After blitzing through the music world in 2017 with his magnum opus DAMN., Kendrick Lamar opted to take a more subdued bask in the spotlight this year. However, his impact still packed a mighty wallop through the release of his critically acclaimed Black Panther: The Album and its subsequent Grammy and Golden Globe nominations.
In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kendrick, 31, elaborated on making the celebrated project and how seeing the development of the accompanying film brewed his creative juices.
“It feels great. I’m not only representing myself, but I’m representing my people … people I’ve been familiar with since I was born,” he tells Jess Weiss. “This is another landmark, another stepping stone to something bigger and greater,” he adds. “Best believe I’m proud. And I know Ryan [Coogler] is as well.”
Black Panther: The Album has made it possible for Kung-Fu Kenny to be privy to eight nominations in the upcoming 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Notable categories include Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Rap Performance; with the song categories all being for his SZA-assisted single, “All The Stars.”
As of press time, Kendrick is the proud owner of 12 Grammy Awards but just like he spits on his fan-favorite track “Element,” he’s always striving to make Compton look better on the map.
“[The film’s themes] reminded me of why I made To Pimp a Butterfly,” Lamar says. “It was survivor’s guilt. You want to be homegrown and help folks back home and give them game. You want to be there for them but if you’re there, then you can’t go out and explore.”
Come next February, should Kendrick finally take that acceptance speech for the Album of the Year honor he’s repeatedly eluded him, there’s a good chance it will be an impromptu occasion.
“I don’t know what I’ll say if I win,” he continues. “A lot of different emotions will be running through me, and I usually just say what I’m inspired to say at that moment … what comes off the chest. It’s just a great thing to know that these bodies of work come from a simple thought and you put that simple thought down on wax, and then you give it to the people and it goes from there.”
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The soundtrack for that album sucked. Idc what anyone says, Kendrick’s been making radio girl music since anything after TPAB
name me some of those songs you speak of , playa… on some real shit … I am thinking you don’t know what the fuck you talking about…
Yeah, I think this guy just spewing hatred for attention.
Lol are you kidding me? All of them. Kendrick rapping in a high pitched edited voice “party on ten yet. Party on ten yet”. Then future comes in with his whack sounds. I guess you guys think it’s a good example of quality hip-hop? I think it sucks. It’s party music for teenage white girls.
Are u seriously claiming “big shots” with Kendrick and big Sean WASNT radio pop rap? Kings dead was whack to me. I hate future. I like more emcee hip-hop than ignorant hip-hop. The song had that high pitched, weak Kendrick style. With a whack chorus. They said Jay rocks versus here was verse of the year… Jay rocks follow me home is classic, and he’s gotten progressively worse. The song with the weekend and Kendrick is quite literally pop rap lol. I’m not being a hater. I love GKMC and TPAB is a fantastic piece of work. I don’t like damn. And I don’t like this soundtrack. It’s too radio. But apparabrtly you guys think the song “big shot” doesn’t qualify as pop radio rap… It’s softer than Nelly lol
still with that racial tension eh.
Not that crazy over the sound track either mediocre at best
Soundtrack is solid, white people hate anything that calls they racism, Wakanda although although fictional was just great to see.
It’s called tastes. I’m black. I don’t like that soundtrack, because it’s not my style. I prefer hip-hop more along the lines of Tupac, old Jay-Z, Big Pun, etc… As a SUCCESFULL black man, I do laugh at all of the other black guys who blame their shitty lives on white people. They are boys. Not men. Grow up and take some self responsibility, and realize that a white person not liking a song isn’t an example of racism.