While out on tour, Kendrick Lamar made a stop to become principal for the day at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, Rhode Island. The emcee spoke to students about the importance of education and explained how teachers encouraged his poetic spirit.
“Without education you don’t have anything,” he told students, as reported by Pitchfork. “My teachers were great positive influences in my life. My middle school English teacher was probably the reason I became a rapper. He used to encourage me to write poetry and would challenge me, which helped me improve my vocabulary and made me enjoy writing.”
Video footage of Lamar’s visit can be found below, courtesy of Get Schooled.
This isn’t the only involvement Kendrick Lamar has had with schools. Recently, he Skyped with students in Alaska after they won a contest to have a celebrity guest. Via Skype, K. Dot answered fan questions, as reported by KTUU. That event was also put together by Get Schooled. Last year, Lamar went back to his own high school, Centennial High, to reminisce about flunking gym class and witnessing violence. Kendrick has also shared that his biggest regret was “not experiencing college,” stressing that he wishes he had more time to focus on school.
In 2011, Kendrick Lamar spoke with HipHopDX about elementary, middle and high school, acknowledging his and his peers’ thoughts about prison.
“In elementary and middle school and even high school, everybody that I knew wanted to go to the penitentiary just to say that they did,” Lamar shared. “When that’s what we was raised around, mothafuckers in-and-out of jail. Then we thought that was cool once upon a time. When I seen that my uncle wasn’t really coming home, that fucks you up once you get a certain age and you realize the power of taking life for granted. That’s something that I realized and it change my whole outlook, seeing him behind the walls and him telling me that’s not the place to be, telling me to make something of myself. Hopefully one day you can change our family history of going to jail and being locked up and being in prison but it’s bigger than me just changing my ways because there’s a responsibility now for the next generation.”
RELATED: Kendrick Lamar Revisits His High School, Speaks On Flunking Gym & Rival Gang Wars
That guy doesnt give 2 s*!+s about no damn school, he just wants the itunes sale…
if you think Kendrick don’t give a damn about his old high school you’re an idiot
i fuck w dot heavy
This guy is a kid. They couldn’t have gotten a speaker with more experience???
yeah they shoulda gotta gucci mane
The kids will relate to him more and take him more seriously.
no one takes gucci man seriously with that ice cream cone on his face
http://www.reverbnation.com/imp3rial/song/17192475-imperial-i-need-it Listen to this hot shit from Imperial the illest out
Queer kid in a MAAd city
Drake would have been a better choice to speak to these young minds. Kendrick is just blinded by greed.
That’s a joke, right? Drake is not a good choice and he’s the one blinded by greed, not Kendrick.
Oh shittt Kendrick, HIP-HOP IS IN THE BUILDING
he’ll become a legend
what a great man !
They should have brought in lauryn hill on how to manage money sucessfully
Or Gucci Mane. He could have taught the kids all the best ways to get arrested.
I USED TO TALK TRASH ABOUT KENDRICK, RIGHT NOW I CHANGED MY OPINION, I PUT HIS ALBUM INTO PLAYER AND ENJOYED IS WITHOUT ANY HATE FOR THE FIRST TIME.
HE’S REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE FOR THEM KIDS, SOMETHING LIKE WEST COAST LUPE FIASCO, UNFORTUNATELLY, WE STILL HAVE MORE CHIEF KEEFS AND LIL REESES THAN KENDRICKS OR LUPES.
HOPE HE WILL GET ON TRACK WITH LIL WAYNE SOON.
I USED TO WRITE NORMALLY AND TALK TRASH ABOUT CAPS, RIGHT NOW I CHANGED MY OPINION, I PUT ALL CAPS ON AND ENJOYED IT WITHOUT ANY HATE FOR THE FIRST TIME.
IT’S A REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE FOR DEM KIDS, SOMETHING LIKE KEYBOARD MANNERS, UNFORTOONAAHHTTAALLY, WE STILL HAVE MORE RUN-ON SENTENCES AND CAPS LOCKS THAN LOWER CASE AND KEYBOARD MANNERS.
HOPE THE CAPS LOCK GET ON TRACK WIT SMALL WAYNE SOON.
sh sh sh
YEBO:
I USED TO TALK TRASH ABOUT KENDRICK, RIGHT NOW I CHANGED MY OPINION, I PUT HIS ALBUM INTO PLAYER AND ENJOYED IS WITHOUT ANY HATE FOR THE FIRST TIME.
HE’S REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE FOR THEM KIDS, SOMETHING LIKE WEST COAST LUPE FIASCO, UNFORTUNATELLY, WE STILL HAVE MORE CHIEF KEEFS AND LIL REESES THAN KENDRICKS OR LUPES.
HOPE HE WILL GET ON TRACK WITH LIL WAYNE SOON.
Rapper comes to my school to talk about education > Wow, a real live rapper! I wanna be a rapper! Fuck school!
micheal myers likes after schools 3 o clock high haaa
I wanna bust in YADIG’s ass.
sh ha ha
Not to drift off topic, but I would like to remind people to go out and buy French Montana’s new album May 21st. French worked hard and really needs your hard earned money. He has 3 year old boy to feed and a baby mama to take care of. Also he is bringing back that real gritty NY rap that has been gone for so long. French is a man with a vision and he needs your help to make his vision a reality. French’s new album will forever change hip hop, it will have rappers look at themselves and realize that things get deeper than this rap shit (to use the words of the great Rick Ross). French Montana is going to save hip hop, he is that great light at the end of a dark dark tunnel.
hahahahahaa
Cosign that first statement. He will sell a million opening week.
More like 40k 1st week.
More like 4M.
crazy shit dude lol.about joe budden messing with crop cricles certian people after it.like those people you cant really make out their faces sitting in foot ball stands in half time no one even knows crazy.
oh yeah omg fucking crazy.
this lil nigga need to come out of the closet too.
kendrick lamar is doing great job cos students think rapper never went school
“cos students think rapper never went school” …….smh
When I was a teen, Wayne and Birdman came into our high school and taught english and geometry.
Y’all must’ve had a hard time understanding the subjects because they didn’t know shit.
I think you meant hood slang and basic arithmetic with flash cards.
They are intelligent and they only taught the class for one day. Give me examples of when they are dumb because when they were teaching class, they know a lot of shit.
Cosign. I sent Wayne and Birdman in 2003 to that boy’s high school and they are intelligent.
Good joke.
NEGROE PLEASE!!!!!!!!
Kendrick’s swearing. How gangsta.
Rick Ross visited a school recently and donated 1 million dollars to reinovate the cafeteria.
Cosign.
nigga school fucks you all day.
give me dat molly nigga my nigga we in da trap ho.
bitch count these racks these stacks.nigga weed rollin’ on my dick mane.niga i diid it one hunna.
nigga fo so we in that bitch ass nigga dat ratchet ass bitch twerkin’ nigga mane that purple drank and that weed ho hahahahahah niggaaa