At Kendrick Lamar’s recent pop-up show in Brooklyn, he talked to XXL about President Obama’s presidency and what it meant to hip-hop.
Preisdent Obama has long offered rappers a chance to go to the White House and talk social issues with him and his staff. Obama’s opened his doors to Chance the Rapper, Pusha T, Rick Ross, J. Cole, Common and tons of others from the hip-hop world, including Kendrick himself.
“I think the world, not just hip-hop owes him,” Kendrick said. “We all have to give him his credit due for even allowing us into the building. We would probably never get inside that house ever again,” he notes with Donald Trump starting his presidency in a month.
“Think about it like that. Rick Ross, Cole, Nicki Minaj, he really went for us to come experience it,” he continued. “This is something our grandparents always wanted to see, never thought in a million years, but [we can] pass it down to our generation to say, ‘Alright, I’m in here and I’m finna use my power to let ya’ll see how this thing works and I’mma drop some knowledge on y’all that a man can’t drop on everybody else ’cause y’all have the most influence.’
“You look at him as such a high figure in the world, but for him to embrace you and have a connection with you further than just being the President and make you feel like an actual friend,” he said. “That’s probably the best moment and one of his best characteristics. I meet a lot of people in high places and sometimes they get so detached from the world and from the people, they don’t even know how to interact with you. Basically watching him interact with my mother, my little niece, myself as a human, I think that’s the greatest thing.”
Trump gets inaugurated in exactly one month, so let’s appreciate the hell out Obama as president even more while we can.
