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careers. I feel like I need to do that — ten times — to keep the legacy going. Without Dre, Snoop, Dogg Pound, Ice Cube, there would be no Kendrick Lamar.” Born in Compton, CA, Lamar


is no longer just West Coast royalty. Over the past year, he has gone from performing with artists B.o.B., Big K.R.I.T. and Tech N9ne in the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards cypher, to being a part of BET’s Music Matters campaign and nominated for eight BET Awards this year. “The moment I actually got up


there last year, it was unbeliev- able,” says Lamar of the 2012 cypher. “It was about me giving my all. I wanted to make sure that I was taking that opportunity like it was my last. Every word, every lyric, every gesture, I didn’t want to let the opportunity pass without recognizing how important it was.” An addict of the genre, Lamar


KEEP THE LEGACY GOING


KENDRICK LAMAR GIVES IT HIS ALL


BY JOYCE DAVIS 14 A


t fi rst glance, you would nev- er guess that 5-foot, 6-inch Kendrick La-


mar is a rapper. He doesn’t wear the excessive bling, or exude the arrogance or sexuality of most mainstream rappers. But after being nicknamed King of the West Coast in 2011 by the Game, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, he’s undoubtedly a hip-hop force to be reckoned with. “It’s defi nitely a huge


responsibility,” says Lamar, 26, of his crown. “The legacy they have? Man! And that they put that faith and belief in me? I know how much dedication and hard work it took for them to build their


has had hip hop in his life since he was in grade school. At age 8, he witnessed legends-in-the-making Tupac and Dr. Dre fi lm their classic California Love video. He wrote his fi rst rhyme at age 13, and at 15 he began recording professionally. “The moment I actually laid the rhyme down in the studio, hearing my voice actually playing back in the speaker was like crack. I was immediately addicted,” says Lamar, who was known as K-Dot early in his career and formed the West Coast super-group Black Hippy in 2009 with Top- Dawg Entertainment label-mates Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q. “It was something new and positive. Everything else around me was negative. It was the only thing that made me feel good about being who I was.” Lamar used the album cover


of his major label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, to symbolize the negativity that surrounded him. A Polaroid from his childhood, the cover shows Lamar being held by an uncle at a table full of baby


bottles and 40 ounces of malt liquor. And his lyrics — which he describes as aggressive, intro- spective and melodious — tell that story, the story of a good kid growing up in a mad city. “When I do music I like to put


things in the perspective of how I feel. When you get Kendrick Lamar, you get all of Kendrick Lamar, including the spiritual side,” says Lamar, who initially captured Dr. Dre’s attention with a 2010 mixtape track, “Ignorance is Bliss,” which led to him collabo- rating with Dre and another one of his major infl uences, Snoop. “I feel the need to connect with people. This was my calling — to make people feel some type of way when they hear my music.” However, Lamar is still learn-


ing to deal with his fans’ strong reactions to his music. “I’m get- ting adjusted right now to meet- ing people at concerts and shows and them breaking down in tears listening to my records like ‘Real’ and even ‘Swimming Pools,’ ” says the rapper, whose critically acclaimed debut album released in October 2012 is already certifi ed gold after selling nearly 250,000 copies in its fi rst week. “The fi rst time that happened I understood that the music was bigger than me, bigger than a hit record. These people are actually living the lyrics of my music.” Life is good for Lamar. In the


last year, he has toured with Drake and on BET’s Music Matters tour, collaborated with Young Jeezy, performed on Saturday Night Live, recorded an original track for a Tom Clancy video game, and is signed to a joint venture between Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, the label of his idol-turned-mentor Dr. Dre. And his big plans for the future


and the 2013 BET Awards seem simple and well deserved. “I’m just enjoying myself, just being here,” he says. “It was a long road to get here, so I’m going to enjoy it.”


See Kendrick Lamar at the BET Experience at L.A. Live, on Saturday, June 29.


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