“Count Me Out” by Kendrick Lamar

In reality, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” is two albums in one, thus the “and” in the title. And “Count Me Out” serves as the introductory track to “the Big Steppers” half of the project. So it can be taken as one that the vocalist uses to set the stage for what’s to come after.

And with that in mind this track is very self-reflective, perhaps more so than any other on the album. Like the other songs found on the project, this one also finds the vocalist harping on innumerable subjects really. But what it all seems to center on is how K-Dot himself handles personal depression and pressure. And in that regard, as expected, there is a religious slant. But Kendrick also states that at times he “couldn’t find God”, music held him down instead. Later on, he also seems to express a belief in himself more than in anything else.

And the reason such observations are important is because K-Dot is using the opportunity of this track to address his detractors and opps. Or as expressed in the chorus, he ‘loves when people count him out’, i.e. being convinced that he is on the verge of defeat, in part by their own doing.

So what Kendrick is doing is poetically delineating how he keeps his sh*t together under such moments of stress, when it feels as if the world is against him or when he’s experiencing self-guilt. And conclusively, it appears that he does so via a considerable degree of positivity thinking.

Credits for “Count Me Out”

The production team behind this song consists of Sounwave, J.LBS, DJ Dahi, Tim Maxey and Kendrick Lamar himself. And K-Dot, J.LBS and Dahi also acted as co-writers with Duval Timothy and Sam Dew.

Eckhart Tolle, the prominent German philosopher that Kendrick Lamar obviously has an affinity for, is credited as a narrator on “Count Me Out”.

Date of Release

This song and the album it’s featured on, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers”, were released on 13 May 2022 by Universal Music Group, Interscope Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Top Dawg Entertainment.