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March 28, 2024

Interview: Kendrick Lamar Talks New Album in New York Times Magazine

Kendrick T Magazine

Kendrick Lamar sat down with New York Times Magazine in an article which also feature Beck and Tom Waits. Kendrick talked with Wyatt Mason about his new forthcoming album and the process behind the music. He spoke about what he feels his music reflects and what he wants to achieve with the project. Take a look and read some of what he had to say and read the full story over at NYT Magazine.

On His New Music:

“Been thinking about my little brothers. One little brother, he bigger than me, he’s 22. Another brother, he just turned 11. Family.” Lamar paused, picked it up again. “I think now, how wayward things have gone within the past few months, my focus is ultimately going back to my community and the other communities around the world where they’re doing the groundwork. ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ was addressing the problem. I’m in a space now where I’m not addressing the problem anymore,” he said. “We’re in a time where we exclude one major component out of this whole thing called life: God. Nobody speaks on it because it’s almost in conflict with what’s going on in the world when you talk about politics and government and the system.”

“This is what goes on in my mind as a writer. One day, I may have a little girl. And it’s a girl in particular — funny you said that. She’s gonna grow up. She’s gonna be a child I adore, I’m gonna always love her, but she’s gonna reach that one point where she’s gonna start experiencing things. And she’s gonna say things or do things that you may not condone, but it’s the reality of it and you know she was always gonna get to that place. And it’s disturbing. But you have to accept it. You have to accept it and you have to have your own solutions to figure out how to handle the action and take action for it.

“When I say ‘the little girl,’ it’s the analogy of accepting the moment when she grows up. We love women, we enjoy their company. At one point in time I may have a little girl who grows up and tells me about her engagements with a male figure — things that most men don’t want to hear. Learning to accept it, and not run away from it, that’s how I want this album to feel.”

Kendrick Times Mag