Kendrick Lamar Quotes

Quotes by and about Kendrick Lamar

(Continued from his main entry on the site.)

Lamar: "You can have all the talent in the world, but if someone's working ten times harder than you he will override that talent that you were born with."

Lamar: "There are a lot of kids out there similar to me who are trying to escape certain influences and getting caught up with the ills of the world."

Lamar: "[My succes is based on] work ethic. Vision. More work ethic."

Lamar: "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."

Lamar: "When I talk to kids, I'm really listening. When I do that, we have a little bit of a bigger connection than me being Kendrick Lamar and you being a student. It's almost like we're friends. Because a friend listens."

Lamar: "We can't keep being blamed for the way we are when there were certain people before us that put us in this position and made us think the way we do. When I speak on the Ronald Regan era, I'm talking about kids coming up in the '80s whose parents were strung out on crack and had to live with their grandparents and growing up with the disability of ADHD which I feel plays a big part in us thinking the way we do and behaving the way we do today. America sometimes tends to wonder why we are less attentive, so that's something I feel I need to remind them of in some of these records. I think a lot of my generation can relate to that and hopefully for better or worse try to figure out how we can fix it."

Lamar: "I've been called a recluse. There's definitely truth in that. I like to spend time alone."

Lamar: "I don't knock other people's strategies to keep themselves relevant."

Lamar: "I think whatever pressure I feel all comes from me, from within. I always was that person who was hard on myself and challenged myself no matter what I was doing."

Lamar: "[Dr. Dre] told me all the mistakes I shouldn't make in this business, being a new artist. I'm in a position where a lot of dollars will be thrown my way, and it's up to me to maintain. One of the first things he told me was that anybody 'can get a mansion.' He said, 'You can get it. It's nothing to get. You can get it tomorrow. The best thing to do is maintain it - that's the hardest thing. Keeping it.'"

Lamar: "Kanye taught me to never to downplay your ideas. I learned to always stay as creative as possible and never have any boundaries. Those things that people called 'rants' onstage are real conversations that we had behind closed doors - about business and how when you get to a certain level people won't want to see you break through because they only see you as a rapper."

NME Magazine: "[He attributes] all he's achieved to good old fashioned 'hard work.'"

Mark Spears: "There are some people that go to after-party things and whatnot - that's not Kendrick. ... His work ethic is something I've never witnessed before."

Mark Spears: "When you work with Kendrick you literally forget how to relax. It's like we had to teach ourselves how to relax. Because now when I'm not in the studio, it feels like I'm wasting time. I'm doing something wrong."

Keith Askey: "Working with Kendrick was awesome. I was most impressed by his work ethic. He doesn't stop working. There was no ego either."

Dr. Dre [to Lamar:] "You are number one on my [ranking of this generation's rappers]. Your shit is top of my playlist all the time. Cuz you've got that shit - the way you approach it, your attention to detail and how precise you are with how you sound and the way you make your music sound and the tracks that you pick - that's an art in itself."

New York Times: "In person, Lamar is ... serene and warm."

New York Times: "In general, Lamar is unusually polite, unusually interested in other people."

Kid Cudi: "Kendrick [is] polite and really genuine."

Hollywood Reporter: "Lamar is polite and modest in person."

The Guardian: "[In person he is] quieter and gentler [than expected]. ... He keeps a low profile ... [and] carries himself like someone with nothing to prove."

Alex Denney: "[In person he is] modest [and] unassuming."

Andrew Hickey: "[He speaks in a] measured, unpretentious tone."

Ebro Darden: "[He is] naturally a shy guy - not the most vocal dude at all moments."