During Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Zane Lowe interviewed Kendrick Lamar shortly after the release of "DAMN." Lamar discussed his creative process, revealing that "everything is probably 80% premeditated" before recording vocals, and explained his approach of disconnecting from public reception post-release. The album featured notable producers including Mike Will Made-It on tracks like "DNA." and "HUMBLE." Lamar identified Jay-Z, Eminem, and Tupac Shakur as key influences, crediting Jay-Z for his conversational delivery, Eminem for technical wordplay, and Tupac for spiritual guidance and community engagement.
Lamar positioned "DAMN." as an introspective counterpart to "To Pimp a Butterfly," focusing on personal transformation through tracks exploring fundamental emotions like "PRIDE.," "HUMBLE.," "LUST.," and "LOVE." Lamar chose to concentrate on self-reflection rather than external circumstances such as Trump getting elected. He provided insights into specific tracks including "BLOOD.," "DNA.," "ELEMENT." (featuring Kid Capri), "LOYALTY." (with Rihanna), and "DUCKWORTH." (revealing the true story of how Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith nearly killed Lamar's father years before signing Kendrick). Throughout the interview, Lamar emphasized his spiritual foundation, describing himself as a "vessel" used by God, while asserting his position as "the greatest rapper alive" from cultural commitment rather than mere boasting.
In April 2017, during the first weekend of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Beats 1 Radio host Zane Lowe conducted an extensive interview with rapper Kendrick Lamar. The conversation took place shortly after the release of Lamar's fourth studio album "DAMN." and one day before his headline performance at the festival.
Kendrick Lamar discussed his deliberate practice of disconnecting from public reception immediately following an album release. "As soon as I hit master and I just turn that thing in, I try not to listen to it or even see the actual response for a while," Lamar explained to Lowe. This approach stems from his extensive involvement with the material during the creation process and his preference for experiencing authentic audience reactions during live performances rather than through digital feedback.
The Compton rapper elaborated on this methodology, explaining, "The internet is a tricky place, and the way our minds work in a psychological matter, we're only going to see the good things anyway. You know, we're going to block out the negative things." This self-awareness about perception filtering demonstrates Lamar's calculated approach to managing external influences on his creative process.
Lamar described his creative approach as predominantly premeditated, revealing that "everything is probably 80% premeditated first" before he begins recording vocals. His preparation involves extensive contemplation and emotional alignment with instrumental tracks, sometimes requiring months to develop the proper approach. "I sit and I think all day," Lamar shared, emphasizing the importance of authentic emotional connection: "If I don't feel it, then the listener sure enough ain't going to feel it."
The "DAMN." album featured production from several notable producers, including significant contributions from Mike Will Made-It on tracks like "DNA." and "HUMBLE." Lamar revealed their collaboration represented years of patience: "We've been in the studio for a long time... He always said to each other, man, one day we're going to make them records."
Throughout the interview, Lamar identified three transformative influences on his artistic development:
Lamar credited Jay-Z for his conversational delivery and natural cadence, recalling his early development: "My boy Dave would tell you, I was in his garage and all my ad-libs sounded like Jay-Z. My words, my flow." The TDE artist particularly admired Jay-Z's ability to perform without written lyrics, a technique Lamar initially adopted to emulate his idol: "At first, I was doing it because I just wanted to be like Jay-Z, but in time, it became a practice."
Discussing Eminem's impact, Lamar expressed appreciation for his technical approach to language: "I just love words. I just love how to bend them. I love how to break them. I love how to twist them, turn them, make them in couplets," Lamar describing the technique as "acrobatics" that demonstrates "the true craft."
Beyond artistic influence, Tupac Shakur represents a continuous spiritual presence in Lamar's work and worldview. "This dude's impact not only on me but on the culture is something I can never forget," he stated, citing Tupac's community engagement as a guiding principle: "I will always have that sense of reaching a certain standard as far as empathy and compassion toward a record the same way Pac approached music."
Lamar articulated a clear conceptual relationship between "DAMN." and his previous album "To Pimp a Butterfly," establishing a thematic progression across his discography. While "To Pimp a Butterfly" addressed broader societal issues and "the idea of changing the world," "DAMN." focused on personal transformation. "I can't change the world until I change myself," Lamar explained, positioning "DAMN." as an introspective counterpart to his previous work.
