“Some friends of my parents were involved in gangs, and some weren’t,” he says. Lamar offers an alternate view of Compton, as seen by someone who grew up there but wasn’t defined by the stereotypical violence and gangbanging. As Lamar observes in the song’s sixth verse, “Now we can all celebrate/We can all harvest the rap artists of N.W.A/America target our rap market, its controversy and hate.” But the very success of that style spawned widespread distortions and clichés. “Harsh realities we in made our music translate,” Lamar raps on “Compton,” the good kid album-closer where he trades verses with Dre, whose work on N.W.A.’s landmark 1988 LP Straight Outta Compton ushered in gangsta rap as we know it today. Just like with any other ghetto in the world.” and mention that you’re from Compton,” Lamar says with a smile, “people will want to hide everything they have on them, get away from you thinking you’re going to rob them. “You go to certain suburban neighborhoods in L.A. gangsta mythology, but the real place where real people live and make mistakes and grow up. He’s crafted an album- good kid, m.A.A.d city- that asks listeners to follow him through the city that raised him. “Maybe my next album, when I see more of the world, when I can sit back and think, ‘OK, Iʼve done it’-maybe then I can talk about these things. “Iʼm not interested in rapping about what I’m experiencing now because I havenʼt soaked it all in yet,” he explains. So where is Kendrick Lamar? Or better yet, when is he? Not in 2012, that’s for damn sure.
#Kendrick lamar section 80 album cover 1500x1500 full#
In the video for his song “HiiiPoWer,” Lamar explains that Shakur appeared to him on September 13, 2010-the 14th anniversary of Pac’s death-saying “Don’t let me die.” That same song closes with Lamar shouting out “Thug Life” and also includes this honest assessment of an aspiring Compton rapper’s prospects: “I’m standing on the field full of landmines/Doing the moonwalk, hoping I blow up in time.” The California Love came full circle on Lamar's breakout debut album, 2011’s Section.80, which was inspired by a vision of 2Pac. Dre, 15 years after the young MC first encountered the rap legend on the streets of Compton. Three years later he recorded a tape called Youngest Head Nigga in Charge. L.A independent label Top Dawg Entertainment heard it loud and clear.Īfter plying his trade in L.A.'s rap underground for the better part of a decade, Lamar found his voice on TDE releases like 2010’s Overly Dedicated mixtape, which caught the attention of Dr. He's thinking about music now, the culmination of a long grind. But obviously it’s memorable because it came back around.” “I was thinking about playing basketball and going outside. “I wasn’t thinking about music then,” says one of the most important MCs of his generation. Young Kendrick knows the artists, as everyone does, but he’s a child living in the moment and that’s all it was at the time-a moment. The video is filming down the way from the house where his family moved to escape the violence of Chicago’s Southside. Lamar's father, who’s played rap for him since the boy first came home from the hospital, hears about the shoot and gets his son. They were touching people, not riding on dirtbikes in the desert." "They were rolling around, getting shots of the city," Lamar recalls. Shot before Hype Williams took Dre and Pac beyond Thunderdome, this particular iteration is about the here and now-Compton, circa 1995. Dre are shooting the video for “California Love.” It's the original version of the video, a version that no one will see, because it won’t be released. He’s seven, maybe eight, and living in Compton, which is lucky because this is the place where 2Pac and Dr. But the memory is important to understanding the MC now, 25 years old and entrusted with the proud musical legacy of his hometown. Kendrick Lamar can’t remember how old he was the day he first saw the two men who would shape his future. Written by Ross Scarano ( Photography by David Black Styling by Kitti Fontaine Grooming by Will This feature is a part of Complex's "good kid, m.A.A.d city" Week. This Compton MC is ready to lead-who's gonna follow?
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