Pharrell, who worked with Kendrick Lamar on good kid, m.A.A.d. city, recently said that the Compton, California rapper reminded him of Rock music icon Bob Dylan.
“Kendrick Lamar is this era’s Bob Dylan,” Pharrell said, as reported by Complex. “Masterful story telling. Listen to it. It will elevate you. And just like that, music has changed.”
Kendrick Lamar recently responded to the Bob Dylan comparisons.
“That was crazy,” Lamar said during an interview with Arsenio Hall. “I always said, ‘If I’m going to do this, I’m going to say something. I’m not going to just rap a bunch of verses.’ That was Dylan. He’s a legend and he said something. He voiced his opinion and the world gravitated towards it and I want to do that with my music.”
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Kendrick Lamar Explains Significance Of “Swimming Pools (Drank)”
After speaking about Bob Dylan’s influence, Lamar also discussed the message behind “Swimming Pools (Drank).”
“Coming up in Compton, my parents [being] fairly young, I actually grew up with them,” Kendrick Lamar said. “I was in the household where they partied and they had fun, and I seen the different vices that was in the house. I said my first single I wanted to actually have it where I put in the air whether you can be a drinker that’s aware or you can be an alcoholic. I just threw the vices in there and wanted people to reach out and actually know what I was talking about and convey it on the record. I was having fun, but at the same time it was a message.”
Beyond this, Lamar also spoke about the Hip Hop scene in the West Coast.
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“The culture of Hip Hop, the culture of L.A. Hip Hop on the scene right now, as far as TDE, as far as my camp, as far as people outside of my camp,” Lamar said. “We really, really want to keep our foot in the game. I seen Tupac on this same joint, and Dr. Dre, and we want to bring their energy back to the world, back to the culture of Hip Hop. So you have artists like myself, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, Nipsey Hussle, Dom Kennedy, Problem, IamSu! from The Bay. We really represent this legacy that we want to uphold and continue to bring to the table, so I appreciate you for having me on here and being able to spread this word.”
The interview can be seen below.
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