Yesterday, Kendrick Lamar’s opening verse on the intro track of his latest album GNX caught listeners’ attention as he rapped, “Yesterday, somebody whacked out my mural/That energy’ll make you n—as move to Europe.” The track, introduced by the melodic voice of mariachi singer Deyra Barrera, celebrates the rich tapestry of Southern California’s street culture.
The mural Kendrick referenced was painted on the side of Tam’s Burgers, the iconic burger joint featured in his “Not Like Us” video. Created by artist Mike Norice, the mural was recently defaced after a Dodgers game. Norice shared a video of the vandalized mural on Instagram, documenting the incident.
However, this isn’t the only mural connected to Kendrick to face such misfortune. Another artwork, painted earlier this summer by artists Sloe Motion and Gustavo Zermeño Jr. on the back of Mi Sabor, a Honduran restaurant in Compton, has been defaced multiple times. Sloe Motion commented on the repeated damage, stating, “I was one of the artists who painted the mural, and the guy who blacked out the Kendrick face literally just made it worse.”
Last month, the artists shared security footage of the vandalism and reflected on the significance of Kendrick’s track “Wacced Out Murals,” which directly addresses the situation. In an IG post, they wrote:
“A couple months ago, our Kendrick mural got hit. Of course, we were pissed and wanted to fix it, but it just kept getting worse. Flash forward to today, and Kendrick drops a song about the situation. It doesn’t necessarily make it okay, but it does feel good to have our hard work for the community immortalized in a song by one of the greatest to ever do it. Thank you, @kendricklamar, for making this situation a little better today.”
Deyra Barrera, who contributed her voice to the album’s opening track, spoke to Billboard about her involvement. She revealed her connection to Mike Norice and her upcoming feature in his YouTube series Art & Soul, which spotlights the mural and its story.
“The artist who made that painting spoke to me. His name is Mike Norice,” she shared. “I don’t know if you know what happened when he did that painting, but it was scratched and vandalized. Because of that, Kendrick made the song ‘Wacced Out Murals,’ the first song of the album where I appear.”
Barrera added, “The artist invited me to be there. It was something very nice because somehow, we connected, and we have that in common. There’s a documentary coming out about the artist and the painting, so soon it’s going to be released. Very cool to be a part of this because, in some way, we both have that in common with Kendrick.”
