Following the release of his 2012 debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar was one of the few that got snubbed on music’s biggest night. However, this time, his critically-acclaimed album, To Pimp a Butterfly, is set to receive 11 nominations. During his Interview w/ NY Times, Kendrick talks Drake and Future, his approach on much and much more. Take a look at an excerpt from the interview below, which you can read in full here.
Eleven nominations is one fewer than Michael Jackson’s record.
I’m still soaking that all in. Michael will forever be the greatest. I’m glad it was at 11. I would never want to even think about putting myself on the same level as Michael, simply because I haven’t put in the work that he did. It couldn’t be a better number.
What was your favorite rap music of this year?
Of course Future killed it. He smashed. Drake smashed. Future’s work ethic was crazy, his energy. This is the thing about hip-hop music and where people get it most misconstrued: It’s all hip-hop. You can’t say that just what I do is hip-hop, because hip-hop is all energies. James Brown can get on the track and mumble all day. But guess what: You felt his soul on those records.
So you don’t buy this separation between “real hip-hop” and party records?
No, I don’t. If it makes you feel good, and it makes you move — I don’t know these guys personally. I don’t know what makes them move on a personal level. I can’t knock it. It feels good when I listen to it, when I’m in that vibe. You feel it. You can get the highest level of that — you can get Future — or you can get the watered-down version, somebody else trying to be that. That’s the bad [expletive].
