Journalists interview artists all the time and sometimes it can get tiresome. For the artist more than anyone. But one interview that Kendrick Lamar won’t forget anytime soon is his chat with all-round musical legend, Erykah Badu.
The pair met up for a feature for Interview Magazine with Badu asking the Compton MC who keeps him in line, what he’s trying to achieve as a musician and what his favourite cereal is among other things. It makes for a truly fascinating Q&A:
BADU: What are you trying to achieve as a musician, if anything at all?
LAMAR: Well, like I was saying, as a kid I was always fascinated knowing that I could be the best at something—like Jay-Z or Nas or B.I.G. But putting a positive light on where I come from is also important to me. When you think of Compton, it’s numb with negativity, even to this day. So the whole purpose of this first album was really to spark the idea of doing something different rather than doing a record that’s just about gang culture. That’s the ultimate thing I want to do in making music—to be able to inspire somebody else.
BADU: Is there an MC who influenced you or whose level of excellence you feel that you will never reach?
LAMAR: [laughs] That I feel I’ll never reach? I’ll have to say Jay or Eminem. Jay for sure—just off the simple fact of his longevity. That, to me, is probably one-in-a-million for rappers. A good career for a rapper is five or six years, so I think Jay still being relevant and having the skills he has—it’s really unmatched. I hope I get to that level and keep my work ethic up and strategically think of certain things. But there will probably only ever be one Jay. He’ll probably go down as the greatest to ever do it. Pac also could’ve had that, but due to his passing, we’ll never know if he’d have reached that.
BADU: So who is your asshole-checker?
LAMAR: Who is my what?
BADU: Your asshole-checker—the person in your crew or your family who let’s you know if you’re being a asshole.
LAMAR: I have two, actually. [both laugh] But the main one is a friend of mine—a lady friend who has known me since high school. She has always been someone, since day one, who has said something whenever I’m an asshole, or also if I’m doin’ something positive—but more so when I’m out of my element.
BADU: If I had to give you any piece of advice as an artist, it would be this: Get yourself an asshole-checker. Because a lot of times we don’t know. We get so used to getting everything that we want.
BADU: What’s your favorite cereal?
LAMAR: Fruity Pebbles. When people ask for my rider, they think I’m crazy: Fruity Pebbles, baked chicken, bottle of Hennessy, and some Polo socks.
