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Kendrick Lamar Talks Prince, Being Abducted At Six with Howard Stern

blame it on Meka December 12, 2017

Of all the people who have interviewed Kendrick Lamar, this may be the most… unexpected person to do so, perhaps?

Howard Stern sat down with K. Dot for a lengthy sit-down on Stern’s SiriusXM show. Alongside the usual subjects (growing up in the hood and not joining a gang, the story between Kendrick’s father and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith that came to life in “DUCKWORTH.,” and the like), Kendrick reveals that he and the late Prince planned to collaborate but were unable to due to scheduling conflicts. He also speaks on wanting to collaborate with Anita Baker (who, coincidentally, is one of André 3000’s biggest inspirations), and a random story in which Kendrick saw an alien as a kid (no, seriously).

On possibly getting snatched up by a UFO when he was six

“I probably shouldn’t even be talking about it,” he says. “I’m going to stand my ground to this. Nobody believed me then and nobody believes me now.”

On how he ended up on stage with Prince

“I played him a record called ‘Complexion (A Zulu Love)’ [off 2015’s To Pimp A butterfly] — this just one of my favorite moments — and he liked the record. It was at his estate. It’s one of those things where it was so much going on in the moment, man. I did a show that day with him on stage. I didn’t even know I was coming out on stage. Studio was next door where I just played him a song. We runnin’ back and forth. It was just one of them things where it was a lot.”

On “Alright” being the Black Lives Matter anthem

“This gave people hope. Not just in my community, but around the world. When I see people in the streets and they’re singing the song and they’re feeling good about it — not from a violent standpoint but from a peaceful standpoint — with this being the anchor for it, this is probably one of my greatest songs written for sure.”