Untitled 03 – 05.28.2013.

"Untitled 03 | 05.28.2013."
"Untitled 03 \| 05.28.2013."
Song by Kendrick Lamar
from the album untitled unmastered.
Recorded	May 28, 2013
Genre	Hip hop; jazz rap; conscious hip hop;
Length	2:34
Label	Top Dawg; Aftermath; Interscope;
Songwriter(s)	Kendrick Duckworth; Bilal Oliver; Stephen Bruner; Terrace Martin; Mani Strings;
Producer(s)	Astronote;

"Untitled 03 | 05.28.2013.", titled "Untitled 1" before its official release, is a song by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar, featured on his compilation album, Untitled Unmastered.

Content

The song tells a story of four people that give Lamar advice: an Asian, Indian, black and white man,^[1] the latter of whom attempts to financially exploit him.^[2] Anna Wise prompts the section for each person.^[3] The song also explores the concepts of Afrofuturism^[2] and freedom.^[4] The original repeated ending line "Tell 'em we don't die, we multiply" has been viewed as a reference to the movie Bebe's Kids (1992)^[5]^[1] and the N.W.A song "Real Niggaz Don't Die" (1991).^[6] This line was removed on the official release, with Consequence reasoning that this was to make the "solution remain vague".^[7]

Critical reception

Justin Davis of Complex wrote that Lamar's fast rapping near the end of "Untitled 03 | 05.28.2013." showcased "his outrageous technical skill". He described the song as impactful and reckoned that fans who did not like the single "I" would be "very relieved" by Lamar's return to more jazz-style music.^[8] In 2022, Consequence listed "Untitled 03" as Lamar's ninth-best song, complimenting its exploration of the topic of maintaining personal integrity when confronted with tempting rewards from manipulative record executives.^[9] Graham Corrigan of Complex listed it as one of his ten favorite songs of 2016.^[10]

Live performances

The song was performed publicly for the first time on December 16, 2014, on The Colbert Report, during promotion for Lamar's third studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly.^[11] This made it the first Untitled Unmastered song ever publicly revealed.^[3] According to Terrace Martin, the lyrics were composed the day before the show because of Lamar's reluctance to perform "I".^[12]