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Kendrick Lamar Covers Variety

blame it on Shake November 21, 2017

Kendrick Lamar is back on the front page.

Fresh off covering Forbes, the Compton rapper lands the cover story for Variety’s inaugural Hitmakers issue.

On top of breaking down the creative process behind DAMN. and TPAB, Kendrick speaks on how he “became the defining hip-hop artist of his generation,” artistic growth, the political climate of Amerikkka, and more.

PHOTO: PETER YANG (VARIETY)

“For me, prior to me recording, it’s 70% me just formulating ideas in my mind and 30% just collecting sounds and making sounds, prior to me actually getting in the studio,” Kendrick says. “Then it’s about figuring out which angle I’m going to attack it from and how the listener is going to perceive it. These are the ideas you’re constantly, constantly thinking about, and it’s not really about going to instrumentals and bringing on beats [from producers], because I feel my greatest knack is for taking cohesive ideas and putting them on wax. So it starts with me first, with my thoughts.”

Peep the ‘uncovered’ interview below and head to Variety to read the entire cover story with Andrew Barker.