Selected Kendrick Lamar Quotes
Kendrick Lamar- Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. He is known for his progressive musical style and socially conscious songwriting. He is often considered as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation. He was born and raised in Compton, California. He began his career performing under the stage name “K.Dot” while still a teenager. He was given a recording contract by Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005 when he attracted local attention.
He dropped his stage name and started using his first and middle name professionally after becoming a founding member of the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy. He released his debut studio album titled "Section.80" in 2011, His album included the debut single "HiiiiPOwer" and garnered positive reviews. He secured a record deal with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, under the aegis of Interscope Records and released his second studio album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. It gained widespread critical recognition and commercial success, largely attributed to its West Coast and gangsta rap influence. It produced hit singles such as "Swimming Pools (Drank)", "Backseat Freestyle", and "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe".
His jazz themed third album "Pimp a Butterfly" (2015) was inspired by his visit to South Africa. It received acclaim in the US and became his first number-one album on the Billboard 200. During the same year, he went on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with his remix of "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift. His fourth album was released in 2017 and contained pop, psychedelic, R&B, and soul influences. It gave him his first solo number-one single "Humble" and it became the first non-classical and non-jazz work to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He released his fourth studio album "Mr Morale & Big Steppers" in 2022 after a four-year hiatus. It was his swan song with TDE.
He has directed and produced several music videos and films with his creative partner Dave Free, with whom he founded the creative collective PGLang. He has sold over 70 million records in the United States alone, all of his studio albums have been certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He has received numerous awards which includes 17 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, two American Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards, a Brit Award, and a nomination for an Academy Award. He was named MTV's Hottest MC in the Game in 2012. In 2015, he received the California State Senate's Generational Icon Award. He has been featured in listicles such as the Time 100 and Forbes 30 Under 30. Three of his studio albums were included on Rolling Stone's 2020 ranking of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (Source: Wikipedia).
Selected Kendrick Lamar Quotes:
“I don’t want to be something that just comes and goes.“
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“I like to let things breathe.“
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“I ain’t a drinker I’m a thinker, call it what you want.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“Mark my word, I’m a make my mark, even when they start their martial Law. Even when these martians alienate, my mental state is still at heart.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“Being able to tell one from start to finish, and making that puzzle come together at the end. That’s the art for me.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“Just let me be me, That’s the only way I know.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“I don’t talk about these things if I haven’t lived them, and I’ve hurt people in my life. It’s something I still have to think about when I sleep at night. The message I’m sending to myself – I can’t change the world until I change myself first.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“I’m trying to learn something new. I’m trying to surround myself with people that inspire me, or at least inquire similar desire.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“Everyday I try to escape the realities of this world.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“If a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“Live your life, live it right. Be different, do different things.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
I learned, when I look in the mirror and tell my story, that I should be myself and not peep whatever everybody is doing.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals
“We look so much on color that we forget about the soul.“
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“We all get distracted, the question is, would you bounce back or bounce backwards?“
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“We’re all human at the end of the day, making mistakes. But learn from them is the key.“
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“The message I’m sending to myself – I can’t change the world until I change myself first.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“I live this life at a pace that anyone can go. Know your place, and dedicate your role…To the faith that you’ll die alone.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“Ya’ll don’t want me to win. I’m tryna follow dreams, you want me to follow trends.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“Eventually you get to this point where you understand what you want to do and get across and sound like.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“The sky can fall down, the wind can cry now. The strong in me, I still smile.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“Take advantage. Do your best, don’t stress. You was granted everything inside this planet, anything you imagine, you possess.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“Sometimes you just need to distance yourself from people… if they care, they’ll notice. If they don’t, you know where you stand.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life
“Life will put many red lights in front of you, but sometimes we must push on the gas and trust god.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Life, Belief
If I speak the good into existence, that instant my dreams will unlock, money flow like water, I’ll just wait at the dock.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Success, Wealth
“Maybe because I’m a dreamer and sleep is the cousin of death.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Death
“Can’t let the government tell me how my future lookin’.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Government
“I walk alone with a cross and a diamond stone. I’m a diamond inside the rough, that’s too mighty for maricons.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Belief
“From the moment I started writing raps, I was always aware of the pressure. I always wanted to live up to how huge Snoop got, how huge Dre got, how huge Pac got. I was always aware.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Music
“My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop.”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Music
“But what love got to do with it when you don’t love yourself?”
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Love
“The hardest thing for – not only an artist but for anybody to do is look themselves in the mirror and acknowledge, you know, their own flaws and fears and imperfections and put them out there in the open for people to relate to it.“
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Art
“The best thing is to always keep honest people around, because when you have a bunch of yes men around that know that you’re making a mistake but let you go on with it, that’s when it ruins your mind state as an artist.“
Kendrick Lamar, Goals, Art
“We hurt people that love us, love people that hurt us.”
Kendrick Lamar, Love
“As long as my music is real, it’s no limit to how many ears I can grab.“
Kendrick Lamar, Music
“Tupac, Biggie, Jay. Your usual suspects. These were the people that was played in my household.”
Kendrick Lamar, Music
“I don’t do black music, I don’t do white music. I do everyday life music.”
Kendrick Lamar, Music
“I had to come from something, come from a place that was negative and positive but the majority of it is a negative place.”
Kendrick Lamar, Life
“Consequences from evil will make your past haunt you.”
Kendrick Lamar, Life
“It’s easy to forget who you are.”
Kendrick Lamar, Life
“Look at me, I’m a loser, I’m a winner, I’m good, I’m bad. I’m a sinner, I’m a killer. What I’m doing, I’m saying that I’m human.”
Kendrick Lamar, Life
“Everybody heard that I f*** with Dre, and they wanna tell me I made it. N**** I ain’t made s***. If he gave me a handout, I’ma take his wrist and break it.”
Kendrick Lamar, Opportunities
“I’d rather not live like there isn’t a god, then die and find out there really is. Think about it.”
Kendrick Lamar, Belief
“I look at where I’m at today and realize that most of my success is owed to the mentors that was in my life.“
Kendrick Lamar, Success
“The worst part of success is, to me, adapting to it. It’s scary.”
Kendrick Lamar, Success
“It’s a great, great experience to finally get the reception that you know you rightfully deserve.”
Kendrick Lamar, Success
“I think my worst problem is actually living in the moment and understanding everything that’s going on. I feel like I’m in my own bubble.”
Kendrick Lamar, Problems
“People gonna be they own individuals and have they own worlds and I can’t knock it.”