THE BIG INTERVIEW - Kendrick Lamar on "DAMN" album, Fan Theories, Unreleased Songs, Ranking His Albums, and Family

THE BIG INTERVIEW - Kendrick Lamar on "DAMN" album, Fan Theories, Unreleased Songs, Ranking His Albums, and Family

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to another episode of The BigThe Big Interview Podcast. How many unreleased
songs do you have in your heador that we haven't heard yet? Thousands?
I done lost hard drives, damnhard drives from five o six we
never got back. Took it allthe way to San Francisco to get it

(00:22):
fixed. Never got fixed. Butwelcome back to the neighborhood. Man,
I'm gonna tell you, man,at one point when you were saying,
all big, I don't know ifI'm gonna blow up, and I'm thinking
about getting and I told y'all said, man, stay on the path.
It's coming right. And look atus now, look at us now.
You know you can't always try tobe responsible for a piece of your of

(00:42):
your success, like man, Itold him, Man, you will get
that every day. Yeah, ohyeah, hell yeah. But how is
it now? Man? You knowwhat I'm saying, And not that that
that there's no struggle or whatever.You know what I'm saying, But but
how is it now? Has therebeen a difference a change from the last
five years to today, not justrecord success but just life and everything?
Oh yeah, definitely me being ableto support my family. Can you support

(01:06):
mine too? Yeah, at leastjust one, you know what I'm saying.
But yeah, that's gotta be great. That's great inspire you know,
my little brothers and sisters, inspiremy little cousins, my city. It
also makes me more hungry though,really though, Yeah, why yeah,
because it's a need to never becontent or to be comfortable. You know,

(01:26):
you always want to continue to grow. So whatever that challenge is,
I'm always looking for Do you feellike you wrote your best verse yet?
My best verse yet? No?Damn no, do you ever? I'm
always searching for that, really though, do you when you write, Kendrick?
Do you write? Or are youin the head? Or are you
on the device? All three?Damn? However I can get to it.

(01:48):
Might just jump on the mic,might just have a pen. Might
be that little tablet right there.Can you please take that tablet but turn
it back into us? Good lord? Yeah, he wrote me a little
note. Took the note. Hedon't even know. I'm about to tell
that in Japan, you know,is it different now everybody know who Kendrick
Lamar is. Is it different tokind of to kind of step out now

(02:09):
privacy and everything? Oh? Yeah, definitely. I can't go nowhere.
Can't. I can't rock like that, but I got to right. I
can't. I can't be a prisonerat the same time. So you may
see me in a little hole inthe hotspot, you may see me in
the city. You may see me, uh at the corner store. I
gotta go. But you do haveto plan your step up, like you

(02:30):
know you're gonna be held up justa little bit more now, So you
do have to give yourself some wiggleroom to get to a seat. You
know, because I see you atthe games. You know, I see
you walking all the way down whereyour seats are at. You know what
I'm saying. You know, youknow all. You know, you know
how you're right there and it's likethat, like if you put your foot

(02:50):
out a little bit more, youknow what I'm saying, Or if you
were like two inches tall. Idon't know how tall you are, you
tripped one of the clippers, youknow what I'm saying. I don't know
what those seats called. And I'mgonna tell you, man, I will
call you, and I don't knowwhat they cost. I'm talking about.
I would call you and top Iwill be looking right at y'all, just
y'all can invite me down. Iwill call Top and I will see Top
pull his phone out and go likethis. They'll put it back in his

(03:14):
podcast like Big ain't coming down there, you know, now, don't right
there on the floor with us somewhere. We just don't see hilarious. We
just don't hilarious. You will seea picture. It'll be Kendrick, Top,
Beyonce, jay Z and whoever elseis just sitting there now. If

(03:36):
they want to go ahead and putone of them scope lenses on the camera,
like one of them the longest lenses, then you will see Big Boy,
Veronica, Jaden and Jade. I'mfine with you know what I'm saying.
It's just that, you know,we got things to work towards.
You know what I'm saying. Okay, well we gotta make some changes then,
Doug, since we said that righthere, he ain't gonna do nothing

(04:00):
fake turning around time, listening youryour teammates supposed to do this, watch
this. I want to show youthis. Man. Hey, hey Louis,
Hey man, you know I'm thebest man in the world. Right
there is supposed to be easy bestteammate. You know, next time I
go out. Man, I'm gonnahave you at a basketball game. But

(04:24):
Dave face was serious when you turnaround with that bulls alrighty, I was
at who showed we just that thatyou came out and did? Damn?
Where were we? Was it?Yeah? Pt weekend? Yeah? Man,
my knee almost gave out that.But it's crazy what that energy feel
like when you come out on stageas well. Can you still hear that?

