A good lyric can get stuck in your head or leave you peeling apart its layers of meaning for days—or maybe it simply evokes an emotion you can’t find the words to express on your own. In 2022, plenty of lyrics did all of these things, but according to Genius users, one artist’s masterful lines transcended all others.
We used Genius data to determine the most-upvoted lyrics of this year, and it turns out, the Top 5 most popular lines of 2022 all come from Kendrick Lamar. It’s no huge surprise Lamar dominated the list—he’s also made appearances on Genius’ Top Songs, Top Albums, and Top Artists lists for 2022. It was a big year for the Compton rapper, who finally released his fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, back in May, five years after the arrival of the Pulitzer-prize-winning DAMN.
All five of the Lamar lines that landed on the list come from Mr. Morale tracks, but it’s a life lesson from “Auntie Diaries” that placed first, with 575 upvotes. The lines recall a 2018 concert where Kendrick brought two fans on stage, one of whom was a white woman, to sing along with him to “m.A.A.d City.” When it was the woman’s turn, she sang every word, including the N-word. Kendrick cut her off on the spot. The viral moment reignited a debate about whether or not white people should be allowed to use the controversial slur, with people like JAY-Z, Oprah Winfrey, and Tyler, the Creator all weighing in.
For years, Lamar stayed firm on his stance. “I’ve been on this earth for 30 years, and there’s been so many things a Caucasian person said I couldn’t do,” he once explained in a 2018 Vanity Fair interview. “Get good credit. Buy a house in an urban city. So many things—’you can’t do that’—whether it’s from afar or close up. So if I say this is my word, let me have this one word, please let me have that word.”
But as “Auntie Dairies” comes to a close, Kendrick’s transgender cousin encourages him to change his perspective:
See, I was taught words was nothing more than a sound
If ever they was pronounced without any intentions
The very second you challenged the shit I was kicking
Reminded me about a show I did out the city
That time I brung a fan on stage to rap
But disapproved the word that she couldn’t say with me
You said, “Kendrick, ain’t no room for contradiction
To truly understand love, switch position
‘Faggot, faggot, faggot,’ we can say it together
But only if you let a white girl say ‘Nigga’”
The lyric’s detailed annotation, written by nine Genius users, including originator @Merc_K9, astutely points out that for the rest of Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Lamar doesn’t use the N-word once.
This isn’t the only time “Auntie Diaries” appears on the Top Lyrics of 2022 list. The song also takes the No. 5 slot with an earlier line about a time when a certain LGBTQ+ slur was used with abandon. Other songs to earn a spot for their lyrics include the Sampha-assisted “Father Time,” where Kendrick adds his two cents in about the Drake and Kanye beef; the album opener “United In Grief,” where Kendrick confesses to going through a difficult time leading up to the release of the project; and the Taylour Paige collab “We Cry Together,” where Kendrick’s girl seemingly makes a shocking claim about his cousin and fellow rapper Baby Keem to get a rise out of him in the heat of an argument.
