Song · Kendrick Lamar
“i” by Kendrick Lamar
From the album To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
“i” by Kendrick Lamar appears on 6 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2014 and 2025. It was first released in 2015 on the album To Pimp a Butterfly. Its best result is #36 on The Current Top 89 Songs of 2015. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #313 alternative song of 2014.
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Video from YouTube (KendrickLamarVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"i" (usually written in lowercase) arrived in September 2014 as the first single from Kendrick Lamar's third album, To Pimp a Butterfly, and its spine is the Isley Brothers' "That Lady". Rather than simply lift the old record, the music was re-recorded with Ronald Isley himself, who gets an additional vocal credit, and Lamar travelled to St. Louis to ask Isley's blessing in person.
Rahki produced it, with Thundercat and Chris Smith on bass, Keith Askey on guitar, Sam Barsh on keys and Kendall Lewis on drums, and Derek Ali mixed. The album version is a drastically different animal from the single, but the Isley groove runs through both. At the 2015 Grammy Awards it took home 2 trophies: Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 65 | The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2014 | 89 |
| 2014 | 53 | Triple J Australia (national) | Triple J Hottest 100 of 2014 | 100 |
| 2015 | 36 | The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN | The Current Top 89 Songs of 2015 | 89 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 391 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2025 | 560 | The Current | 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now | 893 |
| 2025 | 395 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
Also listed as: I.
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