(04:45):
Yeah all the time, because Ithought you just got like a little
more conceited or something, so youcan still you can still hear those things.
You can still hear. How doyou pick and choose who do you
come out on stage with? Oris it just availability? It's really artist?
I respect and and and then justhave a love for that music and
off the record too. You know, it'd be some real cool individuals out

(05:06):
there, and there'll be some realthose that I really don't rock with,
you know what I'm saying. Soa lot of people that I work with,
they just have a mutual mutual bondthere because everybody wants the Kendrick verse,
you know what I'm saying. Like, I don't even do music,
and I want it exactly. Howdo you pick and choose. Is it
the same kind of thing where it'slike, you know, I definitely got
to rock with that person. It'sreally all in the music at that point.

(05:29):
Yeah, because you can rock withthat person, right arash song?
I can't. I'm not inspired byit. So the records just have to
be something that I can connect to. Why the just a single word for
every song? It just didn't gethard when you start thinking, like damn,
you know what I'm saying. Ifyou can see that list, that

(05:49):
list was like scrabble man trying tofigure out what emotion capture the actual lyrics.
So I write a verse and dothe whole song, and then I
feel or look at words that Ifeel like capture that emotion. You know.
So who's going through that back andforth through the whole process. Did
you ever have another album title for? Damn? Yep? What on Earth

(06:12):
stays on Earth? What happens onEarth? Say? Why not? That?
That's alone? That's alone? Youknow what I'm saying, that's what
happens on Earth? Yeah, yougot that new Kendrick, what happened?
You know what happens? Like whathappens? And you know that we didn't
read right and from the album WhatHappens on Earth Stays on Earth. You

(06:36):
hear throughout the album though, Yeah, but you know what what's gonna happen
now? Yeah? And you doso nobody can't even now, we can't
even touch that, you know whatI'm saying. But I'm gonna take you
straight up, like all the freestylesthat you've done, and what we're gonna
kind of choke hold you into dowhatever you do. Today. We're putting
together an album called what Happens onEarth? Yeah, man, So we

(06:57):
putting that together. Man. Soas you see, we got Joel in
here. He's been shooting the albumcover. He's gonna get this one,
Joe. So like in the beginningwith Blood, in the beginning with Blood,
is that the beginning or the endof the album, because the end
of Duckworth confuses me. You know, I can't tell you that. Why
can't you tell you? Because Ineed to know. I can't. I'll

(07:19):
be giving away for the whole world. Get them. You don't want to
tell us nothing. Two years agohe would have told us. You know
what I'm saying. Two years agohe would have told us, man,
Now, why you can't tell us? I mean it's like a damn project
figuring out some of your stuff.Man, it ain't nothing you can just
tell us like legit like gave mea headache trying to figure it out.
Well, it could mean multiple things, but for me, the initial thing

(07:45):
was these stories never happened. Thatmakes sense to you kind of if he
goes, yeah, it never happened, none of it, None of it
happened. So you get to reverseand start all over. So then blood
is like starting all over again.Get you die in blood right now?

(08:07):
You get shot by blind lady.That's a whole nother concept. So you
gotta god, man, you're justgonna have to go bubble gum on us
man, intricate rap stuff. Man, you gotta you gotta go viciously in
the place to be got Yeah,you gotta get off all these concepts and
all this intricate Man got us thinkingand trying to elevate and educate our man,

(08:33):
trying to look out for the kids. What's wrong with you? Yeah?
Man, got us thinking. Youknow, what do you find yourself?
Can you be in a little moreconscious now though? Too? What
do you mean as far as whatjust like I hear more of a message
in the music or yeah, isthat somewhere you're at. It's really it's
more like, uh, my myviews rather than kind of throw it on

(08:58):
a listener. And I think that'sthat's my biggest connection with my audience and
why it connects the way I dobecause it's not it's not necessarily preachy.
It's just my uh own ups anddowns and trying to figure myself out,
as well as going through these timesof traveling the world and my own experiences
and putting them all into one.And when you excuse me when you say

(09:20):
own experiences, right, and elementyou say that you got stumped out in
front of your mama, Yeah,you really got stumped out in front of
your mama. Avalanche swapped me damnby when I heard that, ye in
front of your mama? Yeah,yeah, she was walking out. I'm
already fading. Boo boo boo offthree four dudes, and just looking at
Mom's tweet throw that you she hadsent back. She came back and helped

(09:41):
you out through too, Like mombought it too, my mother, So
damn did she see it or shesaw like the aftermath, she's seen it,
seen it, she's seen it.But you know, it's funny out
of the out of the respect ofthem seeing her they killed, just booked

