The one thing that would make Kendrick Lamar quit rapping
Kendrick Lamar is at the top of the music game, and there is no particular sense that he intends to slow down any time soon. But, years ago, he did mention something that might make him consider calling it a day.
Kendrick was doing a Q&A session with fans on Facebook in 2014, when one user brought up a photo they’d recently seen. The image showed Kendrick with Nas, and it made this person wonder if they were working together on a project. “I’ve seen a photo with you and Nas,” this person wrote. “Are you about to make a collab? Or maybe a full album haha? By the way it would be amazing!”
A fair point. It likely would be amazing, but Kendrick was quick to lower expectations. It wasn’t a straightforward denial, but it essentially served the same purpose. “Lol,” Kendrick replied. “I’ll quit rapping after that project.”
This was a response not to be taken especially seriously, but it did demonstrate Kendrick’s respect for his hip-hop elder. The implication is that such a collaboration would mark the pinnacle of his rap career, which, at that point in time, possibly would have been true.
Kendrick also references Nas in ‘Wacced Out Murals,’ the first song on his latest album GNX. The track offers Kendrick’s response to what he perceived to be a lack of support from other artists when it was announced that he would be doing the Super Bowl halftime show in 2025. But the song also allowed him to shout out one of the artists he felt had supported him: Nas.
“Won the Super Bowl and Nas the only one congratulate me,” Kendrick raps on ‘Wacced Out Murals,’ referring to an Instagram story that Nas posted following the news of Kendrick’s Super Bowl show. “Congratulations to my brotha,” Nas wrote. “Can’t wait to watch the party die!”
Clearly Kendrick and Nas respect each other a huge amount, though that collab has not yet come to pass. But Nas isn’t against the idea, as he mentioned to Complex recently, while he was helping to promote a Mass Appeal and Marvel joint comic book project.
“Oh, man,” Nas said, speaking about the possibility of collaborating with Kendrick. “It’s just all about the artist. When you get the chance to record and work together, for me it should feel really natural. That would be great, I’d love to work with him.”
But while that response certainly leaves open the possibility, fans are likely going to have to be patient. “But I feel like it would have to be smooth the way it connects,” he cautioned. “Anything I do with anybody, especially someone like [Kendrick], I just want to take my time with it. So we’ll see. Hopefully.”