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The More People I Meet, The More Cultures I Start To Embrace, The More People I Open Myself Up To - It's A Growing Process I'm Excited About. But It's Also A Challenge For Me, To Be At This Level And Still Be Able To Connect With Somebody Who's Living That Everyday Life. At First It Was Something I Struggled With, Because Everything Was Moving So Fast. I Didn't Know How To Digest It. The Best Thing I Did Was Go Back To The City Of Compton, To Touch The People Who I Grew Up With And Tell Them The Stories Of The People I Met Around The World.

-Kendrick Lamar

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The More People I

Kendrick Lamar

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The More People I Meet, The More Cultures I Start To Embrace, The More People I Open Myself Up To - It's A Growing Process I'm Excited About. But It's Also A Challenge For Me, To Be At This Level And Still Be Able To Connect With Somebody Who's Living That Everyday Life. At First It Was Something I Struggled With, Because Everything Was Moving So Fast. I Didn't Know How To Digest It. The Best Thing I Did Was Go Back To The City Of Compton, To Touch The People Who I Grew Up With And Tell Them The Stories Of The People I Met Around The World.

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Everybody Looking At You Crazy, What You Gon' Do? Lift Up Your Head And Keep Moving, Or Let The Paranoia Haunt You?

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I Had To Come From Something, Come From A Place That Was Negative And Positive But The Majority Of It Is A Negative Place.

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What Happened To [michael Brown] Should've Never Happened. Never. But When We Don't Have Respect For Ourselves, How Do We Expect Them To Respect Us? It Starts From Within. Don't Start With Just A Rally, Don't Start From Looting - It Starts From Within.

Poetic Justice, Poetic Justice.. If I Told You That A Flower Bloom In A Dark Room Would You Trust It. I Mean I Write Poems In These Songs.

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The Thing About Hip-hop Is They Always Want To Classify You As One Particular Artist, But Hip-hop Is About Going Outside The Box And Expressing Yourself However You Want To.

Although The Butterfly And The Caterpillar Are Completely Different, They Are One And The Same.

We All Get Distracted, The Question Is, Would You Bounce Back Or Bounce Backwards?

Just Let Me Be Me, That's The Only Way I Know.

I Can't Help The Way You Was Born If You Was Gay.

The Opposite Of Love? Vice. Temptation. The Negative Influences That We Have. The Bad Energy That Comes Around Us And Makes Us Do Certain Things. To Me, It's Always Been A War Between The Two.

I'm Machiavelli's Offspring, I'm The King Of New York, King Of The Coast, One Hand, I Juggle Them Both.

My Grandma Always Said, "where There's A Will, There's A Way." I Think It's Just Naturally In Our Dna To Be Able To Survive. We Was Always Taught That: To Survive. When You Talking About Slavery, It's To Survive.

Every Time I Write These Words They Become A Taboo, Making Sure My Punctuation Curve, Every Letter Here's True, Living My Life In The Margin, And That Metaphor Was Proof.

I'm Standing On A Field Full Of Landmines Doing The Moonwalk Hoping I Blow Up In Time

The Sky Is Falling, The Wind Is Calling Stand For Something, Or Die In The Morning

We All, We All Good People Just Trying To Escape The Negative Influence That Come Around Us And That's The Story Of My Life, You Know? Trying My Best To Get Around The Ills And I Bumped My Head A Few Times But I Think, You Know, Music Is My Savior For Right Now, For Me And My Whole Group.

The Moment I Made That Decision To Get In The Studio And Actually Work And Study The Culture Of Hip-hop, Then Everything Just Started To Open Up And Blossom For Me.

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If I Can Look At A 6-year-old And Learn From Him, That's Life. That's God For Me, That's Inspiring.

I Wanted The Next Family To Hurt, Because You Made My Family Hurt. Them Emotions Were Still Running In Me... Whether I'm A Rap Star Or Not, If I Still Feel Like That, Then I'm Part Of The Problem Rather Than The Solution.

