Kendrick Lamar Quotes & Sayings

It's a great, great experience to finally get the reception that you know you rightfully deserve. — Kendrick Lamar

I be off the slave ships, building pyramids, writing my own hieroglyphs — Kendrick Lamar

We all get distracted, the question is, would you bounce back or bounce backwards? — Kendrick Lamar

A dollar might turn to a million and we all rich that's just how i feel — Kendrick Lamar

If I'm gonna tell a real story, I'm gonna start with my name. — Kendrick Lamar

Eventually you get to this point where you understand what you want to do and get across and sound like. — Kendrick Lamar

Consequences from evil will make your past haunt you — Kendrick Lamar

I want you to recognize that I'm a proud monkey. — Kendrick Lamar

I learned, when I look in the mirror and tell my story, that I should be myself and not peep whatever everybody is doing. — Kendrick Lamar

Look inside my soul and you can find gold and maybe get rich.
Look inside of your soul and you can find out it never exists ... — Kendrick Lamar

Just let me be me, That's the only way I know. — Kendrick Lamar

I stole a Bible, is that a sin? — Kendrick Lamar

I don't really believe in the type of pressure that people are wanting to put on the type of music that I make. — Kendrick Lamar

My pops and my mom started playing Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers and all these people, but at the same time, they always had Snoop on right behind it in the same mix. — Kendrick Lamar

I was a black sheep, but now I'm just a goat — Kendrick Lamar

I live this life at a pace that anyone can go.
Know your place, and dedicate your role
... To the faith that you'll die alone — Kendrick Lamar

I was raised inside the gang culture. — Kendrick Lamar

What is love? Love to me is god. — Kendrick Lamar

While you have people who are actually fronting for your needs and wants, sometimes your needs and wants may not be right for you. The people around you are just trying to keep their jobs. — Kendrick Lamar

My mom's one of 13 siblings, and they all got six kids, and till I was 13 everybody was in Compton. — Kendrick Lamar

The one in front of the gun lives forever — Kendrick Lamar

The sky is falling, the wind is calling
Stand for something, or die in the morning — Kendrick Lamar

Tell me how I stay positive
When they never see good in me — Kendrick Lamar

I'm a person of my own opinions, that's how I was raised. I speak what I feel. A lot of people feel the same way but they're scared to talk. They're really scared of the truth - they only want half of the truth. I've been living like that - forever in fear - but I know what to say and how to say it now. I ain't scared of myself. Y'all may be scared; I'm not scared. — Kendrick Lamar

God to me is love. — Kendrick Lamar

Life Will Put Many Red Lights In Front Of You, But Sometimes We Must Push On The Gas And Trust God — Kendrick Lamar

As long as my music is real, it's no limit to how many ears I can grab. — Kendrick Lamar

Let bygones be bygones ... but where I'm from,
We buy guns and more guns, to give to the young. — Kendrick Lamar

Believe in God, it's only one God. F*** all that religion s***. Believe in one God, and do right. Try your best to do right, we ain't perfect. Just do that and everything will be straight, — Kendrick Lamar

I see conflict. But the conflict is what makes it relatable. I'm conflicted; you're conflicted. I'm not perfect - nobody is. I'm just blessed to be able to express my conflict through song. — Kendrick Lamar

So next time you feel like your world is about to end, I hope you studied because He's testing your faith again. — Kendrick Lamar

Bitch don't kill my vibe. — Kendrick Lamar

From the moment I started writing raps, I was always aware of the pressure. I always wanted to live up to how huge Snoop got, how huge Dre got, how huge Pac got. I was always aware. — Kendrick Lamar

You can't change where you from. You can't take a person out of their zone and expect them to be somebody else now that they in the record industry. It's gonna take years. Years of travelling. Years of meeting people. Years of seeing the world. — Kendrick Lamar

I'm constantly thinking. — Kendrick Lamar

I like to let things breathe. — Kendrick Lamar

People are used to music that justifies street culture but something that's not touched on is why these kids act the way they act, live the way they live. — Kendrick Lamar

I think my vice would be outdoing myself. — Kendrick Lamar

Don't you know your imperfections is a wonderful blessing, from heaven is where you got it from — Kendrick Lamar

I'm sticking to the script, I'm putting that organic feeling back in the game. — Kendrick Lamar