(10:01):
it out. Yeah, damn.How old were you? I was probably
about fifteen? Damn. So somebodyclaim to fame is that they stamped you
out in the avalanche. Yeah,I sumped him out. Somebody got that.
Damn yea, they got that forsure. I heard that. Man,
boys hearing somebody, I ain't rightto be like damn big at the

(10:26):
sass. Know you didn't on thattip of you saying that you're not trying
to be preachy, but a lotof people have chosen you to be the
voice of this generation. Does thatput What kind of pressure does that put
on you? Uh? It putsI don't necessarily say pressure. All I
can, you know, do iscontinue to be uh actual human being and

(10:48):
then to show them that, youknow, I go through the same emotions
and the same you know, feelingsthat you'll go through. So if they
put that as being the leader ofthis generation, then so be it,
because all I can do is expressmyself and hope you you know, take
something from it. Does it makeyou happy that you are, like I

(11:11):
want to say, like you're sotalented that you've become that, like not
any that doesn't happen to everyone.Does it give you joy? Or does
it? Does it pain you to? Like? What kind of emotions go
through that though? Yeah? Giveme joy that you know people are actually
listening. You know it's people.You know they break my whole sixteen bars

(11:31):
down better than I can. Youknow what I'm saying and pull some away
from it different from you know whatI what inspired me to write it.
So just that right there is theultimate joy going out them on stages and
seeing them kids wrap these lyrics.That's the feeling. How many unreleased songs
do you have in your head orthat we haven't heard yet? Thousands?

(11:52):
I done? Lost hard drives,damn really hard drives from five oh six
we never got back, took itall the way to San Francisco to get
it fixed, never got fixed.Songs in votes? Do you do you
still have the hard drive? We'repraying to God that had come back to
life. Let me tell you,man, I probably have someone for real
that can you think so? Youthink so probably? But it's gonna come

(12:16):
with a price. How much materialis in there? This is about five
hundred songs, five hundred songs.All right, if I can get that
fixed for this, if I getthat fixed for you, will you give
me a free show for sure?Easy. I'm not talking about the radio

(12:37):
show dot I'm talking about I'm talkingabout you know what I'm saying can make
me and man, you know whatI'm saying. You know, I love
Real and I love i Heeart Bro, but I love Jayden's you know,
and Veronica a lot better. Whowere those times when you thought the we're
making noise or that I made it? You know what I'm saying, Like,

(12:58):
what were some of those like socalled like threasholds where you were like,
we're making noise? Uh? Probablymy first show at Well, the
first first moment was making noise whenRock had the song with Lil Wayne All
my life. I was like,Okay, that was Chuck Dilly. That's

(13:18):
the moment, Like, Yo,this really can happen. You know what
I'm saying. This is the biggestrapper at the moment. You don't be
rocking with us in Rock doing thisthing on the record. That was the
moment. Second moment for me wasmy first show downtown in La off my
first mixtape, Kendrick Lamary P.How many people? How many people?
About three hundred? You're like,man, yeah, this can happen.
Man. What did it feel likewhen you first put the mic out in

(13:41):
a crowd? Finished your verse?Addicted? I was high. That was
it. That was it for mebecause I know I wrote these raps my
mama kitchen, and I done wentaround the world and y'all singing these raps
that I wrote in the kitchen.They blew my mind away. What about
your first trip overseas? See wheredid you go? Where? I went

(14:01):
to London? And that was crazyand they knew. It's crazy that they
just know music and they love itthough they're like die hard almost the point
where they feel like they don't getit enough. So when we come out
there, yeah I appreciate it.What's the largest crowd you rocked in front
of? Kendrick ninety five hundred thousand? Yeah? Yeah, big, I

(14:26):
thought, saying like one hundred threethousand? Man, dude, does that
do you like smaller venues where youget that energy or is there does the
energy compare? Like is there oneway? Like oh okay, I feel
this, but also like, youknow, if I could do a thousand
sedar, you know, the smallvenues. Love after being on festival so

(14:46):
long. I mean, it's greatenergy. The crowd you see thirty thousand
and forty thousand jumping, you lovethat. But it's nothing like going to
them small hole walls and people werejust hanging on the ceiling and they you
know, they want to wrap yourearly raps. Yeah, we got a
book that, we got a bookthat. Man, I'm glad you answered
that. When you hear people saythe verse, if they say, you

(15:09):
know the control verse the first isit crazy that, like we know exactly
what cats are talking about? Likethere moments in time where we're just like,
okay, we know this, weknow that are we kind of throw
something back at you, like that'sgot to be crazy that you created this.
And and how many people around theworld are on top of that,

