The first half is a somber reflection on systemic violence and loss. It opens with a poignant dedication to , a 20-year-old Black college student killed by police in 2010. Key lyrical themes in this section include:
Kanye famously highlights the violence in his hometown, noting that in 2008, 509 people died in Chicago compared to 314 American soldiers in Iraq.
Originally, "Murder to Excellence" existed as two separate tracks. The first half, "Murder" (initially titled "Blackblack Murder"), was produced by , while the second half, "Excellence," was a separate production by S1 . It was Kanye’s vision to merge them, instructing engineers to fuse the two at a specific point where the tempos aligned, creating a jarring but brilliant transition from trauma to triumph. Part 1: "Murder" – The Harsh Reality
Jay-Z addresses the internal struggles of the Black community, describing black-on-black crime as "friendly fire" from "the same team".