In a recently published New York Times article, Kendrick Lamar talked about a number of things including his Grammy nominations and his favorite music of 2015, which includes one time collaborator Future. He also shared his thoughts on President Obama, who named “How Much A Dollar Cost” his favorite song of the year.
Reflecting on his banner year, Lamar inevitably discussed his critically acclaimed album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
“This album did what I wanted it to do,” he said. “That’s not necessarily to sell tons of records—though it didn’t do bad at that either—but to actually have an impact on the people and on the culture of music.”
On his Grammy nominations: “Being acknowledged for your work is always a great accomplishment, whether it’s people in my city, kids in the street, all the way up to the Grammys.”
TPAB debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and went on to go gold. Upon its release, the album received positive reviews. NY Daily News gave the album five stars calling it an "instant classic." Since then, TPAB has been widely received and considered the most universally loved album of 2015, thanks to high rankings on several year-end lists.
This year, Kendrick Lamar leads the Grammy nominations with 11 nods. He is up for awards including album of the year for TPAB and song of the year for "Alright." He also received nominations for pop duo/group performance for "Bad Blood" with Taylor Swift and dance recording "Never Catch Me" with Flying Lotus.
On nearly besting Michael Jackson for most nominated artist in a year: “I’m still soaking that all in. Michael will forever be the greatest. I’m glad it was at 11. I would never want to even think about putting myself on the same level as Michael, simply because I haven’t put in the work that he did. It couldn’t be a better number.”
On President Obama calling “How Much A Dollar Cost” his favorite song of the year: “I found out when everyone else found out. It’s crazy. That’s one of my favorite records, too. A lot of times we forget that people in higher places are human. To hear that he liked the same kick drums and the same snares that I like, it just makes him that much more relatable as a person, rather than just a president.”
Earlier this month, President Obama made the big reveal during an interview with People.
On his favorite music of 2015: “Of course Future killed it. He smashed. Drake smashed. Future’s work ethic was crazy, his energy. This is the thing about hip-hop music and where people get it most misconstrued: It’s all hip-hop. You can’t say that just what I do is hip-hop, because hip-hop is all energies. James Brown can get on the track and mumble all day. But guess what: You felt his soul on those records.”
Lamar and Future previously collaborated with Lil Wayne for Mike WiLL Made-It’s “Buy The World.”
Read Kendrick Lamar’s New York Times interview in its entirety here.
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