(15:30):
hanging on to lyrics all the time. It's people I go overseas and it's
people screaming at that verse, right, you know what I mean? And
it's been what what's that two thousandand I'm even just talking that verse.
It's just verse. Yeah, yeah, definitely, it's it's a trip.
You know. They can hang onto these lyrics and normally verbatim. Yeah,

(15:50):
man, I done forgot about themand moved on, and they remind
me like, no, this ishow take that into the booth or into
perspective when you're writing. Also thatyou're in competition with yourself. Yeah,
all the time, I gotta challengemyself. Like I said, for me,
it's always searching for that next thingthat you know inspired me within writing.

(16:11):
It could be another word, itcould be another concept, another song,
another album. But it's just thechallenge and just the shirch to write
that perfect verse or that perfect song. I probably never get it, but
I know one thing's gonna keep medriven right to keep going hard. You
know what I love about it?Also, Kendrick, is that not usually,
but sometimes cats create such a fanbase and a buzz that they get

(16:33):
to a point where they kind ofstart meiling it in because you know,
like we know it. Then whenyou can always kind of depend on your
catalog to get you through, youknow, a concert, But you do
say that you continue to one upyourself all the time all the time.
I got to I got to Igot to go back to that place when
we was in the garage and writingraps, you know, in top house,

(16:55):
writing raps and doing versus what thatmoment is at. Did you go
buy the garage? I'll beat you. Why the garage go by? That's
dope. Do you ever go backthere? From motivation? I go back
in there looking at Vibe Studios?Still there, Mike, still there?
I heard your albums. Alrighty.Now there's some people there's always the barbershop

(17:19):
talking. You know what I'm saying, Which one is their their best album?
Which one is their favorite? Soon and so forth? You know,
and we all got albums, right, not as artists, but we
all got albums that we like ofyours. Uh, we want you to
rate your album? Alrighty, whichone is your favorite album? All right?
Show it to him and call itout by name. I day section
eight, alrighty, section eighty.This should be sorry to Pimper Butterfly.

(17:45):
Oh tough, bro. You shouldn'twrite good material, good kid city both
sides and last but not least.Yeah, already lay them out in front
of him, because he makes alot of songs. He probably don't even
remember what songs were on the album. Alrighty, I know I'm gonna do
y'all though, y'a be mad togive us a straight answer to don't try
to give us no, I'm gonnagive you a straight ass. Yeah,

(18:07):
man, don't be a politician.You want to number them one? You
could just tell us in case hewants the number. Oh oh oh oh,
there you go. That that's theorder, right, yes, from
which way to which way? Thoughthis from section eighty on section eighty on
this being the best, damn isthe best? So you agree with your

(18:30):
mama. This is a tweet fromyour mother, right. It says,
oh my god, this is theThis is a text message, oh my
god, this CD is bombed.A lot of emojis in your mom's You
know what I'm saying. You shouldYou should have put me and your daddy
on this one too, joke.Alrighty, this is your best one to

(18:55):
me, no bulls one hundred.Your daddy said you look dress out on
the cover. L O L.I said, that's the point. We're
always stressing him out. Smiley fieyface. Hey, hey, hey hey,
since the little boy, you've beenan overthinker. Though. Another emoji
and the prayer him. Alrighty,but what you say make it look okay?

(19:18):
It says a but what you saymake it look sexy. Alrighty question
Mark, alrighty boy, you canmake a dog laugh? Can you make
a dog laugh for her? Alrighty? So she said little King Kim Milly
rock into it. He was soweak. L O L O L album
is bomb bomb bomb bomb one hundred, one hundred, one hundred. I

(19:44):
missed the coach telling stream, Idon't know what that emoji is right there,
they say you was floating on air. Your fans are some die hards.
I love them. And then youcame back you say you're going emoji
brazy? Who taught you? Onehundred? Question Mark L O L I

(20:06):
tax that is awesome. That's beautiful. Does your mom work security detail too?
You know? Because mom? Like, man, that's my baby over
there. What's the one thing thatyou're so proud of that you did for
your mom? One thing I'm soproud of? Got off section eight?
I heard that. Yeah, yeah, definitely definitely because that was a beautiful

(20:26):
being in convent and got to movearound different spots and all that. Got
a worry about the landlord selling thehouse and yeah, do not know it?
Brother? Like man, we liveand I tell people like, hey,
man, what did you grow uplike here here here, They're like,
oh man, you know we wasevicted. Was eviction, so did
you your mom? She got thehouse now she good? Is it in