How am I influencing so many people on this stage rather than influencing the ones that I have back home? — Kendrick Lamar

I'm usually homeboys with the same ni**as I'm rhyming wit/But this is hip-hop and them ni**as should know what time it is/And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale/Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake/Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller/I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you ni**as/Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you ni**as/They dont wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you ni**as — Kendrick Lamar

The limit is the sky, and I live on cloud. And I recognize my nemesis gon try, to put a finish in my shine. But pussy we'll hurt you, life in the power circle. — Kendrick Lamar

I cut off my ears before i hear your advice and vice versa — Kendrick Lamar

It's the beauty in her, But when the makeup occur, I don't see it, All i see is a blur — Kendrick Lamar

I don't sugarcoat it you'd die from diabetes if these other niggas wrote it — Kendrick Lamar

The best thing is to always keep honest people around, because when you have a bunch of yes men around that know that you're making a mistake but let you go on with it, that's when it ruins your mind state as an artist. — Kendrick Lamar

A lot of incredible rap albums over the past couple of decades have deserved Album of the Year. To Pimp a Butterfly is an extension of those albums. — Kendrick Lamar

I've got an extra-specific story about Dr. Dre. I saw him when I was 9 years old in Compton - him and Tupac. They were shooting the second 'California Love' video. My pops had seen him and ran back to the house and got me, put me on his neck, and we stood there watching Dre and Pac in a Bentley. — Kendrick Lamar

I penetrate the hearts of good kids and criminals — Kendrick Lamar

I had to come from something, come from a place that was negative and positive but the majority of it is a negative place. — Kendrick Lamar

Brother Kendrick Lamar: he's not a rapper, he's a writer, he's an author. And if you read between the lines, we'll learn how to love one another. But you can't do that, I said you can't do that, without loving yourself first. — Kendrick Lamar

It's easy to forget who you are. — Kendrick Lamar

My lyrics say I have morals, I have confidence, I have weaknesses, I have strong points, that I am a human being. — Kendrick Lamar

Sonnymoon and Quadrants are a couple of bands that really inspire me in terms of the melodics of things and certain tones and just what feels good. It takes me back to the type of music that I grew up on in my household. We played a lot of gangsta rap, but we also played a lot of oldies, and I think that mix is part of what inspires my sound. — Kendrick Lamar

I'm Machiavelli's offspring, I'm the king of New York, king of the coast, one hand, I juggle them both. — Kendrick Lamar

The opposite of love? Vice. Temptation. The negative influences that we have. The bad energy that comes around us and makes us do certain things. To me, it's always been a war between the two. — Kendrick Lamar

I always thought money was something just to make me happy. But I've learned that I feel better being able to help my folks, 'cause we never had nothing. So just to see them excited about my career is more of a blessing than me actually having it for myself. — Kendrick Lamar

My folks ain't graduated from high school or nothing like that, so we always had to struggle in the family - and I come from a big family. — Kendrick Lamar

I think my worst problem is actually living in the moment and understanding everything that's going on. I feel like I'm in my own bubble. — Kendrick Lamar

Found myself screaming in a hotel room. I didn't want to self-destruct. — Kendrick Lamar

It's that find some inspiration, it's that crack the installation, it's that quantum jump and that fist pump and that bomb detonation... — Kendrick Lamar

I'm standing on a field full of landmines doing the moonwalk hoping i blow up in time — Kendrick Lamar

You really can't categorize my music, it's human music. — Kendrick Lamar

I don't talk about these things if I haven't lived them, and I've hurt people in my life. It's something I still have to think about when I sleep at night. — Kendrick Lamar

You don't hear no artists from Compton showing vulnerability. — Kendrick Lamar

There's a lot of other artists doing things outside of that depth that I enjoy - that music that I can actually have fun to, and not be in depth and think about, then I appreciate that. — Kendrick Lamar

The worst part of success is, to me, adapting to it. It's scary. — Kendrick Lamar

Being able to tell one from start to finish, and making that puzzle come together at the end. That's the art for me. — Kendrick Lamar

I don't vote. I don't do no voting. — Kendrick Lamar

The ultimate thing I want to do in making music is to be able to inspire somebody else. — Kendrick Lamar

