The musician Kendrick Lamar labelled an “inspiration”
Kendrick Lamar is one of hip-hop’s most prominent creatives. Following his recent battle with Drake, he has accumulated even more fans and is as respected as they come from a lyricist perspective. His debut major label album, Good Kid m.A.A.d City, is considered a modern-day classic, and later projects are even more esteemed.
Akin to artists such as J. Cole and Tyler, The Creator, he has managed to stay atop the rest of hip-hop due to the sheer excellence of his artistic output. Since his emergence in the early-2010s, Lamar has gone on to work with all the greats in the business and is now considered one of the best MCs of the new school.
Lamar has been around since the 2000s under the stage name K.Dot, but in 2010, Lamar released his debut mixtape, Overly Dedicated. The project garnered attention from esteemed music publications nationally. As Lamar put out solo projects, he was simultaneously making a name for himself as part of the Black Hippy collective.
In 2011, Lamar released his first official album, Section.80, which quickly made its way into the hands of music mogul Dr Dre. Having already laid the groundwork and developed a cult following, the rapper was swiftly presented with a record deal by Dr Dre and soon became an official Aftermath Entertainment roster artist.
This is when Lamar got the chance to work with one of his biggest musical idols, Pharrell Williams. The two first met in 2011 when Pharrell offered to work with Lamar on his Section.80 project.
In a behind-the-scenes video released by Top Dawg Entertainment, fans can watch the pair in a conversation during which Pharrell tells K.Dot, “Yo, your mixtape is crazy! I was just telling your manager we was banging that shit in Japan! I love all that jazz shit you have in your music.”
The respect seemed mutual, and although Williams didn’t directly work on Section.80, he did appear on the credits of Lamar’s sophomore project. The Virginia native produced the track ‘Good Kid’ and even provided vocals.
In an interview on Gangsta Grillz Radio, Lamar explained how Pharrell impacted him early in his career, detailing, “Pharrell has always been…how can I say this, an inspiration. Like I said before, prior to Good Kid m.A.A.d City coming out, he gave me a lot of inspiration just being confident in putting out a record like that. ‘Cause there hasn’t been a concept album in a while with skits. He is just one of the dudes who inspired me creatively to do what I want the same way I did on my first album.”
Pharrell also produced ‘Mr Morale’, which was included on Lamar’s acclaimed 2022 album Mr Morales And The Big Steppers.