With it being over a year and a half since Kendrick had dropped his critically acclaimed masterpiece of an album To Pimp A Butterfly, and today being another very special day in Kendrick's catalog (the 4 year anniversary of the release of Kendrick's major label debut Good Kid M.a.a.d City) producer Rick Rubin sat down to have an in depth conversation with the Compton emcee, discussing an array of things varying from his upbringing and musical influences, to his current process of making music and his inspirations. Although there are countless gems to extract from this interview, I discuss some of the highlights below.
Kendrick had the beat for "Alright" for 6 months before he wrote to it (24:18)
Wait, WHAT?! Kendrick had the beat for "Alright" for 6 months before he even did the song?! Apparently Kendrick had held onto the Pharrell-produced instrumental for awhile before doing anything with it; "I was sitting on that record for I think 6 months. Between my guy Sam Taylor and Pharrell, (they asked) 'when you gone do it? when you gone do it? when you gone do it?' They was on me. I knew it was a great record, I was just trying to find the spacing and (how) to approach it. It sounds fun, but it's something else put inside of them chords that Pharrell laid down that makes it more of a statement." This statement not only proves why Kendrick is one of the most thought provoking emcees, but also that he cares about the music that he makes and the message that he is sending.
Rick Rubin commenting on To Pimp A Butterfly and Kendrick's music making process; It sounds like the connection your talking about is your connection to it more than other people's connection to it, but I think the thing that is infectious about it is that people feel your connection to it, and it's not even necessarily their connection to it, like a lot of people who heard your last record (To Pimp A Butterfly) might not have even been into jazz, but they hear your connection to it and then it inspires them to open up themselves to new music they might not have heard." (12:02)
Hearing these 2 talk about music this intricately and intimately are just more examples as to why they are the best of the best. To explore the realms of other genres inside of your own music in your comfort zone (as Rubin does with hip hop when he is primarily known as a rock producer and Kendrick with the jazz influence on TPAB) is incredible to see and truly shows the testament of longevity that both of these guys possess. Not many have the balls to take a complete "left turn" from one project to another, let alone have it be as successful as To Pimp A Butterfly was and is. Kendrick and Rick Rubin seem to see music as exploration of self just as much as they wish to make great music, and that's amazing to see and hear in conversations like this.
Kendrick has written full songs, and then made beats around the LYRICS, as opposed to lyrics being written after the beat has been made (19:56)
"A few times I've written full songs, and had to find the actual instrumentation to match it. That's fun because it not only gives me, but the producer the freedom to build around the lyrics, and certain words that get tossed out, a sound just might crack over top of that, and you know, the cadence." Here's a question for you up and coming rappers; How talented are you really? Can you write lyrics to your song first, then help the producer make the beat AROUND your lyrics, or even do it yourself? If you can do that, then your probably deserve to be in that chair right where Kendrick is sitting. More intricacies of music and song making discussed by some of the best to do it. If you make music and you're reading this, take notes ladies and gentlemen.
Kendrick did not plan for "Maad City" to be one of the biggest songs off of Good Kid Maad City (21:40)
"My first album Good Kid Maad City, this is me being fresh in the game, in my head I had songs that I knew would be big records, radio single, I'm playing the game. I'm creating these songs for the radio, just ear candy for people to enjoy, and in my mind I'm thinking that these are going to be the biggest records on the album, but it turns out that a song called 'Maad City' where I'm just rapping for maybe 40 bars or 30 bars turned out the be the biggest song on that project. And that threw me for a loop, but it also gave me insight clear enough to know that sometimes it's not about what you think is gonna happen or what you feel. People connect to things in strange ways, and at the end of the day you have to go with that feeling." A personal thing about that song ("Maad City") for me; when the album first dropped in 2012 and I was dissecting it, playing it back to back to back, top to bottom, "Maad City" was a clear stand out on the album. Not only because of the energy that the instrumental provides and the infectious hook, but because of the connection I knew that Kendrick had made with Dr. Dre, I thought 100% that Dre had produced the second part of that beat (where MC Eiht comes in), even though it turned out that frequent Kendrick and TDE collaborator producer Sounwave had produced the song along with THC and (another frequent Kendrick collaborator) Terrace Martin! Dre's sound was all over GKMC, and he didn't have 1 beat on the album, although he was executive producer.
Amazing interview with many jewels dropped, lessons learned, and light shed. Check out the whole interview below. Hip Hop Unlimited is not yet back in full swing, I just came across this amazing piece and had to give some thoughts on it. Stay tuned for the future though, because though HHU is at a slower halt, it does not mean I am stopped. More coming.
(*I do not own this video, or the rights to it*)
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