Kendrick Lamar opens up about “traumatizing” childhood
Kendrick Lamar rarely speaks about his childhood in casual conversations. Instead, fans learn about him, his experiences and tribulations through his music. However, he has now opened up about his early years in Compton and admitted that aspects of it were quite “traumatizing”.
As an adolescent growing up in the famous Californian district, Lamar was exposed to a lot and was akin to many from his neighbourhood. The lyricist had many life-changing experiences that shaped him. Lamar could have ended up on a different path with a one-way ticket to prison or worse.
However, he successfully managed to navigate the so-called mad city he details in his sophomore project, Good Kid, m.A.A.d City. Still, that doesn’t mean that life is suddenly rosy. In a recent interview with SZA for Harper’s Bazaar, he explained how he has changed as a person since he was a child and highlighted what helped him get through this challenging period.
Growth and change were among the topics that popped up throughout their illuminating exchange. Furthermore, during their in-depth discussion, SZA asked Lamar, “What do you feel like your top three contributing factors to self-transformation in the last few years have been?”
The emcee responded by speaking about the power of introspection and being honest, stating, “The power of honesty and being honest with myself, perspective about the person sitting across from me, and learning that vulnerability is not a weakness. That last one probably been one I’m still developing.”
As many have seen, over the years, Kendrick has lots of different purposes in life. In 2015 he aimed to remedy gang culture in Compton as he designed a special edition of the Ventilator shoe model in a bid to unite the Crips and Bloods with their respective colours. He expressed this higher purpose to SZA, detailing, “I feel my work in music is just the start. I don’t think it’s my end goal. I know it’s not my end goal. Music is just a vessel to get me there.”
Concerning the hardest aspects of being honest in music and learning to be vulnerable in his lyrics he admitted he finds certain elements of it tricky. When asked to reveal the reasonings behind his mindset by SZA, Lamar highlighted how he doesn’t like reflecting on his childhood.
He explained, “We talk about our childhood. I hate going back to that. It’s traumatizing. My pops, he was tough. He was militant, as far as every day you are expected to go to work, take care of your family, get back up to do it all over again. Being-a-man type shit, right? And he never showed no weakness.”
Recalling his father’s demeanour, he continued, “He never showed any emotion that could garner a one-up from the person sitting across from him. And I learned to experience that, not knowing I had them same traits, right?”
However, the Section.80 creator emphasised that he can’t operate authentically in music without being honest and vulnerable, concluding, “But for what I do, there is certainly no growth without vulnerability. If I understood the power of vulnerability earlier, I could have had more depth and more reach to the guys that was around me in the neighbourhood coming up.”