We Asked Kendrick Lamar if He Was the New 2Pac

Compton native Kendrick Lamar has had the hip-hop world by its balls lately, with his indie release, Section 80, romancing all the stoney-faced rap snobs last year. BUT, he's still got his debut album to drop under the watchful eye of mentor Dr. Dre (no big deal) and that's all on top of bringing in the rest of West Coast mega-group Black Hippy, alongside the likes of Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul.

So, before he got super famous, I sat down with him to talk about his California state of mind and his cheese dreams.

Noisey: Hey Kendrick [I go in for a handshake, Kendrick leans in for a hug] AHHHH, a hug!

Kendrick: Yeah, a hug!

So, I heard you're a big cartoon fan. What's your all time favorite?

It varies by the week. I said Dennis the Menace last week.

How about SpongeBob? Do you like my new SpongeBob rucksack?

URGH NAW! Not SpongeBob!

Are you kidding? Me and you are gonna fall out.

I don’t watch SpongeBob, I was more into Doug…

Doug was the man.

It was Doug and the Rugrats back in the day… Doug was the homie.

Anyway, is it true that 2Pac visited you in a dream and showed you the meaning of life?

[Laughs] Nah, the dream was really about making music that moved people and keeping that alive, the same way Pac did and Big did. Just keeping that alive, that’s why I went about making Section 80 with the intentions of connecting with my generation. And it did just that.

Read the rest at Noisey