Kendrick Lamar GQ Q&A
Kendrick Lamar sit down with GQ to discuss his relationship with Dr. Dre, improving skills as a mc, and dapting to the success of good kid, m.A.A.d city and the skits on the album. Checkout out some of the Q&A on the next page
GQ: Were those real scenarios?
Kendrick Lamar: All of those were real scenarios. The fact that I took my mother's car, that was real life. Being in a situation where you're young and a teenager and you don't really have respect for authority. You respect them as your mother and father, but sometimes when they lay some rules down, you break them. And that was one of those situations. Taking that car got me in a whole lot of different situations as a teen, that I tell in the stories. That's what that concept really represents: abusing the authority of losing his Domino's, losing his jewelry, anything else that he possessed that I felt like taking at the time.
Kendrick Lamar: All of those were real scenarios. The fact that I took my mother's car, that was real life. Being in a situation where you're young and a teenager and you don't really have respect for authority. You respect them as your mother and father, but sometimes when they lay some rules down, you break them. And that was one of those situations. Taking that car got me in a whole lot of different situations as a teen, that I tell in the stories. That's what that concept really represents: abusing the authority of losing his Domino's, losing his jewelry, anything else that he possessed that I felt like taking at the time.
GQ: How important has Dre been to you as far as a personal relationship and mentorship?
Kendrick Lamar: He told me all the mistakes I shouldn't make in this business, being a new artist. I'm in a position where a lot of dollars will be thrown my way, and it's up to me to maintain. One of the first things he told me was that anybody "can get a mansion." He said, "You can get it. It's nothing to get. You can get it tomorrow. The best thing to do is maintain it—that's the hardest thing. Keeping it."
GQ: In any of that advice, was he ever like, "Oh, and by the way, put your name on some headphones. That shit'll make you millions?"
Kendrick Lamar: [Laughs] No, no, he always told me that he ventured out beyond the music though.
Kendrick Lamar: [Laughs] No, no, he always told me that he ventured out beyond the music though.
GQ: I assume she knows that you're doing, ya know, OK. Does that drive you any?
Kendrick Lamar: They watch the smallest things, from the YouTube video with 500 hits to the number-one single and gold album. The worst part of success is, to me, adapting to it. It's scary. Andre 3000 said, "I hated all the attention, so I ran from it." I think about that. The last six months, I've been going crazy, thinking, "Is it supposed to be like this?" Because when the cameras are on and the people are watching, that can make a person want to shut down from everything and everybody.
Kendrick Lamar: They watch the smallest things, from the YouTube video with 500 hits to the number-one single and gold album. The worst part of success is, to me, adapting to it. It's scary. Andre 3000 said, "I hated all the attention, so I ran from it." I think about that. The last six months, I've been going crazy, thinking, "Is it supposed to be like this?" Because when the cameras are on and the people are watching, that can make a person want to shut down from everything and everybody.
