Kendrick Lamar’s song “i” was released Tuesday (September 23), but the TDE rapper says he prefers the cut not be labeled a single.

“I want to retract the word ‘single,’” Kendrick Lamar says during an interview with Los Angeles radio station Power 106’s Jeff G. “I want to call things that I release ‘statements’ because this music is something that the world has to hear and it’s not only for me, but it’s for the stress. It’s for our livelihoods. When I want to come back on my release, I want to make sure I do just that and continue that.” 

During an interview with AMP Radio that was published Tuesday, the Compton, California rapper said that he attempted to minimize outside musical influences while working on his forthcoming album.

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“When I go into creating an album or any type of song, I usually cut off everything from the radio because you can easily be influenced from songs that you like, songs that you may not like,” Lamar said. “So I said, ‘I’m gonna go in the studio and I’m going to do what I feel organically without being confined to industry standards or what people assume that I should do,’ because at the end of the day, man, I’m an artist and I would hate to be stagnant.”

RELATED: Kendrick Lamar Discusses Blood, Crip Presence On “i” Cover Art