The album explores fundamental human emotions through tracks like "PRIDE.," "HUMBLE.," "LUST.," and "LOVE.," reflecting what Lamar called "me looking in the mirror and coming to grips with them." He described the album as fundamentally about "self-discipline" and "obedience," emphasizing the challenges of emotional control and vulnerability: "It's not easy telling your truths and things that you fear from when you were 7, 17, and even a couple years ago."
The creation of "DAMN." spanned a significant political transition in the United States, beginning during Barack Obama's presidency and concluding after Donald Trump's election. Despite expectations that the album might heavily address this political shift, Lamar chose to concentrate on self-reflection and individual responsibility.
Lamar acknowledged recording "a lot of records" addressing political frustrations but ultimately incorporated only selected elements into "DAMN." Referring to his meeting with President Barack Obama, Lamar shared a perspective that informed his approach: "Change don't start while I'm here. It starts once we leave the space that we're in." This philosophy influenced the album's focus on individual transformation rather than external circumstances.
Lamar provided specific insights into several key tracks from "DAMN.," offering context for their creation and thematic significance:
"BLOOD." serves as the album's enigmatic opening, which Lamar cryptically described as "the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning," establishing the album's narrative structure.
"DNA." features an opening line influenced by Ice Cube's advice that "if your first opening lines don't grab the listener, it ain't shit." Lamar described the song as containing "three types of themes" that address his recognition of the world around him, fame's impact, and his personal evolution.
"ELEMENT." incorporated Kid Capri to capture "the raw elements of hip-hop." This collaboration was "one of the first ideas I had for this record," with Lamar wanting Kid Capri's voice over unexpected production: "The initial thought was having him off like some real trappy 808s, something I've never heard from him."
"LOYALTY." featuring Rihanna fulfilled Lamar's longstanding desire to collaborate with her. "I've always wanted to work with Rihanna," he stated, praising "how she represents women to not only be themselves but express themselves." Their studio session had "great vibes," with Lamar noting, "She's a vibe itself."
"LOVE." emerged from studio sessions with Zacari (referred to as "Zach" in the interview), whom Lamar described as "an amazing talent." The track captured the feeling of "euphoria" and allowed Lamar to explore romantic relationships: "The simple idea and the simple concept of love and that feeling amongst all the other madness around the album."
"XXX." featuring U2 represents "complete chaos and madness" and "organized madness." The collaboration resulted in what Lamar called "a content idea" addressing American identity.
"DUCKWORTH." concludes the album with the remarkable true story of how Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith nearly killed Lamar's father years before signing Kendrick to his label. Lamar learned about this connection "about a year after I met Top Dawg," when his father visited the studio and recognized Top Dawg from their previous encounter: "When he walked in that room and he seen that Top Dawg was this guy, they flipped."
Throughout the interview, Lamar emphasized the spiritual underpinnings of his work. "We are spiritual beings, period. And that's something I can't ever run from in music," he stated, describing himself as a "vessel" used by God: "I always felt like God used me as a vessel, period. Whether to show my flaws, whether to show my intellect, to show my pain, to show my hurt, to share my stories, to share his message."
This spiritual perspective informs his commitment to authenticity in his music, including the portrayal of imperfections: "I can't sugarcoat the reality of what's going on out here. I can't sugarcoat the reality of my imperfections."
Lamar positioned himself within hip-hop's historical tradition while asserting his place as "the greatest rapper alive." This claim emerges from cultural commitment rather than mere boasting: "I'm so passionate about hip-hop... This is culture. This is not something you just play with, get a few dollars and get out." He connects this mindset to his verse on the song "Control", emphasizing that hip-hop is a culture people "live and breathe," not something to be taken lightly.
Lamar expressed his desire to create music with lasting impact, explaining, "I like to put a lot of different things and wordplays and messages in my music because I wanted to live further than two weeks... I wanted it to live for the next 20 years."
The interview concluded with Lamar acknowledging his audience's perceptiveness in decoding his complex lyrics and messages, admitting he is often "blown away" by fans' interpretations. This relationship between artist and audience represents the fulfillment of Lamar's artistic intention to create work that demands engagement: "You have to listen to it over and over and over again to fully understand the direction and the message I put in there."
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Kendrick Lamar DAMN. Zane Lowe Interview
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Kendrick Lamar sits down with Zane Lowe to discuss his new album, DAMN., and his role as one of the most vital voices in hip-hop. Listen to Kendrick Lamar on...