When you know, we been hurt, been down before, nigga When my pride was low, lookin' at the world like, 'where do we go, nigga?' And we hate Popo, wanna kill us dead in the street for sure, nigga I'm at the preacher's door My knees gettin' weak and my gun might blow but we gon' be alright
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Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Born and raised in Compton, California, he embarked on his musical career as a teenager under the stage name K-Dot, releasing a mixtape that garnered local attention and led to his signing with indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). He began to gain recognition in 2010, after his first retail release, Overly Dedicated. The following year, Lamar independently released his first studio album, Section.80, which included his debut single, "HiiiPoWeR". By that time, he had amassed a large Internet following and collaborated with several artists in the hip hop industry, including The Game, Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes. His major-label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was released in 2012 by TDE, Aftermath and Interscope Records to critical success. It debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200 chart and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The record contained the top 40 singles "Swimming Pools (Drank)", "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe", and "Poetic Justice". Lamar won his first Grammy Award for "i", lead single from his critically acclaimed third album To Pimp a Butterfly (2015
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.
You can have the platinum album, but when you still feel like you haven't quite found your place in the world — it kind of gives a crazy offset
I can't change the world until I change myself first.
I’m my own individual man, that’s it. Not smoking and not drinking doesn’t put down my manhood and my coolness, you know. I’ve been cool since elementary.
In my album, the confliction of today is : how can I use my leadership ? It’s knowing what to do with it. You come from this place of negativity, of not having nothing or following the older people you look up to, and now you’re taking the lead for thousands of people around the world. That brings a…
I want to put positive vibes in my music. But actually who I am as a person is not the song. That’s who I wanna be.’
I think one of my biggest battles within myself is embracing leadership. You always grow up and you hate the term "role model." You would say, "I don't wanna be a role model. I don't want none of that." ... It's impossible to fight the title of role model. Especially when the type of music I make is…
As long as my music is real, it's no limit to how many ears I can grab.
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."
Live your life, live it right, be different, do different things."
If I told you that a flower bloomed in a dark room, would you trust it?
Love is not just a verb it's you looking in the mirror
Build your own pyramids write your own hieroglyphs
The sky is falling, the wind is calling Stand for something, or die in the morning
Everybody always gets the glorifying the street cred, but what about the cats that’s trying they best to escape the negativity, but always get swarmed back in because of the circumstances around them? Nobody never told that story…
[As] long as I feel like I got the people, they gon’ hear it and they gon’ listen so it’s gonna get me to places that I can only imagine, you know what I mean?