Kendrick Lamar has revealed that at one point in time, he had doubts about whether he should release his DAMN. followup, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
In his recent W Magazine cover story, the artist explained that the vulnerability and insecurities he created the album with were actually what almost caused him to shelve the record — if not for his kids and their future kids. “When I got to completion and I said, ‘I may or may not put this out; I’m not going to put this out; it’s way too much,’ I thought about my children,” K-Dot said. “I thought about when they turn 21, or they’re older in life, and when I got grandchildren, or if I’m long gone—this can be a prerequisite of how to cope. That’s the beauty of it for me.”
Lamar also opened up about the amount of honesty he put in the album, calling the experience “tough” for a private person like him. Some of his family members learned of his experiences with them only when they listened to Mr. Morale, and he had to decide whether or not to inform them ahead of time because he “didn’t want the influence,” adding, “I could have cut corners and got flashy with it and worded my words a certain way—nah, I had to be in the rawest, truest form I could possibly be in order for it to be freeing for me, in order for me to have a different outlook and the perspective on people I’m talking to. I had to reap whatever consequences came behind that, and also be compassionate and show empathy if they were hurt by it.”
Elsewhere in music, SpringHill Company will not be airing the episode of The Shop with Kanye West.
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