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
Am I the only one who measures time using songs? “Oh it only took me 4 songs to get here! that’s not to long!
I be off the slave ships, building pyramids, writing my own hieroglyphs
The opposite of love? Vice. Temptation. The negative influences that we have. The bad energy that comes around us and makes us do certain things. To me, it's always been a war between the two.
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, whether it was passing third grade or playing basketball.
Kids don't see hate in their eyes. They see the world, and living in it to the best of their abilities. And that's where love comes from for me.
Consequences from evil will make your past haunt you
I am a sinner....who's probably gonna sin again...Lord forgive me!
I'm standing on a field full of landmines doing the moonwalk hoping i blow up in time
I cut off my ears before i hear your advice and vice versa
But what love got to do with it when you don't love yourself ?
I'd rather not live like there isn't a God Then die and find out there really is Think about it
The best way to describe myself would be...unpredictable.
We all seem to stumble, planning our own demise, Getting the big picture, and making it wallet-sized.
You can't have people listen to you unless you come to their world and then bring them to yours.
It's the beauty in her, But when the makeup occur, I don't see it, All i see is a blur
The message I'm sending to myself - I can't change the world until I change myself first.
Don't you know your imperfections is a wonderful blessing, from heaven is where you got it from
What separated me from all my homeboys is the fact that I didn't get caught inside the reality. I was always dreaming about doing something else or going somewhere else.
Look inside my soul and you can find gold and maybe get rich. Look inside of your soul and you can find out it never exists...
Once I looked in the mirror and decided this is who I am, and I'm not scared of who I am, and I'm not scared that I can't be like you, and I'm good with just doing me, that's when I found myself, as a man.
Everybody looking at you crazy, What you gon' do? Lift up your head and keep moving, Or let the paranoia haunt you?
My rights, my wrongs, I write ‘til I’m right with God.
We look so much on color that we forget about the soul.
Just let me be me, That's the only way I know.
The one in front of the gun lives forever
My mind is living on cloud 9 and this 9 is never on vacation.
Although the butterfly and the caterpillar are completely different, they are one and the same.
And I'm not sure why I'm infatuated with death, My imagination is surely an aggravation of threats... Maybe cause I'm a dreamer, and sleep is the cousin of death, Really stuck in the scheme of wondering when I'mma rest.
We're all human at the end of the day, making mistakes. But learn from them is the key.
We all get distracted, the question is, would you bounce back or bounce backwards?
Tell me how I stay positive When they never see good in me
I was a black sheep, but now I'm just a goat
We hurt people that love us, love people that hurt us
Life Will Put Many Red Lights In Front Of You, But Sometimes We Must Push On The Gas And Trust God
If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?
So next time you feel like your world is about to end, I hope you studied because He's testing your faith again.
The sky is falling, the wind is calling Stand for something, or die in the morning
Build your own pyramids, write your own hieroglyphs.
Tupac, Biggie, Jay. Your usual suspects. These were the people that was played in my household.
When I ask OGs why there's so much division in the streets, nobody never really knows. But you know one thing that everybody always mention? A woman.
In all my days of schooling, from preschool all the way up to 12th grade, there was not one white person in my class. Literally zero.
My pops and my mom started playing Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers and all these people, but at the same time, they always had Snoop on right behind it in the same mix.
My folks ain't graduated from high school or nothing like that, so we always had to struggle in the family - and I come from a big family.
I knew I was blessed with a gift of having both parents.
I'm putting out this free music, constantly putting it out.
I'm just writing, writing, writing. I keep these tablets on me until I'm inspired to go back in and make the music. I never take a break from my pen, because I pride myself on that.
People are used to music that justifies street culture but something that's not touched on is why these kids act the way they act, live the way they live.
I always felt like there was a certain standard of music that I had to do from the beginning, even when I didn't have the recognition that I have now.
I don't really believe in the type of pressure that people are wanting to put on the type of music that I make.
The worst part of success is, to me, adapting to it. It's scary.