It's A Great, Great Experience To Finally Get The Reception That You Know You Rightfully Deserve.

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While You Have People Who Are Actually Fronting For Your Needs And Wants, Sometimes Your Needs And Wants May Not Be Right For You. The People Around You Are Just Trying To Keep Their Jobs.

I Don't Talk About These Things If I Haven't Lived Them, And I've Hurt People In My Life. It's Something I Still Have To Think About When I Sleep At Night.

There's Kids Out There That Have So Much Life To Live. That's A Beautiful Thing.

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I Always Felt Like There Was A Certain Standard Of Music That I Had To Do From The Beginning, Even When I Didn't Have The Recognition That I Have Now.

Kids Don't See Hate In Their Eyes. They See The World, And Living In It To The Best Of Their Abilities. And That's Where Love Comes From For Me.

My Mom's One Of 13 Siblings, And They All Got Six Kids, And Till I Was 13 Everybody Was In Compton.

I Stole A Bible, Is That A Sin?

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No Matter How Much Good Things Are Going On Around You, You Still Have Them Little Negative Things That Just Wanna Come Out In Front. But You Bottle Them In Because You Have So Many Other Great Things, But They Still There.

Got In The Studio At Sixteen, [and] That's When I Felt Like I Wanted To Make This A Career. I Had A Passion For It.

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Everybody Has Their Own Way Of Hearing Songs. My Fans Are Usually Pretty On Point. Sometimes They Go All The Way To The Bottom Of It. It's Fascinating To Me How Far An Idea Can Go. I Wrote Most Of My First Album In My Mom's Kitchen, And Now I Can Go Around The World And Hear People Recite Those Lyrics, And Understand The Story, Even Though They're Not From The Same Area I Grew Up In.

I Always Thought Money Was Something Just To Make Me Happy. But I’ve Learned That I Feel Better Being Able To Help My Folks, ’cause We Never Had Nothing. So Just To See Them Excited About My Career Is More Of A Blessing Than Me Actually Having It For Myself.

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We Look So Much On Color That We Forget About The Soul.

I Don't Sugarcoat It You'd Die From Diabetes If These Other Niggas Wrote It

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[ Drizzy] Is A Good Dude , He's Been Looked Out And Reached Out, And I Admire The Talent.

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I Don't Vote. I Don't Do No Voting.

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African American

Teenagers Expressing This On A Daily Basis In The Middle Of The Streets - You Can't Help But Believe We Are In The Mind State Of Taking Our Losses And Changing People's Perceptions Of Us And Our Community. We Are Strong. Our Families Are Tired Of Being Hurt.

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You Can't Have People Listen To You Unless You Come To Their World And Then Bring Them To Yours.

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I Knew I Was Blessed With A Gift Of Having Both Parents.

My Pops And My Mom Started Playing Marvin Gaye And The Isley Brothers And All These People, But At The Same Time, They Always Had Snoop On Right Behind It In The Same Mix.

God To Me Is Love. It's The Ruler Of All Things, Whether It's With A Person Or With Music Or With Your Tv. I Feel Like It's This Energy. God Is Energy, Love Is Energy.

You Don't Hear No Artists From Compton Showing Vulnerability.

Once I Looked In The Mirror And Decided This Is Who I Am, And I'm Not Scared Of Who I Am, And I'm Not Scared That I Can't Be Like You, And I'm Good With Just Doing Me, That's When I Found Myself, As A Man.

I Penetrate The Hearts Of Good Kids And Criminals

How Am I Influencing So Many People On This Stage Rather Than Influencing The Ones That I Have Back Home?

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I Can Say Is If Anyone Gets A Chance To Work With [dr.]dre, It's A Moment You Will Always Take With You Throughout Your Career. And As Of Right Now, The Compton Album Is The Only Thing To Talk About.

I'm Constantly Thinking.

Constantly Thinking

People Gonna Be They Own Individuals And Have They Own Worlds And I Can't Knock It.

