Kendrick Lamar Covers XXL

kendricklamar4Yes, it’s Kendrick Lamar on the cover of XXL’s Winter 2015 issue. The issue picks up where K. Dot left off, a part two in which the TDE star MC writes his own words up once again, discussing life since dropping his celebrated but controversial sophomore album, To Pimp a Butterfly, in March. Last week, Kendrick dominated the 2016 Grammy nominations, earning 11, most for his work on the politically-charged LP, arguably the most talked about project in hip-hop this year.

In this issue of XXL (photos shot by Travis Shinn), Kendrick discusses the success and controversy of To Pimp a Butterfly, the pressures of being more than just a rapper, finding himself as an artist and a person amidst all the change and much more. Here are a few excerpts from his story:

1. “It’s funny because I ask other artists about their experience with success. I wanna know what happened to them. Did you feel how I feel? When did everything change for you? When did you start noticing the ways you were acting differently? Or when the people around you changed how they treated you? Or just, how did your world change? For me, the whole complete world changed within six months of good kid, m.A.A.d. city coming out. It wasn’t about the money change, although, that did happen, but it was like I stared seeing who I really was during that first run and learned more on the second. Either you notice who you are who are or what you ain’t pretty fast when you get fame.”

Read more HERE.