which reads "The LORD will smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart." Duckworth, a member of the Black Hebrew Israelites, refers to the burden that Lamar feels as a result of not accepting his supposed Israeli heritage. As Duckworth mentions in his second voicemail to Lamar at the end of the song "The so-called Blacks, Hispanics, and Native American Indians are the true children of Israel. We are the Israelites, according to the Bible. The children of Israel. He's gonna punish us for our iniquities, for our disobedience because we chose to follow other gods”