Kendrick Lamar recently released the cover art for his upcoming label debut good kid, m.A.A.d city, releasing October 22nd. During an interview with FUSE, the Compton, California rapper explained the decision to put an image from his childhood on the cover of his album, stating that it showcases his innocence as a kid trying to make sense of the world around him.
“It’s really just a self-portrait. I feel I need this album in order to move on with my life, and I had negative vibes and demons haunting me. I had to come from something, come from a place that was negative and positive but the majority of it is a negative place,” he said. “I went and put this message out in order for me to grow as a person. I’m glad I did, because it was a venting process to tell these stories I never told.”
He also went into the specifics of the cover art, explaining that it depicts his family members holding him as a child. He says that he’ll go into particulars on the LP about certain decisions that were made for the picture, but notes that it’s about his hardships in growing up.
“Two of my uncles, that’s two of them, to the far right, that’s my grandpa and a baby bottle next to a 40-ounce next to a gang sign, holding a kid,” he continued. It’s not just music to me. This is a story about the youth and the people that they call delinquents in my city. You look in the background and you see a picture on the wall of me and my pops. The eyes blanked out, that’s for my own personal reasons. You’ll probably hear about that in the album, but that photo just says so much about my life and how I was raised in Compton and the things I’ve seen through innocent eyes. You don’t see no one else’s eyes, but you see my eyes of innocence and trying to figure out what’s going on.”
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Simple enough. For all the “it’s so deep” people.
lolololololol.
i remember when 2 chainz released his album artwork there were people who actually tried to decipher all these complex meanings and ideas behind it. some people are so full of shit.
^ lol. Yep.
It’s cool I guess but i kinda wanna know about the van
Thats his mom’s van that she let him use to go to the studio even though there were no gas in it. Without that van there will be no Kendrick Lamar.
one of the best album covers ever…..ever!
“In this closing statement, I would like to describe my firsthand experience of running afoul of this system. Our schooling, which is where the personality begins to form in a social context, effectively ignores any particularities of the individual. There is no individual approach, no study of culture, of philosophy, of basic knowledge about civic society. Officially, these subjects do exist, but they are still taught according to the Soviet model. And as a result, we see the marginalization of contemporary art in the public consciousness, a lack of motivation for philosophical thought, and gender stereotyping. The concept of the human being as a citizen gets swept away into a distant corner.
Todays educational institutions teach people, from childhood, to live as automatons. Not to pose the crucial questions consistent with their age. They inculcate cruelty and intolerance of nonconformity. Beginning in childhood, we forget our freedom.”
HEY GUYS
U DOWN THERE
THIS WAS 4 U
BET U DIDN’T GET IT BECAUSE IT WASN’T SIMPLE
LMMFAO
smfh what a sell out
How is he a sellout?? unless you know the nigga personally to being making assumptions so harsh, maybe yo wack ass is a sellout.
better than onifc
LMAO nigga has some ugly ass family
On who’s definition? Because on mine your ugly.
Such an idiotic concept
Dope album cover & i like his decision to use a personal photo it’s better then just sing 2 chains on a album cover, boring & oh he sucks. Kendrick is dope.
This same concept has been produced so many times.. Kendrick needs to be more original imo…
god damn you people annoy me. THIS ISN’T ABOUT ORIGINALITY. this is about his personal life, him telling a story through his own eyes and converting that into quality hip-hop music. fuck with that looking for originality bullshit
cause you know what? Lil B is original. original don’t always mean good, cause he’s a little haggard-ass sumbitch.
You obviously don’t know a lot about hip hop. YOU people annoy me
typical response from someone who ain’t got shit to say. wash your ass nigga
THE ONLY THING I DONT LIKE ABOUT KENDRICK IS HIS LAME “PAC TOLD ME IN MY DREAMS” STORY…AND I CANT HELP BUT THINK ABOUT IT ANY TIME I HEAR/READ ABOUT KENDRICK
lol i was thinking the same thing… how the fuck did 2pac visit him in his dreams and tell him ‘keep my music alive’ when they’re two completely different type of artists who make completely different music
Yeah 2pac was a heavy metal singer.
KENDRICK G.O.A.T RUNNIN THIS RAP SHIT
That picture says it all. This album will be a classic. Note to all rappers. Being original and being yourself will get you further than trying to be something not organic.
He’s good, but I personally find him a bit boring. I’m not hating though.
i could swear on my mother, this nigga be gay…and the fact that he fucks with Dre…and game…wow
That was jus a corny comment all the way around -__-
Man i don’t know whether this album is going to be The album of the year or The album of the Decade but one thing is sure it is going to be a CLASSIC!
Kendrick, jcole, and a couple other cats are gonna be game changers. Im glad these dudes are in the game and gettin recognition. Mark my word, all this bubble gum shit thas on he radio will be phased out in the next few years and ppl wont miss nor care about that bullshit.
Kendrick is a real artist and will be a legend in the game.
dnt forget about ASAP Rocky
jcole trying to beef with diggy fuckin simmons for a buzz..and asap rocky is a wack homo..that is all
Asap is dope. At 1st i thought i wasnt gon like him til i listened to liveloveasap. Schoolboy Q too, he another new cat thats dope.
I jus cant wait til everybody finally realize how wack young money and mmg is and make room for real artist. I mean, its happening already, but it need to hurry the fuck up and be done with.
my nigga Kendrick looks like a little alien in that photo
nigga looks like Starvin Marvin and shit