HYPETRAK Magazine: Volume 1 - Kendrick Lamar, The Luminary

For the cover story of the inaugural issue of HYPETRAK Magazine, our comrades interviewed hip-hop’s brightest young star and recent Grammy Award winner, Kendrick Lamar. The unofficial torchbearer of the genre opens up about his aspiration to inspire change within his hometown of Compton as well as among the black community, in addition to the current state of hip-hop and his forthcoming LP among many other topics. With a brief excerpt below, you can read more at HYPETRAK.com or for the full story, purchase a copy of the HYPETRAK Magazine: Volume One for $12 USD over at the HYPEBEAST Store.

There’s a saying in the music industry that implies that you’re always as good as your last hit. Kendrick’s approach to creating music indicates that he is fully aware of this fact. At 27 years of age, Kendrick Lamar has changed. While he might still be the good kid at heart trying to escape the negative influences of his hometown of Compton, he has matured. We meet him at a studio on a quiet afternoon in the Arts District of Downtown LA. At the time, the release of “i,” the first single and first audio impression of his new album, was only a few days away. Accordingly, there was a great deal of excitement among his entourage, including members from his TDE family and his label Interscope Records as they seemed ready for the next chapter of Kendrick Lamar Duckworth’s story as a recording artist to erupt upon modern pop culture. More so, they understand he’s onto something bigger. Casually dressed in a grey hoodie, jeans and sneakers, K. Dot, as he’s affectionately called within the hip-hop community, was calm, reflective and focused. He was ready for an extensive promotional campaign filled with a multitude of interviews, ready to spread his word out. He’s on a mission.

Kendrick loves himself, and he wants you to love yourself as well. This is the core message of new single “i,” a statement for those that let their brains be corrupted by negative elements in the outside world. Kendrick intends to release a more positive and inspiring song for those that are incarcerated or those “outside” that struggle to live a better life, to uplift their spirits. “i” embodies his new mission to go beyond industry standards to connect with people through music.

He now is aware of the power of his lyrics, the power of word. Although he is consciously aware of his responsibility towards his audience, it marks an entirely new situation for him. “Knowing that not only people from my community, but people around the world, are hanging onto my words is remarkable to me. And I don’t know everything. I’m gifted with a talent that was given to me by God but I’m only 27 years old. I go out to these shows and someone might approach me and say, ‘your music saved my life yesterday, and I was ready to kill myself.’ That’s something I think about, when somebody marks my words, and I don’t know how much this kid is affected by this one line, you know I’m saying? That’s also something that’s in the back of my head all the time. I’m learning to deal with this, to accept it. As time goes on, I will be more open to it.”