INTERVIEW BY ERYKAH BADU
INTERVIEW | APRIL 23, 2013

ERYKAH BADU: Can you describe how it feels to be in this cyclone of good fortune that you’re experiencing right now? How are you handling all of it?
KENDRICK LAMAR: I always thought money was something just to make me happy. But I’ve learned that I feel better being able to help my folks, ’cause we never had nothing. So just to see them excited about my career is more of a blessing than me actually having it for myself. My folks ain’t graduated from high school or nothing like that, so we always had to struggle in the family—and I come from a big family. But as far as me handling this, it’s a weird feeling because it’s like a blur right now. I think my worst problem is actually living in the moment and understanding everything that’s going on. I feel like I’m in my own bubble. People tell me all the time, “You’re crazy, going there by yourself,” because it wouldn’t have soaked in yet that I’m supposed to be quote “Kendrick Lamar”—whoever this guy’s supposed to be. I still feel like me. So it’s really about me trying to adapt—that’s like the toughest thing for me right now. I feel like I’m in my own world.

BADU: Is it a good world?
LAMAR: It’s got its pros and cons. I still know who I am and I haven’t let everything consume me. But on the other end, I have to know when I’m me—when I go out in public, to the person that sees me on TV and has a conception of who I am. That’s the only catch. That’s the flip side to it. But I think whatever pressure I feel all comes from me, from within. I always was that person who was hard on myself and challenged myself no matter what I was doing, whether it was passing third grade or playing basketball. I think it was a whole lot of pressure building up for this first album. But I looked at that kind of thing as excitement, you know? Since day one, since the first time I touched the pen, I wanted to be the best at what I do. So I’m just taking it one day at a time.

BADU: That’s great because it’s easy to get caught up in your own hype, if you will. You know, when you’re on Twitter or Facebook and there’s all of this praise—it’s easy to get caught up in all that.
LAMAR: That’s why I try my best to stay away from social media as much as possible. [laughs] When you go on your Twitter or look down your Timeline and it’s all great positivity—I love that. But at the same time, it can really divert you from what your purpose is or what you’re trying to do. And I’ve seen artists get caught up in that. I’ve seen some of my friends get caught in that. Whether you’re a small celebrity or a grand celebrity, it really triggers something in your brain, seeing all that stuff . . . So I’m real aware of it.

BADU: What are you trying to achieve as a musician, if anything at all?
LAMAR: Well, like I was saying, as a kid I was always fascinated knowing that I could be the best at something—like Jay-Z or Nas or B.I.G. But putting a positive light on where I come from is also important to me. When you think of Compton, it’s numb with negativity, even to this day. So the whole purpose of this first album was really to spark the idea of doing something different rather than doing a record that’s just about gang culture. That’s the ultimate thing I want to do in making music—to be able to inspire somebody else.

BADU: Do you feel like you’re more satisfied with your work if it’s something that you feel you’ve created from scratch, or if it’s influenced by something that you love?
LAMAR: I love all of my influences, but to know that I had this concept for the album from the first idea all the way down to the intricate details, and to know that idea has now carried all the way to a place like London, where I can hear people singing those exact words back to me—that’s the ultimate high for me. There’s nothing like that. I always thought it would be about the money, but what really makes me happy is the fact that I can come up with something from scratch and then actually do it.

BADU: You called yourself “Compton’s human sacrifice” on m.A.A.d city. What have you done in your life to make you feel that way?
LAMAR: Probably one of the hardest things to do was to actually do something positive coming from that space. It was so easy for me to dabble in everything else that my homeboys was doing, just being in the middle of the fire. So I felt like that was the sacrifice—for me to come out of that and do something positive. The moment I made that decision to get in the studio and actually work and study the culture of hip-hop, then everything just started to open up and blossom for me.

