Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, known as Kendrick Lamar, is an American rapper from Compton, California. Lamar embarked on his musical career as a teenager under the moniker K-Dot, releasing a mixtape that garnered local attention and led to his signing with Carson-based indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment. Lamar began to gain major recognition in 2010, after his first retail release, Overly Dedicated. The following year, he released the independent album Section.80, which included Lamar's debut single, "HiiiPoWeR". By that time,...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRapper
Date of Birth17 June 1987
CityCompton, CA
CountryUnited States of America
How am I influencing so many people on this stage rather than influencing the ones that I have back home?
At first, I was scared to show fear because you can never be sure how people will perceive you. But I dared myself to do that, to stand out. Now I'll talk about being beaten up or robbed or making a stupid decision because of a girl or whatever.
I don't really believe in the type of pressure that people are wanting to put on the type of music that I make.
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.
I always tell people that if I move anywhere it would be Toronto.
People gonna be they own individuals and have they own worlds and I can't knock it.
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.
You can't change where you from. You can't take a person out of their zone and expect them to be somebody else now that they in the record industry. It's gonna take years. Years of travelling. Years of meeting people. Years of seeing the world.
My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop.
We hurt people that love us, love people that hurt us
I'm a person of my own opinions, that's how I was raised. I speak what I feel. A lot of people feel the same way but they're scared to talk. They're really scared of the truth - they only want half of the truth. I've been living like that - forever in fear - but I know what to say and how to say it now. I ain't scared of myself. Y'all may be scared; I'm not scared.
I'm putting out this free music, constantly putting it out.
From the moment I started writing raps, I was always aware of the pressure. I always wanted to live up to how huge Snoop got, how huge Dre got, how huge Pac got. I was always aware.
Teenagers expressing this on a daily basis in the middle of the streets - you can't help but believe we are in the mind state of taking our losses and changing people's perceptions of us and our community. We are strong. Our families are tired of being hurt.