Kendrick Lamar: A Prince And A Revolution
A good kid by the name of Kendrick Lamar rose from the underground scene to shed some light on what some believed was a dying culture. Currently swimming in success, K. Dot is leading the troops to a new day in Hip-Hop. All hail 2012's Rookie of the Year.
In the city, city of Compton…
1995, Compton, California. A crowded video set is the scene where many in the neighborhood have gathered on a sunny day to get a glimpse of the celebrity notables shooting a very important Hip-Hop video. 2Pac, Dr. Dre, E-40, DJ Quik—California’s most celebrated rap stars, among others, were all in attendance to shoot another music video for the now legendary song “California Love” (this time for the remix). For Dr. Dre, it would be a crowning moment in his career, further cementing his reputation as the best producer-rapper Hip-Hop would ever know. For Tupac Shakur, it would be a defining moment in his life, assuring his West Coast allegiance in the midst of an East Coast/West Coast beef that would eventually see him dead the next year. But for an unknown 9-year old good kid by the name of Kendrick Lamar—who stood off on the sidelines and watched 2Pac create history that day, that video would also serve a purpose. It would be the reason why 17 years later…
Kendrick Lamar sits comfortably in a Lincoln Town car outside a photo shoot in Brooklyn, New York. It’s February of 2012, and it’s too cold to stand outside. Two hours after the scheduled call time, K-Dot still hasn’t started shooting. After getting on a flight to NYC from LAX with just two days notice, his new major record label has abruptly halted his appearance on a cover alongside 2Chainz and Tyga for a “coming of age” type story. As industry politics would have it, Interscope—which at the time still had not announced Kendrick’s signing—had already negotiated for him to appear on another cover and there was an exclusivity issue that barred him from this shoot. After many emails and some back and forth conversation, Kendrick comes out the car and agrees to be photographed on the condition that he would not be in the cover image. There was a bigger press plan. While it’s the editors and publicists job to be up in arms over the situation, Kendrick’s attitude seemed indifferent.
These days, Kendrick is way busier than he was nine months ago, but his perspective on the industry hasn’t changed much. Plus, it all worked out anyway. “I’m not looking forward to publicity, and I’m not looking forward to politics,” answers Kendrick Lamar over the phone just a few days after his major label debut good kid, maad city hit streets. The question related specifically to the over-reaching hype that was surrounding his critically acclaimed album, already deemed by some to be a “classic,” a word that Kendrick has himself refuted more than once, on the basis that there hasn’t been enough time. “I hate when people throw the word out. When my album gets 10 years behind me, then it will be classic worthy. It has to get the years. I don’t like to play with that word. It’s a trendy thing to say. I appreciate it, but we all know the years have to be behind it.”
But with his major label debut, Kendrick changed the game. Now regarded as the best thing to come out of Hip-Hop in recent times, the Black Hippy representative proved that there is still some integrity left in Rap music. Insightful lyrics, unique vocal ability, creative songwriting, a flexible flow are today’s ingredients, thanks to K-Dot, for a Hip-Hop success story. Add a little Dr. Dre and Aftermath to that equation, and you spice up your mix to the tune of over 240,000 records sold in the first week of release. “It’s great,” says Kendrick of his relationship with Dr. Dre. “I can talk to him off the record rather than an artist/producer. He tells me his mistakes and how to move in this crazy industry. We just did the show and he got on stage and said how proud he was of how hard I worked. It was crazy.”
Kendrick’s sales performance seems counterproductive to all of the hard work that the committee on ratchetness has put in over the last few years. Could it be time to balance the scales? “The moment that I dropped the album, the moment I went out to these shows, I knew the numbers that was gonna come, me timing that execution,” he says. “The world just now catching up to something we already had.” What the TDE MC represents has always been there in Hip-Hop. But for it to be heard, it had to be the right time. It had to be the right artist. And, occasionally, the right co-sign.
He offers, “The fact that there is still a pulse out there that appreciates the art of Hip-Hop. People still appreciate it. So many people just want to continue what the next artist is doing. You used to get kicked out of the game for biting somebody’s style.”
With regards to good kid, like other cla—ahem—important albums, Kendrick says the project was a long time in the making. “This album is premeditated, since I was 19. I knew what I wanted to talk about. I knew how I was going to execute it.” And now that the music has jumpstarted a Hip-Hop revolution, Kendrick is aware that there is a lot riding on him. Still, he wants to steer clear of compromising who he is as an artist. He’s even contemplated getting rid of his phone (like a true celebrity). “When you have so many people in your ear that can strain you from your actual focus,” he says. “You just want to stay focused in this game. [Listening to others] could throw you off course. One of them calls could be detrimental to your career.”
Staying true to his core, he values art over commerce. “We come from a world on the underground scene, where you just put out projects….That’s where Hip-Hop get fucked up at, when people want to be more celebrity and not focus on the music. I don’t want that type of attention. I’m not an attention whore.”
But K-Dot’s gotten A LOT of attention with this release. And while so many well-respected lyricists have praised Kendrick, there’s been a little hate to go along with that. Shyne took to Twitter to “trash” K-Dot’s album. While the former Bad Boy said Kendrick had “talent” and “potential,” he disagreed with most of Hip-Hop’s admiration for good kid. Knowing he does not need to respond (unlike fellow Compton rapper Game who couldn’t wait to jump in on KL’s behalf), Kendrick quickly shuts down any Shyne questions, “That’s his opinion. So you know. NO comment. That’s his opinion. We could move on.”
At the beginning of good kid, there’s a prayer, where KL humbly repents for his sins and professes his faith and belief in Jesus. It’s a bit ironic, because at 15 years old, Kendrick didn’t know whether he even believed in God or not. “We couldn’t believe something we didn’t know about. As a kid, all we seeing is street shit,” he responds, while remembering an encounter he had with a Christian woman on the street asking him whether he was a believer. “When you see one of your partners get smoked and that same day you have someone coming to preaching to you…asking you, ‘do you believe in God?’ It gives you an outlook.” That day was a defining moment for him, he says. The rapper could have taken another path; maybe end up like the kid getting smoked. Instead, he finished high school and pursued a career in music. “My biggest regret was not experiencing college.” He says he would have majored in Psychology.
But there were other defining moments in his life. Like the day his dad took him to video shoot, which he says inspired his decision to rap. “…Actually seeing Pac and Dre in the city. That particular moment in time. Gave me light to knowing there was something bigger. To see these two cats coming back. It gave me some type of inspiration.” Kendrick still cites 2Pac as one of his top 5, along with Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem and Biggie.
Now it’s his time to inspire. “The fact that these kids see me in Compton as a visionary going back over there and being able to touch them. Whether it’s at a school or in the city in general, I can’t let this industry take me away from what I designed to do from the beginning. That’s the true story of good kid, mad city. Being confused at the same time, knowing I found a better life. My whole thing is just going back and being able to touch them.” And that he did.
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