BADU: The first time I saw you was on BET’s Cypher. I didn’t know who you were at that time, but you stood out. What do you think your secret weapon is as a lyricist? What do you think that “thing” is that makes you stand out?
LAMAR: Oh, man . . . That’s a good question. You know, I studied people I looked up to: Jay-Z, Nas, B.I.G., Pac . . . But early on, I didn’t really have my own sound. I had a passion for it, but me actually rapping the way they rapped is what got me into doing my own thing. I think me being that intricate and studying songs line for line—I probably spent more time listening to albums than writing songs. But I think that gave me all the tricks in terms of wordplay, from how I pronounced my words to the actual delivery. I’m very intricate about that stuff when I go into the studio—it has to sound the way I heard it in my head. So that’s probably one of the biggest things that separates me when I’m working in the studio—just how I hear certain things.

BADU: Is there an MC who influenced you or whose level of excellence you feel that you will never reach?
LAMAR: [laughs] That I feel I’ll never reach? I’ll have to say Jay or Eminem. Jay for sure—just off the simple fact of his longevity. That, to me, is probably one-in-a-million for rappers. A good career for a rapper is five or six years, so I think Jay still being relevant and having the skills he has—it’s really unmatched. I hope I get to that level and keep my work ethic up and strategically think of certain things. But there will probably only ever be one Jay. He’ll probably go down as the greatest to ever do it. Pac also could’ve had that, but due to his passing, we’ll never know if he’d have reached that.

BADU: Outside of hip-hop, what other kinds of music do you listen to?
LAMAR: Indie or alternative stuff. Sonnymoon and Quadrants are a couple of bands that really inspire me in terms of the melodics of things and certain tones and just what feels good. It takes me back to the type of music that I grew up on in my household. We played a lot of gangsta rap, but we also played a lot of oldies, and I think that mix is part of what inspires my sound. My pops and my mom started playing Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers and all these people, but at the same time, they always had Snoop on right behind it in the same mix.

BADU: In the tradition of people like Slick Rick and André 3000, you’ve also been celebrated as a great storyteller. What, to you, is the most fundamental aspect of telling a story?
LAMAR: Being able to tell one from start to finish, and making that puzzle come together at the end. That’s the art for me.

BADU: What is love to you?
LAMAR: What is love? Love to me is god.

BADU: What is god?
LAMAR: God to me is love. [laughs] It’s the ruler of all things, whether it’s with a person or with music or with your TV. I feel like it’s this energy. God is energy, love is energy.

BADU: And what do you feel is the opposite of that?
LAMAR: The opposite of love? Vice. Temptation. The negative influences that we have. The bad energy that comes around us and makes us do certain things. To me, it’s always been a war between the two.

BADU: So who is your asshole-checker?
LAMAR: Who is my what?

BADU: Your asshole-checker—the person in your crew or your family who let’s you know if you’re being a asshole.
LAMAR: I have two, actually. [both laugh] But the main one is a friend of mine—a lady friend who has known me since high school. She has always been someone, since day one, who has said something whenever I’m an asshole, or also if I’m doin’ something positive—but more so when I’m out of my element.

BADU: If I had to give you any piece of advice as an artist, it would be this: Get yourself an asshole-checker. Because a lot of times we don’t know. We get so used to getting everything that we want.
LAMAR: Right, and while you have people who are actually fronting for your needs and wants, sometimes your needs and wants may not be right for you. The people around you are just trying to keep their jobs.

BADU: What kind of car you pushin’?
LAMAR: A tour bus. [laughs] I’m humble.

BADU: You don’t have a house?
LAMAR: Nah, I live on the tour bus.

BADU: Seriously? You don’t have an apartment or a house anywhere? You just kind of roam the world?
LAMAR: Rolling stone . . .

BADU: Is this something you’ve chosen? Or do you feel like you’ve got plenty of time to root somewhere?
LAMAR: I don’t know . . . I think it’s just who I am. I’m comfortable with it until the time comes when I actually have to decide where to be.

BADU: So when you’re not on tour, where are you?
LAMAR: Probably in a hotel.

BADU: In Los Angeles?
LAMAR: Yeah. Or in the studio.