Kendrick Lamar Explains Cage-Rattling Verse on ‘Control’
Kendrick Lamar addressed his bonkers, controversy-igniting guest feature on Big Sean’s “Control” in a clip from an upcoming interview with Los Angeles radio station Power 106, saying he just wanted to rap and that the verse was simply about “leaving a mark.”
“I think it’s a case of maybe I should dumb down my lyrics just a little bit,” Lamar said, chuckling, as he addressed the particularly inflamatory “king of New York” claim in the song. “The irony of that line is that the people who actually understood it and got it were the actual kings of New York, you know, me sitting down with them this past week, and them understanding, it’s not actually about being the king of whatever coast, it’s about leaving a mark as great as Biggie, as great as Pac.”
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Lamar reportedly talked shop with two such kings of New York, Jay Z and Diddy, while in town for MTV’s Video Music Awards. In a similar interview on New York station Hot 97, Lamar he said their conversations were “all love, all respect.”
“I think the ones that really took it out of context was the people that want to grab an opportunity off the hype of the record, rather than actually tuning in and listening and knowing how hungry I am,” Lamar added. “A lot of people think it’s about talent, that’s where they get it wrong. I’m saying I’m the most hungry. I respect the legends in the game, I respect the people that done it before me, the people that lost their lives over this. Because of what they laid down, I’m gonna try to go harder, breathe it and live it — that’s the point of the whole verse.”