Kendrick Lamar and Rick Rubin Are Working Together
By Sam Sodomsky.
Kendrick Lamar and Rick Rubin recently sat down to talk together at Rubin’s Shangri La Studios in Malibu for a new cover story in GQ Style. The two had never met prior to the interview, but they hit it off so well that they began collaborating on music immediately following the chat. Kendrick is currently working on the follow-up to this year’s untitled. unmastered., which collected recordings from the To Pimp a Butterfly sessions. In the story, they also discuss Kendrick’s influences (“I got my clarity just studying Eminem when I was a kid”), his meditation habits, the making of “Alright,” and where he plans to go next. Below, see excerpts from the interview and watch a 50-minute conversation between the two.
Regarding his next album, Kendrick tells Rubin:
I have ideas and I have a certain approach. But I wanna see what it manifests. I wanna put all the paint on the wall and see where that goes. Maybe you can help me with that.
Kendrick also discussed his plans to continue evolving his sound with each record.
It’ll always have some type of DNA in my music. But 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. And my ability to express and still make the connection wherever I go, that is my high point. That’s something I pride myself off of.
Read “Kendrick Lamar’s ‘untitled 06’ Collaborators Explain Its Unlikely Origin—And Future” on the Pitch.
Watch Kendrick perform “A.D.H.D” at Pitchfork Music Festival 2012:
This story originally appeared on Pitchfork.
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