After teasing fans with a meaningful cover art last week, Kendrick Lamar finally released the latest single "i" off his yet-to-be-titled third studio album on Tuesday morning.

Produced by Rahki, the up-tempo funky track sounds rather lighthearted, compared to his usual serious, moody musical choice. The instrumental, which mainly consists of electric guitar and energetic drum, actually samples the 1973 Isley Brothers' soul record "That Lady."

The new song opens with a pastor praising that the Compton emcee is more than just a rapper. "We got a young brother that stands for something! We got a young brother that believes in the all of us!" he declares. "He's not a rapper, he's a writer, he's an author!"

The pastor also advises listeners to "read between the lines" so that they can "learn how to love one another. But you can't do that -- right on. I said, you can't do that without loving yourself first."

Following the intense intro, K. Dot admits, "I done been through a whole lot / Trial, tribulations," which he experienced while growing up in his corrupted city, notorious for crime and gang violence.

Lamar then preaches self-love and self-expression, in an effort to spread positivity in a chaotic, complex world. "And I love myself (The world is a ghetto with big guns and picket signs) / I love myself (But it can do what it want whenever it wants and I don't mind)," he spits in the catchy hook. "I love myself (He said I gotta get up, life is more than suicide) / I love myself (One day at a time, sun gon' shine)."

While sitting down with 97.1 AMP's Carson Daly on the release day, the "B****, Don't Kill My Vibe" hitmaker explained what inspired him to make "i." "When I first started doing music, I did a lot for myself, just for my enjoyment, but then I started doing these shows and I start seeing these kids saying my song saved their lives [because] they were going to commit suicide," he said. "It got a little bit deeper than me, you know?"

"It got a little bit deeper than just going with a simple contemporary hit record cliché sound and I said I'm going to use my pedestal and speak about something much more and do it my way because I'd rather go out like that," he added.

Listen to Kendrick Lamar's "i" below: