Anyone who’s popped over to Kendrick Lamar’s Instagram account to find it completely blank will know the DAMN rapper isn’t a fan of social media. Following the release of his much-anticipated album Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers, Lamar has opened up about stepping away from social media.
In a new interview with Citizen Magazine, Lamar said, “If I feel I have to remove myself, I just remove myself.” When asked why, he responded: “Because I’m so invested in who I am outside of being famous, sometimes that’s all I know. 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.”
Lamar went on to clarify that despite his fame “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.”
Though Lamar has learned to interact with Social Media in a way that suits him, he acknowledged that not everyone is so fortunate. “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,” he said.
Lamar continued: “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 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.”
Lamar’s refusal to participate in the world of social media has in no way affected his popularity. In May he dropped Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers to huge commercial and critical acclaim. He’s currently in the midst of his world tour.