The thing about hip-hop is they always want to classify you as one particular artist, but hip-hop is about going outside the box and expressing yourself however you want to. — Kendrick Lamar

We all seem to stumble, planning our own demise,
Getting the big picture, and making it wallet-sized. — Kendrick Lamar

What separated me from all my homeboys is the fact that I didn't get caught inside the reality. I was always dreaming about doing something else or going somewhere else. — Kendrick Lamar

The Universe energy doesn't lie. — Kendrick Lamar

We hurt people that love us, love people that hurt us — Kendrick Lamar

When you go on your Twitter or look down your Timeline and it's all great positivity - I love that. But at the same time, it can really divert you from what your purpose is or what you're trying to do. And I've seen artists get caught up in that. — Kendrick Lamar

When I go into the studio - it [words] has to sound the way I heard it in my head. So that's probably one of the biggest things that separates me when I'm working in the studio - just how I hear certain things. — Kendrick Lamar

I probably spent more time listening to albums than writing songs. But I think that gave me all the tricks in terms of wordplay, from how I pronounced my words to the actual delivery. — Kendrick Lamar

Sometimes you have the trends that's not that cool. You may have certain artists portraying these trends and don't really have that lifestyle, and then it gives off the wrong thing. And it becomes kinda corny after awhile. It's really about keeping hip-hop original and pushing away the corniness in it. — Kendrick Lamar

I always felt like there was a certain standard of music that I had to do from the beginning, even when I didn't have the recognition that I have now. — Kendrick Lamar

It's deep-rooted, the music of being young and dumb,
It's never muted, in fact, it's much louder where I'm from. — Kendrick Lamar

Everybody looking at you crazy,
What you gon' do?
Lift up your head and keep moving,
Or let the paranoia haunt you? — Kendrick Lamar

Hip-hop and being a pro athlete go hand in hand. When they come together, it's a win, not just for your business brand but also for culture. — Kendrick Lamar

People gonna be they own individuals and have they own worlds and I can't knock it. — Kendrick Lamar

At first, I was scared to show fear because you can never be sure how people will perceive you. But I dared myself to do that, to stand out. Now I'll talk about being beaten up or robbed or making a stupid decision because of a girl or whatever. — Kendrick Lamar

God to me is love. It's the ruler of all things, whether it's with a person or with music or with your TV. I feel like it's this energy. God is energy, love is energy. — Kendrick Lamar

I always tell people that if I move anywhere it would be Toronto. — Kendrick Lamar

Hip-hop is not the problem, our reality is the problem. — Kendrick Lamar

You grow up inside these neighborhoods and these communities, and you have friends, friends that you love, friends that you grew up with since elementary. And you have their trust, and you have their loyalty. So it brings influence. So no matter how much of a leader I thought I was, I was always under the influence, period. — Kendrick Lamar

I can't help the way you was born if you was gay. — Kendrick Lamar

And I'm not sure why I'm infatuated with death,
My imagination is surely an aggravation of threats ...
Maybe cause I'm a dreamer, and sleep is the cousin of death,
Really stuck in the scheme of wondering when I'mma rest. — Kendrick Lamar

I am a sinner ... who's probably gonna sin again ... Lord forgive me! — Kendrick Lamar

Once I looked in the mirror and decided this is who I am, and I'm not scared of who I am, and I'm not scared that I can't be like you, and I'm good with just doing me, that's when I found myself, as a man. — Kendrick Lamar

I can say is if anyone gets a chance to work with [Dr.]Dre, it's a moment you will always take with you throughout your career. And as of right now, the Compton album is the only thing to talk about. — Kendrick Lamar

The message I'm sending to myself - I can't change the world until I change myself first. — Kendrick Lamar

Groups break up because they never got across what they wanted to do personally, and they have creative differences, and egos start to clash. — Kendrick Lamar

The moment I made that decision to get in the studio and actually work and study the culture of hip-hop, then everything just started to open up and blossom for me. — Kendrick Lamar

Every time I write these words they become a taboo,
Making sure my punctuation curve, every letter here's true,
Living my life in the margin, and that metaphor was proof. — Kendrick Lamar

My whole thing is to inspire, to better people, to better myself forever in this thing that we call rap, this thing that we call hip hop. — Kendrick Lamar