Before finding music, I didn't have too many aspirations. I wanted to hang out, make a little money from whatever I had to do.
I had to come from something, come from a place that was negative and positive but the majority of it is a negative place.
I used to consider the listener. But now I'm in a space where, if I'm not inspired, I can't really do the music. I can't feel it.
Black and brown pride have been taught in my household for a long time.
I'm Machiavelli's offspring, I'm the king of New York, king of the coast, one hand, I juggle them both.
My mom's one of 13 siblings, and they all got six kids, and till I was 13 everybody was in Compton.
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.
Being acknowledged for your work is always a great accomplishment, whether it's people in my city, kids in the street, all the way up to the Grammys.
I'm selfish.
The way people look at me these days - that's the same way I looked at President Obama before I met him. We tend to forget that people who've attained a certain position are human.
You can have the platinum album. But, you know, when you still feel like you haven't quite found your place in the world, it kind of gives a crazy offset.
People gonna be they own individuals and have they own worlds and I can't knock it.
You don't hear no artists from Compton showing vulnerability.
As long as my music is real, it's no limit to how many ears I can grab.
We're all put on this earth to walk in His image, the Master.
Groups break up because they never got across what they wanted to do personally, and they have creative differences, and egos start to clash.
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.
I got a greater purpose. God put something in my heart to get across, and that's what I'm going to focus on, using my voice as an instrument and doing what needs to be done.
Whenever I make music, it reflects where I'm at mentally.
I always was that person who was hard on myself and challenged myself no matter what I was doing, whether it was passing third grade or playing basketball.
Eventually you get to this point where you understand what you want to do and get across and sound like.
I think that's why I put my energy into making music. That's how I get my thoughts out, instead of being crazy all the time.
My passion is bringing storylines around and constructing a full body of work rather than just a 16-bar verse.
As a kid from Compton, you can get all the success in the world and still question your worth.
God to me is love.
I don't vote. I don't do no voting.
I can't help the way you was born if you was gay.
Since day one, since the first time I touched the pen, I wanted to be the best at what I do.
Me, as a person, I grow. I'm like a chameleon. You know? That is a gift and a curse for me. But more so a gift, because it never puts me in a box.
I'm sticking to the script, I'm putting that organic feeling back in the game.
When I'm in the studio, I'm looking for creativity I haven't matched yet, a feeling I haven't felt. It's a high.
I always tell people that if I move anywhere it would be Toronto.
I'm constantly thinking.
I like to let things breathe.
I've been called a recluse. There's definitely truth in that. I like to spend time alone.
It's a great, great experience to finally get the reception that you know you rightfully deserve.
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.
I'm only as good as my last word, my last hook, my last bridge.
I think my vice would be outdoing myself.
It's easy to forget who you are.
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.
When everybody looks at our generation of kids, they always call us the misfits - you know, like we just don't give a damn.
My word will never be as strong as God's word. All I am is just a vessel, doing His work.
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.
I don't want to be something that just comes and goes.
People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they at. Do your thing - continue to rock it - because obviously, God wants you here.
My moms always told me, 'How long you gonna play the victim?' I can say I'm mad and I hate everything, but nothing really changes until I change myself.
I learned, when I look in the mirror and tell my story, that I should be myself and not peep whatever everybody is doing.
If I'm gonna tell a real story, I'm gonna start with my name.
I always thought money was something just to make me happy. But I've learned that I feel better being able to help my folks, 'cause we never had nothing. So just to see them excited about my career is more of a blessing than me actually having it for myself.
My parents were fairly young in the city of Compton. So the things that they played - you know, that was the hip crowd. So I was being exposed to all these ideas, from Big Daddy Kane to Eazy-E to the Bay Area - Too Short, E-40 - you know, back to Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers.
I've got an extra-specific story about Dr. Dre. I saw him when I was 9 years old in Compton - him and Tupac. They were shooting the second 'California Love' video. My pops had seen him and ran back to the house and got me, put me on his neck, and we stood there watching Dre and Pac in a Bentley.
