The music brims with frayed edges and conflicted characters who try to parse the meaning of black empowerment. The world is divided into camps: black vs. white, rich against poor, and the struggle is further corrupted by institutions that act no more responsibly than street gangs ("From Compton to Congress ... ain't nothin' but a flow of new DemoCrips and ReBloodlicans," he raps on "Hood Politics") Another recurring theme: black-on-black crime (the flame-throwing "Blacker the Berry") and punishment ("How Much a Dollar Cost"). In the former, Lamar calls himself out as a "hypocrite," living large but at the same time guilt-ridden by what he has left behind, and in "How Much a Dollar Cost" a panhandler schools the new aristocrat in just how little can be bought with a fat bank account. Against this backdrop, "i" acts as a temporary salve, a proclamation of hard-earned self-love set against the ebullient guitar lick from the Isley Brothers' "Who's That Lady?"