Don Cheadle Confirms Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Kung Fu Kenny’ Moniker Is From ‘Rush Hour 2′

Kendrick Lamar's Damn. is currently on its way to debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts. The project has already had fans buzzing over different theories, including a now-debunked one about an alleged second project that would have dropped on Easter Sunday. But another  one of the album's mysteries—K. Dot's new reference to himself as "Kung Fun Kenny" has been solved.

The moniker is referenced multiple times throughout the album, but Don Cheadle, who stars in the Compton rapper's freshly released "DNA" video, finally confirmed where it stems from, and it actually involves the actor. The moniker is a direct reference to his "Kung Fu Kenny" character from 2001's Rush Hour 2.

"The funniest thing about the whole thing was, after I shot the video, he’s like, “So we’re doing these dates at Coachella, you should come to Coachella and kick it.” I’m like, “I’ve never even thought about coming to Coachella, that’s not my thing at all, but because you’re going to be there, for sure I’ll come to Coachella,” Cheadle explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.  "So he says, “Okay, come, it’ll be dope. And I’m going to have a little surprise for you.” So I came, I saw him perform, it was dope. He has this crazy karate movie that he has before the concert which is weird and cuts all through it and is really bizarre and funny and out of his brain and great. Crazy-great kung fu movie. We ride back, we actually ate at P.F. Changs [laughs], and hung out, and then I left, and I went on my Twitter account and somebody wrote, “Don Cheadle, the original Kung Fu Kenny” and put a picture of Rush Hour 2 up. I was like, wait a minute. So I texted him. I said, “Is Kung Fu Kenny me?” He’s like, “That’s what the surprise was. Damn.” I was like, “Oh, I didn’t get it at all.” [Laughs] He’s like, “Yeah that’s what the surprise was, so… surprise.”

The actor also went ahead and changed his Twitter avi to a photo of himself as the original Kung Fu Kenny, in a comical ode to K. Dot's reference. Watch a clip from Rush Hour 2 above, and the "DNA" video below.

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