Dave Chappelle interviews Kendrick Lamar about his creative process

Yesterday, Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine published a piece on Kendrick Lamar. What’s even cooler, Dave Chappelle is the one who profiled him.

I’m definitely jealous of the people that got to witness this interview in real time. I wonder if Kenny and Dave got a little smacked.

During the interview, Kendrick talks to Dave about the content of his music, who he thinks about when he writes his music, his “Oh, shit, I made it” moment,  and his new album DAMN.

Tons of great questions from The Age of Spin comedian. One of the most interesting questions was Chappelle’s comparison of writing comedy to Kendrick creating his music.

Chappelle touches on the Kathy Griffin issue (for those who don’t remember) and wonders what Kendrick thinks might be “too far” when it comes to self-expression.

Here’s what Dave asked:

“I want to start by asking you about a recent scandal in the comedy world: Kathy Griffin and the picture of her holding Donald Trump’s decapitated head. My question for you is not about politics, but about the content in your work. In comedy right now, the issue is, “When does a comedian go too far?” And I imagine in hip-hop that’s been a long-standing debate… When you write, how much do you think about the repercussions of anything you might say?”

Kendrick’s reply? Self-expression is paramount:

“When I look at comedy—at Richard Pryor, at you—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.”

Besides discussing self-expression, Kung Fu Kenny revealed the truthfulness behind his track “Duckworth,” which he also revealed to Dave to be his favorite track off of DAMN. In the track, Lamar narrates the story of his father, Ducky, trying to prevent an armed robbery at his job at KFC. Can you imagine years later rapping about the incident to millions of fans? Insane!

Kendrick told Chappelle that “Duckworth” was all about perspective:

“The idea that I wanted to put across from that event was one of perspective. Everybody has their own perspective, and recognizing someone else’s perspective blows my mind a hundred thousand percent. The way that event unfolded… I had to sit down and ask my pops, ‘What was your perspective at the moment?’ And, ‘Did you ever think it would come around full circle like that?’ That always fascinated me.”

A crazy perspective indeed. Shoutout to Dave Chappelle, Kendrick Lamar, and Interview Magazine for an amazing read. Check out the full interview here, homie.