Music Was Just Played All Around Me, And I Couldn't Run From It. My Pops, He Never Learned To Sing, But He'd Have His Little Drink On The Side, And He'd Put On The Best Of His Hits - Gangster Rap Or Oldies - And He'd Sing All Day On His Mic Plugged Up To The Wall Set-up. It's A Trip. I've Just Seen That My Whole Life, So I've Always Just Had A Love For Music. By The Time I Was 13, I Really Just Jumped In It. And It's Something I Took On To Have As A Hobby.

The One In Front Of The Gun Lives Forever

Colorism Is Not A Good Thing, Especially When You're Black.

I'm Usually Homeboys With The Same Ni**as I'm Rhyming Wit/but This Is Hip-hop And Them Ni**as Should Know What Time It Is/and That Goes For Jermaine Cole, Big Krit, Wale/pusha T, Meek Millz, A$ap Rocky, Drake/big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller/i Got Love For You All But I'm Tryna Murder You Ni**as/tryna Make Sure Your Core Fans Never Heard Of You Ni**as/they Dont Wanna Hear Not One More Noun Or Verb From You Ni**as

The Message I'm Sending To Myself - I Can't Change The World Until I Change Myself First.

I Live This Life At A Pace That Anyone Can Go. Know Your Place, And Dedicate Your Role ...to The Faith That You'll Die Alone

I Can Be Calm And Reflective From Time To Time And Other Times I Can Have A Burst Of Energy, That's Just Me.

I See Conflict. But The Conflict Is What Makes It Relatable. I'm Conflicted; You're Conflicted. I'm Not Perfect - Nobody Is. I'm Just Blessed To Be Able To Express My Conflict Through Song.

I Am A Sinner....who's Probably Gonna Sin Again...lord Forgive Me!

I Always Tell People That If I Move Anywhere It Would Be Toronto.

Don't You Know Your Imperfections Is A Wonderful Blessing, From Heaven Is Where You Got It From

I Sit And Talk To Kids All Day, Because I Feel Like They Carry The Most Wisdom.

The Hiiipower Movement Is A Movement That's Going On All Throughout The World Like A Virus. It's About Being On A Higher Level Than The Industry. It's A Movement We Started To Be Above All The Bullshit That's Been Going On.

What Is Love? Love To Me Is God.

And I'm Not Sure Why I'm Infatuated With Death, My Imagination Is Surely An Aggravation Of Threats... Maybe Cause I'm A Dreamer, And Sleep Is The Cousin Of Death, Really Stuck In The Scheme Of Wondering When I'mma Rest.

A Dollar Might Turn To A Million And We All Rich That's Just How I Feel

Found Myself Screaming In A Hotel Room. I Didn't Want To Self-destruct.

[drizzy] Reached Out To Me Through Chase N Cashe, They're Brothers, They're One. Chase N Cashe Made The Connection, Played Some Of My Music And He [drake] Got Up On It, Got Interested In The Music And Just Reached Out And Said "you Know What, Let's Work."

The Universe Energy Doesn't Lie.

I Think All Geminis Are Kids At Heart. And That's Why They're Able To Simplify Some Of The Most Complex Things And Connect With People. It's Having That Kid Spirit.

The Worst Part Of Success Is, To Me, Adapting To It. It's Scary.

When I Look At Comedy, It's All Self-expression. I Apply That Same Method To My Music. I Came Up Listening To N.w.a And Snoop. Like Them, It's In Me To Express How I Feel. You Might Like It Or You Might Not, But I Take That Stand.

K. Dot Was A Kid Who Was Trying To Find Himself In Music, Finding Trends, Um, Bending Towards - Ready To Bend Towards What The Industry Was Telling Me To Do And After You Mature At A Certain Time In Your Life, You Come Into Your Own...your Own Niche, Your Own Personality, Not Only As An Artist But As A Person.

That's The Ultimate Thing I Want To Do In Making Music - To Be Able To Inspire Somebody Else.

