Kendrick Lamar Live @ the Powerstation - Wed 12 Dec
Straight Outta Compton ... Kendrick Lamar to play FIRST NZ SHOW
Kendrick Lamar was born one year before NWA came Straight Outta Compton . While NWA were wearing dark sunglasses and
even darker scowls, the city known as the “CPT” has been seen as an exporter of all things violent, poor and well,
ruthless. Born right in the middle of the Compton chaos, Kendrick Lamar knows that he was “in it,” but he didn’t become
“of it.”
“Yeah, we was poor, but I didn’t see that,” says Lamar, whose parents moved out west
from Chicago. “It was a typical lifestyle. Mom on welfare working at Kentucky Fried Chicken, pop doing what he had to do
in the streets to make ends meet. But they just raised me. When I got older, I realized it was a struggle, but I was
still able to be a kid and live like one.”
Inspired by DMX’s debut album, Kendrick began writing rhymes when he was 13. For three years he went through the process
of studying the likes of Jay-Z, Biggie and Nas, all the while finding his own sound. In the summer of 2002 when he
turned 16, he stepped in a recording booth for the first time. It was there that he not only found his voice, but a safe
haven from the violent gang wars going on in his neighborhood as well.
Likening his childhood to that of the character “Kaine” from the movie Menace II Society, young Kendrick grew up in a
home that doubled as a house party spot at night. Dice games, cook outs all to a soundtrack of everything from the Isley
Brother’s “For the Love of You” to Bone’s “For Tha Love of Money.” However, unlike that movie and many of his friends
living the real life version of it, Kendrick didn’t follow the path down drug dealing and gang banging.
“The only thing that kept me from getting caught up was that my pops was always around and active in my life,” he says.
“He told me if I bump my head doing what I do, don’t come running back to him because he already told me. I went out
there a few times, but then I saw my friends getting smoked and getting sent to prison for life, I realized how
fortunate I was to have him around. Once I learnedthat, that’s when I got on my shit and stopped playing with life.”
Playing around with something else however would change his life.
“I just wanted to get away,” he admits. “I went in there and rapped and from the moment heard my voice, I just got
addicted to it. So from 10th grade on up I just kept going back.”
A year later he would create his first collection of songs titled “Youngest Head Nigga In Charge.”
From there he set out get the project in the hands of local label Top Dawg Entertainment CEO [insert name here].
Unbenowest to him, he already had the CD and was looking for him as well. When they did find each other, [CEO] put
Kendrick to a two-hour freestyle test. He passed with flying colors and was signed immediately.
Initially known as “K.Dot” the young rapper released two more mixtapes, Training Day and C4, before he had a bit of an
epiphany.
“I woke up one morning feeling like I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do,” he says. “I was still learning and trying to
figure out my role in the world, I didn’t know what my purpose was. I realized I had to do something different to
motivate myself and that little kid growing up in Compton. I wanted to tell my story, hate it or love it. So I wanted to
start over, with my real name, because it was that real.”
The first result was 2009’s Kendrick Lamar EP which featured his trademark singles “P,” and “She Needs Me.” He’d follow that up with 2010’s Overly Dedicated powered by the singles “Michael Jordan” and “Cut
You Off.”
He became a lot of people’s favorite rapper almost overnight.
“It took me by surprise,” he admits. “I didn’t know people were going to take to it because it was different. It felt
even better because it was really me. Me telling my story was easy. It’s easy for me to not talk about street shit all
the time. It’s easy for me to not rap about killing people, because I haven’t.”
Over the next year Kendrick’s profile would continue to rise as he performed in cities and festivals all over the
country. He would also receive co-signs from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg and a coveted spot on XXL’s 2011 Freshmen cover.
By the time he released his highly anticipated debut album Section.80 in July 2011, he was already being crowned as the
voice of a new generation.
“I was repping for my generation and my younger siblings,” says Kendrick who is the oldest of three. “I wanted to tell
the stories of growing up in this Ronald Reagan era and the aftermath of that. My generation actually connected to it. I
feel like it connected the same way people connect to 2Pac.”
If Section.80 was Kendrick doing 2Pac, his yet-to-be-titled Interscope debut may be him doing Langston Hughes. His lead
single “The Recipe” as well as scene stealing features alongside The Game, Drake, Rick Ross and others has Kendrick
poised to be the first artist in a long time to not only change how the country viewsWest Coast Hip Hop, but how the
world sees Hip Hop as a whole.
24 years after NWA planted the Compton flag in Hip Hop, it’s only right that another native son come along and adjust
the “attitude” they left behind.
“The coolest shit to say used to be the gangsta shit, but now, the real cool shit to talk about is supporting your
family.”
Presale from 25 Oct
To register for presales visit: http://www.muchmoremusic.co.nz/sign-up-news-ticket-presales
More information:
www.muchmoremusic.co.nz
www.powerstation.net.nz
http://www.kendricklamar.com/
ENDS