With his unique combination of soulful electronic hip hop layered with expert rap styling’s Kendrick Lamar has taken the music industry by a storm. It feels like every media outlet from indie music’s online bible Pitchfork, to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper to Rolling Stone magazine has an opinion on the mind-blowing brilliance of Lamar and his latest studio album good kid, M.A.A.d city. Even more impressive, the media hype has been definitively reflected in the charts, produced by the legendary Dr. Dre it debuted at number two in the US and has since been certified gold. So when we got the go-ahead to interview him a couple of hours before his sold-out show at The Enmore we were pretty psyched, to say the least!
good kid, m.A.A.d city is an intimate exploration of your childhood in Compton, California… has it been challenging to expose your private life so publicly?
Not really. I’m not the only one in the world have these same experiences. Whether you’re from New York, Compton, Atlanta or another city it’s really just about sharing and connecting over those same experiences.
How does this album compare to your first, Section 80? Has it changed you in any way?
I saved these personal stories just for this album. For me, Section 80 was more about the listener and their response. This album is more about me.
You’ve said Dr. Dre your musical idol and mentor… what has it been like working with him?
Dr. Dre is really cool. He is dope. I wasn’t nervous to work with him – more excited to get in there and do it and make the record. There aren’t really any crazy stories behind his success… the truth is he just worked really really hard to get where he is.
What has it been like having so much success at only 25?
I don’t know. It’s been so crazy, I’m still trying to grasp what is happening. I haven’t sat down yet since the album came out so I can’t really explain what it’s been like. I think once I get to sit down and soak it all in then I will be able to explain it a bit better!
What has been the most surreal or intense experience since the album dropped in October?
Probably touring overseas and having everyone know the record. Playing over here, and anywhere out of the States is crazy – like, I did all these songs at home in Compton, and now I’m over here. It’s been surreal.
How do you think hip-hop and rap have changed since the likes of gangsta-rappers Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg exploded onto the music scene in the nineties?
I think we are taking the level of expressing ourselves to a whole other level. We’ve taken it up a notch. Dre and Snoop were expressing their generation; their life and times; we’re doing the same thing, just a little bit more vulnerable.
How do you feel about the rise of female rappers or ‘femcee’s’, like Azaelia Banks and Nikki Minaj?
I like them a lot. I don’t want to look at male rappers all day rapping on stage. I want to see some beautiful, sexy women that have great talent.
What was the first album you ever bought?
DMX, It’s Dark and Hell is Hot.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
I think it was my first show ever. With Peanuts I think; I had like a five minute set.
What’s next for you?
Just touring, pretty much. I won’t know until I get back in the studio and do it all over again and I don’t think that will be for a very long time.
What you do seems so impossible somehow…how do you teach a white girl to rap?
Hang around with me for a little bit. You have to be able to experience the lifestyle. You’ve got to be around it. You want to rap? I’ll teach you how to rap…