Kendrick Lamar Grapples with Fame, Wants Rihanna to Play Sherane
Kendrick Lamar put the West Coast back on the map with his critically-acclaimed debut good kid, m.A.A.d city. As 2012 comes to a close, the “Swimming Pools” MC sits down with GQ.com to discuss his fear of fame, which rappers he’d like to go toe-to-toe with lyrically, and who would play Sherane in a movie on his life.
On the downside of fame: “The worst part of success is, to me, adapting to it. It’s scary. André 3000 said, ‘I hated all the attention, so I ran from it.’ I think about that. The last six months, I’ve been going crazy, thinking, ‘Is it supposed to be like this?’ Because when the cameras are on and the people are watching, that can make a person want to shut down from everything and everybody.”
On Dr. Dre’s advice: “He told me all the mistakes I shouldn’t make in this business, being a new artist. I’m in a position where a lot of dollars will be thrown my way, and it’s up to me to maintain. One of the first things he told me was that anybody ‘can get a mansion.’ He said, ‘You can get it. It’s nothing to get. You can get it tomorrow. The best thing to do is maintain it—that’s the hardest thing. Keeping it.'”
On who he would like to go toe-to-toe with: “Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem, Rakim, Kurupt… I’m on their toes, for sure. I remember when I was a young buck listening to them, I was thirteen or fourteen going back to the albums and how crazy they were. They just have a little more experience than me. I wouldn’t get in the studio with them and be nervous, I’ll put it to you that way. I wouldn’t be nervous.”
On who would play Sherane, who he raps about on the opening track of good kid, m.A.A.d city: “I would love to see Rihanna in my movie.”
On what’s next for him: “Visuals… I wouldn’t call it a short film but… that should be a hint.”
Read the rest of the interview on GQ.com.