(20:48):
your name? He's straight? Okay, cool, but yeah you can live
here, mama. Man. Soso when you give when you give her
the keys to the crib as ason, what does that feel or like
that's that's the ultimate feeling, becauseyou know, one thing about my mom
she said this, and she toldme this yesterday. She asked, your
mommy this, you know, butshe said no, I mean, she

(21:11):
said, the thing. The onlything I have to do for her is
continue to love her. Simple asthat. She said, she brought me
in this world. You know,it was my my reason to bring you
here. Anyway, anything you dofor me, it's just a plus.
Wow, simple as that. Sowhen I look at that, and I
look at that type of wisdom,it makes me appreciated any you know,

(21:33):
even more and made me want todo more. She never felt you never
felt like you old her that likeshe never said it, because said that's
dope. See when my kids I'mlike, hey, you know, daddy
got the you know what I'm saying, I'm tallying up everything like you know,
you know exactly, you know youowe me this exactly. You know
what I'm saying. Look at thishouse. You know, Daddy want one

(21:55):
bigger from you. Yeah, youknow I need you do better better than
me because I need to relax.You know what I'm saying. You know
I get up at like three thirtyfour o'clock every morning, man, so
I need my kids to pop,you know what I'm saying. Going back
to these album ratings here, whyis Damn top spot for you? Because

(22:17):
I think Damn it is a hybridof all these projects. It was me
finally being able to take elements fromGood Kids, Pimper Butterfly, Pimple Butterfly,
the message behind the Pimp Butterfly,the sonics and the beats slapping on
good kids, and the rawness ofjust being able to do what I want

(22:37):
like I did on Section Eddy.I didn't have no rules doing it.
I was just in there creating thatfun. So when I take all three
of these, it makes a hybridor Damn for me? Yeah, do
you feel like people over listen toyou now? Do those kids? Like?
Man? I didn't heard a typeof thing. Theories the craziest theories

(23:02):
You've heard craziest theories that I'm droppingthree more albums right after damn, like
every week. I really thought you'regonna drop a second one because because of
Spotify though, because on Spotify wegot the picture of you behind a blue
wall, so it's like, okay, but he often uses like both of

(23:22):
these colors red, you know,and blue, So I really thought you
were gonna drop that. And I'mgonna tell you something. It's a lot
of things in that same uh theorythat I don't know how these fans get,
but they're on point in some ofthem. Yeah, they know about
certain songs that may or may notbe released, and they put things together

(23:44):
crazy. So did you have thetwo and three albums for real? Then
once we cracked the you can't bringit out Now they're gonna have to wait.
Yeah, figured me out. Ihad a h a selection of songs
that I like, I want tocall it album, but that definitely makes
sense for them for sure. What'syour wacked song? My wacky song?

(24:07):
My wagon is looking on YouTube already. It's cat up in the club,
what this morning? Tell me?In the club that was listening now,
like you gonna put it on.Do you do you remember the If I

(24:32):
hear it, I don't remember thelist. What you do? Tell me
in the club? Would you recordsomething like that? Now? If Man
was all right, y'all need toplay that on the record on on the
station, then do that? Isthat out? Club? What? Then?

(24:57):
Tell me what guy? I'm tryingto get these sazy guys? This
is my single? Okay, whatthis is again about? And that's my
big cake that I bring them dollarsout. I ain't are pinning a big

(25:22):
boy from big boys neighborhood on.iHeart radio. Boy. Here's another in
case you missed the moment with us. The legendary Doctor Drake and w was
formed just out of friends that gottogether and decided to make a group.
You know, I wanted to getaway from the group. I was in
the recond crew at the time,you know what I mean. So I
was really trying to find a wayto get away. I didn't have enough
money to go in and record.I had a group that I was ready

(25:45):
to record on. I didn't haveenough money. So Bam Man comes easy,
you know what I mean. Iknew he had money. He was
out hustling it's like listen, man, once you come, throw some money
into this music thing, you knowwhat I mean. So me and him
got together and the song that waswritten for this groove just happened to be
Boys in the Hood, Yes,sir, they were from New Jersey,
New York or something like that.They decided they didn't want to do it,

(26:07):
so I talked Easy into doing therecord. Man, and Easy didn't
want to be a rapper at first. He did not want to be a
rapper. It took me a coupleof hours to talk him into getting order
mic and just trying it. Thankyou for listening. It is you find
a big boy big Boy's neighborhood.You can catch more of us right here
on Iheartradios. The boys in thehood are always hard, you know,
talking to trash real oh your card, knowing nothing in life but to be

(26:29):
legit. Don't quote me, boy, I ain't said nothing yet.