I Really Focus On What My Fans Will Take From It, People Living Their Day-to-day Lives. At The End Of The Day, The Music Isn't For Me; It's For People Who Are Going Through Their Struggles And Want To Relate To Someone Who Feels The Same Way They Do. I've Got To Go All-in, Expressing Myself, Right There In The Moment.

What Separated Me From All My Homeboys Is The Fact That I Didn't Get Caught Inside The Reality. I Was Always Dreaming About Doing Something Else Or Going Somewhere Else.

Eventually You Get To This Point Where You Understand What You Want To Do And Get Across And Sound Like.

There Are So Many People Pulling At Me At One Time - Some Want The Business, Some Want My Love, Some Just Want My Support, Just To Be There Or To Acknowledge Them The Same Way I Used To. To Be Able To Figure That Out Is An Ongoing Process, Because There's Always Another Show, Another Album, Another Moment That I Don't Want To Miss. But I'm Pacing Myself. I Hope The Powers That Be Keep Me On A Straight Course.

We're All Human At The End Of The Day, Making Mistakes. But Learn From Them Is The Key.

The End Of The Day

The People Definitely Shape The Two, Put Stamps And Classify Mainstream And Underground Music.

I Started Doing Music When I Was Thirteen; I Actually Started Writing My First Rhymes.

There's A Lot Of Other Artists Doing Things Outside Of That Depth That I Enjoy - That Music That I Can Actually Have Fun To, And Not Be In Depth And Think About, Then I Appreciate That.

The Best Thing Is To Always Keep Honest People Around, Because When You Have A Bunch Of Yes Men Around That Know That You're Making A Mistake But Let You Go On With It, That's When It Ruins Your Mind State As An Artist.

It's A Long Time Coming As Far As The Work That I Put In. Now I Know That I Got The Stamp But What Counts Is What Comes Behind. That's What's Really Important. Upholding That Stamp And Not Only Keeping The Energy My Way But Also Spreading That Energy Out To Other Artists That Are Coming Up On The West Coast.

Since Day One, Since The First Time I Touched The Pen, I Wanted To Be The Best At What I Do.

We All Seem To Stumble, Planning Our Own Demise, Getting The Big Picture, And Making It Wallet-sized.

I'd Rather Not Live Like There Isn't A God Then Die And Find Out There Really Is Think About It

The More People I Meet, The More Cultures I Start To Embrace, The More People I Open Myself Up To - It's A Growing Process I'm Excited About. But It's Also A Challenge For Me, To Be At This Level And Still Be Able To Connect With Somebody Who's Living That Everyday Life. At First It Was Something I Struggled With, Because Everything Was Moving So Fast. I Didn't Know How To Digest It. The Best Thing I Did Was Go Back To The City Of Compton, To Touch The People Who I Grew Up With And Tell Them The Stories Of The People I Met Around The World.

My Folks Ain't Graduated From High School Or Nothing Like That, So We Always Had To Struggle In The Family - And I Come From A Big Family.

I Want You To Recognize That I'm A Proud Monkey...

Let Bygones Be Bygones...but Where I'm From, We Buy Guns And More Guns, To Give To The Young.

Believe In God, It's Only One God. F*** All That Religion S***. Believe In One God, And Do Right. Try Your Best To Do Right, We Ain't Perfect. Just Do That And Everything Will Be Straight.

But What Love Got To Do With It When You Don't Love Yourself ?

I Was Raised Inside The Gang Culture.

It's The Beauty In Her, But When The Makeup Occur, I Don't See It, All I See Is A Blur

My Mind Is Living On Cloud 9 And This 9 Is Never On Vacation.

A Lot Of Incredible Rap Albums Over The Past Couple Of Decades Have Deserved Album Of The Year. 'to Pimp A Butterfly' Is An Extension Of Those Albums.

I Aint A Drinker Im A Thinker, Call It What You Want

I Don't Really Believe In The Type Of Pressure That People Are Wanting To Put On The Type Of Music That I Make.

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