Kendrick Lamar Speaks On Maintaining His Privacy Even As An Artist + Not Wanting To Be Labeled The ‘GOAT’

Kendrick Lamar Speaks On Maintaining His Privacy Even As An Artist + Not Wanting To Be Labeled The ‘GOAT’

Kendrick Lamar may be a man of many words when it comes to spitting lyrics, but he prefers to maintain a certain level of privacy when it comes to his personal life.

The Grammy-Award-winning artist recently spoke candidly for a cover story with Citizen Magazine — which is something he rarely does. During the interview, which was conducted while he was on a trip to Ghana, Kendrick Lamar discussed his work and how he is so invested in his personal life.

Kendrick Lamar, 35, said,

“The person that people see now is the person that I’ve always been. For me, the privacy thing has never been an issue that I had to carry out with full intention. It’s just who I am. If I feel I have to remove myself, I just remove myself. I won’t complain about it. I won’t cause a big blow-up or a big stir and let the world know that the walls are closing in.”

He added,

“Being able to be aware [of myself emotionally] and be able to eventually grow— emotionally mature to that level, it may take more time than the next man. That’s why I never point fingers when artists are not capable of upholding themselves in that type of stressful position because some people grow different and it takes time especially…when who they are and who they want to be sometimes gets distorted. For me, it’s all about being aware of how I’m feeling. If it is too much, let me remove myself for a couple of years.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Kendrick opened up about being labeled the “greatest” of all time — a title he doesn’t really care to hold. He said,

“Now, I’m dropping the ego a bit. I want to take ‘the greatest’ off of it. I want to give people something they can hold onto. So whether it touches 100 million people or inspires one, I want to be that person.”

He also shared how he tends to stay away from social media because, for starters, he doesn’t really know how to work it very well. Lucky for him though, his friends and family tend to keep him up-to-date on all the happenings of the world.

Kendrick released his latest album, Mr. Morale and the Bigger Steppers, in May. Sounwave (real name Mark Spears), his longtime producer, recently disclosed that he is already working on the rapper’s sixth album. The news may come as a surprise, considering Kendrick took a five-year hiatus between his fourth album DAMN. and his most recent one.

The Citizen Magazine issue that Kendrick‘s interview in is currently available for pre-order and will begin shipping on August 29.

What are your thoughts on the Kendrick Lamar interview? Let us know in the comments!

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