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.
“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
the king
I have so much respect for this guy, its crazy how talented he is
wipe ur mouth, thats mad neckk homie
hes very humble… I like that
Soulja boy >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Drake the trash artist
this kid will go far and I’m not even a fan
this midget is wack
more like garbage. Get on your knees and shine drakes shows you midget elf.
Faggot.
ha@midget elf
Sounds a little pretentious. Lets wheel it back in sir. You’re hot bra, lets just make some dope music. Leave those Kanye statements to him.
You see what happens when you stans idolize? You have this dweeb on his yeezy shit thinking he is more important than he is. You are a rapper Kendrick. Not a life altering doctor,scientist or contributer to humanity.You’re a fucking rapper dawg.Get over yourself.You will be in that remember him category just like the rest of the dudes who had a spark when they started but now they just ____________.You need to humble yourself.Especially when your sophomore SINGLE was trash.
co f*cking sign
I was just going to say this. The non stop praise must be getting to him…”Statements not singles” lol Really? That sounds like something Kanye would say. Even the whole intro on “i” was very cheesy and egotistical. He’s really not as a great as he thinks he is. I’m not impressed
You’re all idiots. What he said wasn’t egotistical at all.
Glad to see people who are critical of the music and not blindly following an artist because he’s deemed as “lyrical”.
The same guy has posted negative remarks about 10 times on this article. He’s having a terrible day and is mad at the world. Kendrick is at a position financially that the OP would like to be in some day. Reading about a successful person on a shitty day is a recipe for disaster. Let this be a lesson, kids.
“i” was most definitely a statement. SMH
More like “i” [love myself]. Stupid ass nigga.
That’s the most pretentious bullshit I’ve ever heard.
He’s gassed up.
He’s also trying to distract from the fact that he just dropped a carefully calculated “single” in an attempt to crossover and get mainstream pop success.
You’re an idiot.
Kendrick?
“Its for our livelihoods”
Give me a break, he should be on Oprah.
Stay humble man. Don’t start making pronouncements and letting your ego get out of control. Rap careers are short, they’ll turn on you as fast as they embraced you, so while you’re catching the breeze, just be gracious about it and let your music speak for itself. Stay low and don’t overexpose yourself. Stay fresh and interesting by rarely seen. Stay off social media for the most part. Choose your collaborations wisely and don’t take every offer that comes your way. Peace.
HAHAHA thank you for gracing us with your ever ingenious suggestions. I am sure Kendrick will take heed to your wisdom.
it makes me fuckin laugh when niggas on the Internet want a RAPPER to stay HUMBLE… seriously, what the fuck kinda planet you on. y’all the kind of niggas who are gonna trip the second you see Kendrick wearin a gold watch.
RAP IS A COMPETITIVE GAME. Hip-hop is literally a dog-eat-dog world, second you start to fall off you need to let niggas know who the fuck you are. That’s why K-Dot came out with that Control verse. Fuck that kumbaya shit. You can get your spot taken over anytime. And right now, emcees, white girls, hip-hop heads, Kendrick got love from all directions. And you’re tellin him to stay humble? Why not tell him to donate a million to your hood while you’re at it?
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People finally realize the 1st single wasn’t great. Personally, I don’t know where the fck ya get the Outkast comparisons! Ya needa stop. I bumped southernplayalisticadillacmuzik to Speakerboxxx/Love Below and do NOT see the relation. Btw, I gotta agree that everyone’s gassing up Kendrick. No I’m not one of those “haters” who hate on someone’s success. I love Kendrick’s music since Kendrick Lamar EP but lost some faith in him since Control. That song wasn’t even needed. Anyways, like everyone said, the dude comes off pretentious at times and needs to let music speak for itself.
Bro, tell me about your life. How bad is it?
^^^^ LMAO!!! Groupies to the rescue!
Just like in…let’s take the game of basketball, they always want to find someone to compare you 2, like kobe,lebron and others were compared with jordan. Kendrick’s best comparison is 3stacks but it would be hard for him to measure up to Outkast’s best couple albums. Number 1, they are a group
Kendrick Lamar Wants His Songs To Be Called “Statements,” Not “Singles”
here we go…
Dude is letting the praise get to his head way too hard..
your mom lets most of my glaze get to her head.
