Kendrick Lamar says he doesn't want to be called the greatest

Kendrick Lamar recently sat down to talk about the attention success has brought him and how he chooses to respond to it.

Kendrick Lamar recently sat down with Citizen Magazine to talk about the attention his success in music has brought him, which has been further heightened by the release of his most recent album Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers.

Kendrick talks about his trajectory through fame and the privacy he values below:

Because I’m so invested in who I am outside of being famous, sometimes that’s all I know,” he pauses mid- thought. “I’ve always been a person that really didn’t dive too headfirst into wanting and needing attention. I mean, we all love attention, but for me, I don’t necessarily adore it. I use it when I want to communicate something,” he explains. “The person that people see now is the person that I’ve always been. For me, the privacy thing has never been an issue that I had to carry out with full intention. It’s just who I am. If I feel I have to remove myself, I just remove myself. I won’t complain about it. I won’t cause a big blow-up or a big stir and let the world know that the walls are closing in. Being able to be aware [of myself emotionally] and be able to eventually grow— emotionally mature to that level, it may take more time than the next man. That’s why I never point fingers when artists are not capable of upholding themselves in that type of stressful position because some people grow different and it takes time especially…when who they are and who they want to be sometimes gets distorted. For me, it’s all about being aware of how I’m feeling. If it is too much, let me remove myself for a couple of years.”

Kendrick further elaborated on his expectations going into music and how he’s balanced it throughout his career.

“You just got to be real and be true to yourself about what you want. Do you want that attention? Do you want that type of notoriety? Do you want that type of headache? Can you deal with it? For me, I knew as an artist when I signed up for it, this is what comes with it. And me being a realist and holding myself accountable to that, it never really frustrated me when things got a little bit out of control because ultimately, I knew that I would be able to balance it because of who I am.”

Listen to Mr. Morale on all streaming platforms.