Kendrick Lamar took the rough-draft motif of his untitled unmastered to heart.

The project—a compilation of previously unreleased demos recorded during sessions for To Pimp A Butterfly—is made up of eight (also) untitled tracks distinguished presumably by the dates on which each was recorded.

There seems to be one exception. Terrace Martin told Complex that the song that Kendrick performed on The Colbert Report in December 2014—now called “untitled 03 | 05.28.2013”—was composed a day before the late-night rendition.

Still, trusting that the other dates represent when each song was cut, Genius flipped back the calendar and took a look at the world and music events taking place on each date, attempting to get a glimpse of Kendrick Lamar’s mental as he created untitled unmastered.

In May 2013, Kanye West premiered his Yeezus single “New Slaves” via projected video screenings around the world. Like Yeezy, Kendrick’s also got exploitation on his mind on “untitled 03,” as he raps: “A piece of mine’s / That’s what the white man wanted when I rhyme / Telling me that he selling me for just $10.99”

California experienced a major drought toward the end of June 2014, with calls of conservation and residents seeing huge increases in their water bills (by January 2015, Gov. Jerry Brown would declare a State of Emergency.) On “untitled 02,” Kendrick references the drought and the burden being placed on low-income residents.

“Water’s like 2,500 a month,” K Dot raps, before contemplating his own financial freedom. “What if I empty my bank out and stunt?”

The day before the recording of “untitled 06"—a song about celebrating uniqueness—Kendrick Lamar lost to Drake at the BET Awards for Best Male Hip-Hop Artist. He doesn’t seem fazed here, embracing the fact that he’s always been a challenging, one-of-a-kind artist making music by his own means. “My mama told me that I was different the moment I was invented / Estranged baby, no I’m not ashamed.”

As the Ferguson protests continued, police arrested on-scene reporters from The Washington Post and Huffington Post. Both reporters said officers refused to show their badge numbers, as they ordered the journalists out of a local McDonald’s restaurant and arrested them.

Rhymes Kendrick: “They say the government mislead the youth, youth, youth, youth.”

The activism in response to Michael Brown’s murder was widely considered a youth-led movement, as the city and its residents demanded truth and justice from the Ferguson Police Department.

On Aug. 19, 2014, as protesters clashed with police over the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, President Obama announced plans to send Attorney General Eric Holder to Ferguson, Mo., to meet with investigators and community leaders to quell several days of unrest.

A few days prior, Kendrick’s rap buddy J. Cole released his poignant sign-of-the-times record “Be Free,” and perhaps Kendrick’s heart was in the same place when he recorded what would become the intro to untitled unmastered, as he raps: “Told me to use my vocals to save mankind for you / Say I didn’t try for you / say I didn’t ride for you / I tithed for you, I pushed the club to the side for you.”

It is well documented that Kendrick Lamar’s trip to South Africa in early 2014 was a huge inspiration in the recording of To Pimp A Butterfly. And while “untitled 08” was recorded months later, it’s clear that the influence of the trip stayed with Lamar and put first-world problems—and even his grim Compton upbringing—into perspective. “Your projects ain’t shit, I live in a hut, bitch,” he raps. “I’m living to keep warm, you living to pay rent.”

On Sept. 20, 2014, Shonda Rhimes, creator of hit TV shows Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, fired back at white New York Times critic Allesandra Stanley, who said Rhimes should title her autobiography “How to get away with being an angry black woman.” In response to Stanley, Rhimes fired off a series of tweets at the critic including:

“Final thing: (then I am gonna do some yoga): how come I am not ‘an angry black woman’ the many times Meredith (or Addison!) rants? @nytimes… Wait. I’m ‘angry’ AND a ROMANCE WRITER?!! I’m going to need to put down the internet and go dance this one out. Because ish is getting real.”

On “untitled 05,” Kendrick spits, “professional dream killers reason why I’m awake,” which is relevant to Shonda’s situation for two reasons: 1) She stays working hard, creating multiple successful shows (thus, probably being awake working rather than sleeping), and 2) Stanley, along with many other critics, can be looked at as one of the “dream killers” who does not understand the struggle on which she’s commenting.

In February of this year—just before Kendrick’s anticipated performance at the Grammys—elusive MC and “Control” collaborator Jay Electronica dropped “#TBE The Curse of Mayweather,” which included some jabs at his Compton peer. He questions K Dot’s motives: “Man, fuck these white people / My grandmother died at 82 scrubbing floors / And niggas still running around begging for awards.”

Well, Kendrick apparently got wind of the sideways talk. On “untitled 07” he sends some subliminal warning shots that seem like appropriate counters to Jay Elec:

“Shut your fuckin' mouth and get some cash, you bitch, you / You be in your feelings, I be in my bag, you bitch, you.”

And later: “I could never end a career if it never start”—possibly alluding to the fact that Electronica has yet to release a studio album.