From the Ringer podcast network, this is Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes.

This is episode five of our season-long analysis of Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morrell and The Big Steppers.

I'm your host, we examined Mr. Morrell's fourth track, Die Hard, where Kendrick opened himself up to Whitney, admitted his shortcomings, and hoped she'd see enough good in him to trust that he was going to set his demons straight.

Narratively, we interpreted the song as a moment of pause before the protagonist's leap of faith,

before crossing the threshold into a point of no return.

Thus, it's incredibly fitting that Kendrick's therapy-guided emotional journey truly begins

with the album's next track, the subject of our episode today, Father Time.

You're ready. album's next track, the subject of our episode today, Father Time. You really need therapy.

No, no, no, you sound stupid as shit.

Everybody's stupid.

You need to talk to something and reach out to Egghart.

The guiding voice of Whitney returns for the first time since the album's opening moments,

when she prodded Kendrick to tell the truth.

She plays a similar role here on Father Time, prodding Kendrick to go to therapy,

an action that would prove to her that he's serious about confronting his demons.

Whitney's suggestion might have been inspired by her own positive experience with therapy.

Shortly after Mr. Morrell was released, she posted on Instagram, speaking to her own emotional

journey alongside Kendricks, revealing that therapy was a critical step in her healing.

Quote, I was stuck in a time and place that was no longer my reality and was no longer serving me.

My babies forced me to take a long look at myself and journey back through the very things that

made me. I've always carried the light with me. As a child, no one was able to help me process.

Many times silence was enforced because my emotions were a lot to handle.

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