Word son, that glaze drys up, call it Krispy Kreme yuh dig? Hah
newsflash you fuckheads RAPPERS HAVE EGOS. y’all actin like anyone feelin themselves is on some Kanye shit now. no Kanye just takes it to another level. but rappers have egos. when you get told from all corners you’re spittin nice what the fuck do you expect?
sittin in front of a keyboard in your jammies tellin a rapper to stay humble, that’s the real joke
shut up groupie
Ain’t your mama feed you yet? Can’t even come up with something intelligent to say. Standard fucknigga reply.
Humility. Look it up. Most rappers I heard at least realized and admitted theyre being cocky. And some of k.dot fans has called him humble. Now you say he got ego, but we all do.
so if his fans recognize him as humble, where the problem at then
the headline by itself sounds cocky.. but it depends on the type of statement he put through & the context. none of which niggas here looked up, they make 1+1=2 and compare his words to Kanye. ain’t hearin that fairweather bullshit.
a statement doesn’t have to be huge, but every rapper more or less makes statements in their repertoire, and K-Dot just wanted more emphasis on that aspect.
kendrick lamar on this track reminds me of ceelo green
song dope..cover is gay as fuck tho lol 2 gangsters holding up hearts LOLLL. on that note excited af tohear hisalbum..but i hope his whole album isnt like the single he released.
pretentious much?
give this man a banana.
Shady/Aftermath be coming full force!!!
Look out for SHADY XV
– Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, D12, Jon Connor, Yelawolf, SLaughterhouse gonna takeover the rap game!!!!!!
Half of the people you named got ethered by Ja Rule in the early ’00, they aint coming back.
over half the people he named weren’t around in the early ’00 fuckboi
they need new artist at Shady. yela and slaughterhouse are dope but they missing that one new outta nowhere star thats different then everyone else. to be a top rap label again. they need a fresh franchise player for Em to pass the torch to. someone who puts the music and the lyrics and the flows before the bullshit
Man, don’t get me wrong, GKMC and Section 80 are both hot albums, but Kendrick really is starting to believe his own hype isn’t he.
They’re not singles, they’re statements? GTFOH. The new single is shit, and if the new album doesn’t have numerous TDE collabos and Dr Dre production I won’t be giving it a chance.
STATEMENTS NOT SONGS? THAT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING KANYE WOULD SAY.
Fuck outta here, Kendrick.
Exactly, kinda doucheee.
NIGGA LOOKING LIKE A BUM THO
Drake need to hurry up and bury this fool
BAHAHAHAHAHA!!
I’m a fan, but get over yourself. Got another Lauryn Hill on our hands.
his statements sucks
fuck thiz hipster
this nigga let me down.. I thought he was dope until I found out he be bitchin
Let’s see if you talk like that when you hear Appetite , U.S.A and Alive , yes alive from the Beats By Dre commercial
man these dickriding fickle bandwagon fans always been around that’s why we even know about a sophomore jinx
LOL Kdot himself responded. Fck all three of dem booty ass tracks son
Kanye Lamar? Or Kendrick West? You Decide.
Yeah I wanna know what’s his College Dropout then and how many dope track’s did he produce for Jay-Z. This is what Kanye had in the beginning of his career. Before he even thought of bitchin.
This nigga ain’t Kanye. He won’t ever be. He ain’t even close to that bitchass Drake. And I’m surely not a fan of either of them.
But these comparisons are just part of the hype.
lmao nigga says one thing people aren’t feeling, and now he’s kanye. yall trippin
yo kendrick keep doin ya thing dawgs. fuck all the nonsense.
Nobody has to listen to your music. Shut the fuck up and quit complaining. There’s nothing wrong with the word “single” and you’re always going to be influenced by another artist whether you like it or not. That’s most likely why you’re a rapper today.
“without being confined to industry standards”.. Jesus Christ man this guy has been hanging around nothing but Starbucks drinking, art studying college kids.