Songfacts®:

• "Reincarnated" is an introspective track from Kendrick Lamar's GNX album with three verses and no chorus. The rapper evokes the spirits of two mid-20th century musicians who aren't named but seem to be John Lee Hooker and Billie Holiday. He then transitions to a conversation with God.
  
  The song connects to K-Dot's previous mention of reincarnation on "Squabble Up" where he raps:
  
  God knows
  I am reincarnated
• Here's the case for John Lee Hooker and Billie Holiday as the references in this song. Hooker was a revolutionary blues guitarist.
  
  Gifted as a musician, I played guitar on the grand level
  
  He spent a formative time in Detroit during the 1940s and ran away from home as a teenager.
  
  Let's take it back to Michigan in 1947
  My father kicked me out the house 'cause I wouldn't listen to him
  
  Hooker's nickname was "Boogie Man," which dovetails neatly with Kendrick's own moniker, "Boogeyman."
  
  The second verse likely refers to Billie Holiday, one of the most celebrated jazz singers of all time. She performed on the Chitlin' Circuit, a network of venues in the United States that provided opportunities for African American entertainers during the segregation era.
  
  Another life had placed me as a Black woman in the Chitlin' Circuit
  
  Holiday struggled with substance abuse, including cocaine and heroin.
  
  Heroin needles had me in fetal position, restricted
  Turned on my family, I went wherever cameras be
  Cocaine, no private planes for my insanity
  Self-indulged, discipline never been my sentiments
  I needed drugs, to me, an 8-ball was like penicillin
  
  While there are other suggestions, including Dinah Washington, the interpretation focusing on Billie Holiday has the most support.
• The third verse flips the script. Kendrick stops channeling and starts conversing with the Almighty. He references Isaiah 14, a biblical passage often associated with both the fall of Babylon's king and the fall of Satan. Lamar layers this with his own struggles, confessing to moments of arrogance and moral faltering.
  
  At the end of the track, Kendrick celebrates rewriting the "devil's story just to take our power back, 'carnated" by using his music as a tool to inspire unity, foster understanding, and promote harmony.
• Lamar pays homage to 2Pac by sampling his 1997 "Made Niggaz" track while mirroring the West Coast legend's aggressive flow. The song is a respectful resurrection of 2Pac's legacy, contrasting Drake's use of AI-generated 2Pac vocals during his rap war with K-Dot.
• The song kicks off with a vocal contribution in Spanish by Deyra Barrera, a Mexican singer Lamar discovered at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. She also features on the GNX tracks "Wacced Out Murals" and "Gloria."
• Lamar co-produced "Squabble Up" with:
  
  GNX producers Sounwave and Jack Antonoff.
  
  Matthew "MTech" Bernard, who helped with the production on six out of the 12 GNX tracks.
  
  Noah Ehler, known for his work with singer-songwriter D4vd.