Kendrick Lamar Says His Children 'Removed My Ego' and Taught Him 'Unconditional Love'

Renell Medrano/W Magazine Kendrick Lamar

For Kendrick Lamar, becoming a father was a turning point in the way he views the world.

In a cover story interview with W Magazine, the "Humble" rapper opened up about the making of his most recent album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, and the impact that his children had on the record.

"A lot of times, we play with the idea and don't necessarily know if it's real, until you feel it," Lamar, 35, told the outlet of feeling transformed by his two kids — a daughter he reportedly welcomed in July 2019 with fiancée Whitney Alford and an infant, whom the couple revealed in the album's cover art and have yet to speak publicly about.

Renell Medrano/W Magazine Kendrick Lamar

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He continued, "My children allowed me, in their development as human beings beginning to walk and talk, to remove my ego, to know that my children, too, will have their own independence."

This is what ultimately helped him understand the true meaning of unconditional love.

"Will I allow them to be themselves? Will I allow them to journey off in the world and experience life for what they know of? That's love, to me," he said. "And when I look at that, I try to apply it with how I express myself, how I look at my career, and how I meet other individuals. Am I allowing them to be themselves without any judgment? My children have taught me that."

The rapper also said that when he was having doubts about the record, it was his children that gave him the final push — knowing that it could be something that benefits them in the future.

"When I got to completion and I said, 'I may or may not put this out; I'm not going to put this out; it's way too much,' I thought about my children," he said. "I thought about when they turn 21, or they're older in life, and when I got grandchildren, or if I'm long gone — this can be a prerequisite of how to cope. That's the beauty of it for me."

Renell Medrano/W Magazine Kendrick Lamar

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The "Die Hard" rapper released Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers in May, his first release after taking a five-year music hiatus.

Lamar has also managed to keep his personal life private, but in a 2014 New York Times Magazine profile, the musician opened up about Alford, saying, "She's been here since day one."

"Everybody that's been around me has been around since day one and I can't change that. I don't change for nobody," Lamar added. "People that have been by your side – you're supposed to honor that."