Kendrick Lamar put the world on notice following the release of his debut LP, “Good Kidd, M.a.d.d. City” back in 2012. The Compton MC spent much of the following year in what some would call a “victory lap,” as allowed his album to reach platinum status, collaborated with Jay Z and Eminem, and of course we’ll never forget the frenzy his verse on Big Sean’s “Control” caused later in the year. Since then, however, K-Dot has kept a relatively low profile, while he works on his sophomore album. The rising star is coming into his own, as he covers Complex Magazine and sits down for an in-depth interview. Read the cover story here, here’s a few excerpts from the article:
Kendrick says there’s less pressure on him now than there was right before good kid came out, when he was admittedly “super nervous.” “I was on the tour bus going back and forth on the text with Pharrell,” says Kendrick. “I asked him, ‘You think they gon’ get it?’ And he told me, ‘Don’t ever doubt yourself again. Always be aware but don’t ever mistake your first mind, your input of where your heart is at.’”
Today Kendrick trusts that his creative process will lead him where he needs to go. “If I keep focusing on, ‘I need to make something better than good kid,’ it’s going to be just that,” says Kendrick. “That’s not challenging yourself. I don’t want to become that person reflecting on what has been done. What I’m doing now is the question. I’m only as good as my last word, my last hook, my last bridge.”
After about 15 minutes in the lounge, he moves into the studio and connects his laptop to the speakers, playing Jay Rock’s verse over and over, flipping around tracks, and sipping from a bottle of water. Later he’ll chomp on an order of volcano salmon sushi. He tends to eat healthy—salads, baked chicken, lots of water. He plays basketball twice a week because, as Jay Z once said, rapping is “like an exercise.” And unlike many rappers—including his TDE labelmates ScHoolboy Q and Ab-Soul—he rarely drinks and doesn’t smoke or sip lean. All the homies know not to bother him when he’s busy in the lab. Sometimes he kicks everyone out of the studio so he can play instrumentals all night long, alone. He’s been known to cut off his phone for months at a time.