Songfacts®:

• Having introduced us to young seductress Sherane on Good Kid, M.A.A.d City's opening track, Lamar returns to her on this cut. "If you listen to 'Poetic Justice,' it's a song about a chick saying these legs are poems," said Lamar to Complex magazine. "On the back end of that, is really the Sherane joint, so it's a dedication song for Sherane. And that's going into 'Good Kid' and ' m.A.A.d city ,' which completes the story."
• The song samples Janet Jackson's 1994 hit single "Any Time, Any Place," whilst its title is the same as the 1993 film that the Rhythm Nation singer starred in alongside Tupac Shakur. Scoop told Complex: "That sample flip was a special piece that I was saving for the right artist. I been a fan of what Kendrick has been bringing to the table and it seemed like the right fit and everybody else liked it too. The sample is so crazy so the fact that it was even cleared amazes me."
• Drake joins Lamar on this track. The Compton rapper had previously toured with the Toronto MC and also guested on Drake's Take Care cut, "Buried Alive Interlude." "We were talking about what joints we wanted to do," he told Complex. When Scoop shot me the track, I immediately came up with the concept of doing that vibe and the first person I had in mind was Drake. Drake killed it and it came out crazy. I think that's going to sit for awhile."