Dissecting Kendrick Lamar’s “family ties” Verse

Why Kendrick’s line “I am legacy, I come from the 70” is way deeper than it seems.

On the surface, Kendrick is claiming to be influenced by 1970s soul, as he name checks Al Green in the next line, the 70s singer Kendrick’s parents played a lot when he was a kid.

But just BEFORE this line, Kendrick had been on a string of spiritual references – calling himself a prophet and name checking Metatron and Gabriel, two extra biblical archangels.

And the number 70 is also a very significant and recurring biblical number. 70 first appears in the book of Genesis, where there are 70 nations that originally descended from Noah, so 70 is really a number that represents all people in the world, hence Kendrick’s line “I am a legacy, I come from the 70.”

In this one seemingly simple line, Kendrick packages God, the entire human race, his direct family, and the lineage of Black music, all the things that made him who he is.

From Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar’s song “Family Ties.”