Listen to Kendrick Lamar’s Unreleased 2017 NBA Finals Version of “DNA”

Fans stand on tips of their toes, screaming to the tops of their lungs. Ballers are on the court celebrating the thrill of victory (some agonizing in defeat), golden ticker tape showers the background, ad Kendrick Lamar‘s “DNA” plays in the broadcast of the NBA Finals.

This previously unreleased celebratory version revels in the Golden State Warriors’ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the 20-second snippet, he raps, “I got motivation, realization in my DNA/ I got devotion and emotion inside my DNA/ Eyes open wide/ Yeah, we only want the prize/ Standing ovation and celebration for our DNA.”

DAMN. marks Lamar’s fourth album and follows his 2015 LP, To Pimp a Butterfly, and his 2016 compilation album, untitled unmastered. Produced by Mike Will Made It, “DNA” is the second single the Compton rapper released from his fourth studio album Damn. on May 30.

The intense, Nabil-directed video for “DNA” stars actor Don Cheadle, who kicks off the video by interrogating Kendrick. “Kendrick Lamar, two first names, huh,” he says. “What the fuck is up with that?”

Cheadle plays a ruthless interrogator going after Lamar, who is cuffed and hooked up to a lie detector machine, but when he turns the machine on, a transfer happens and he’s zapped with Lamar’s life force as he begins spitting the ruthless, Geraldo Rivera-dissing track.

Lamar and Cheadle begin to spit bars back and forth and mirror each other’s movements until finally Cheadle succumbs and lets Lamar go. Once outside, Kung Fu Kenny dips with his crew as he attacks the rest of “DNA.”
The video ends with a new outro not found on the album version of the song, as Schoolboy Q walks towards the camera before punching it out.