This Looks Like the Origin of Kendrick Lamar’s Kung Fu Kenny Nickname

So it turns out Don Cheadle's appearance in Kendrick Lamar's "DNA" video might have been a good bit more purposeful than we realized.

Almost 16 years ago, the actor made a hilarious appearance as a Crenshaw kung fu master in Rush Hour 2. Like K. Dot's new alter-ego, his name was Kenny. Mystery solved. In the film, Kenny is an associate of Chris Tucker's character, Detective James Carter, and they both hail from Los Angeles.

In a scene-stealing performance, Cheadle dismisses the loud-mouthed Det. Carter, who calls him out for being a "Black man with a Chinese restaurant on Crenshaw." At this point, Kenny announces his intentions to stomp out both Det. Carter and Jackie Chan's character, Inspector Lee. From there, Kenny and Lee find some common ground things are resolved peacefully.

In the video for "DNA," which is a cut from K. Dot's latest album, DAMN., Kung Fu Kenny is interrogated by Cheadle, who plays the role of a forceful bad cop.

While K. Dot has yet to confirm Cheadle's Rush Hour 2 character as the inspiration behind his nickname, the connection doesn't seem all that tenuous, and Rush Hour 2 was pretty popular when it was released, so we wouldn't be surprised if the TDE leader has seen it plenty of times.

Either way, you can peep Cheadle's hilarious scene from the film below, and you can see the "DNA" vid below that.

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