In a meeting of musical masterminds, super-producer Rick Rubin and game-topping rapper Kendrick Lamar sat down for a chat that eventually turned into a creative collaboration. We have GQ to thank for setting up the meeting; they put the two together at Rubin's Shangri La Studios in Malibu, CA, and let the tapes roll as Rubin interviewed Lamar.
They go deep into Lamar's creative process and the music (from jazz to Prince to Eminem) and ideas that inspire him. In addition to opening up about the writer's block he had to overcome to pen "Alright" ("I was sitting on that record for about six months"), Lamar hints at the direction his music might take in the near future.
Although he thinks it's "soon" to figure anything out concretely, Lamar revealed that he has "24 bars, 16 bars, hooks and choruses and bridges and ideas" currently "floating around," and inklings of who he'd like to sing on certain parts.
"I have ideas, though. I have ideas and I have a certain approach," he told Rubin. "But I wanna see what it manifests. I wanna put all the paint on the wall and see where that goes. Maybe you can help me with that."
The interview ends with Rubin asking "Should we go inside and record?" to which Lamar answers: "Exactly."
Watch their full 50-minute conversation below, and head over here for the full transcript.
Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly in 2015, then followed it up with the surprise release of this year's untitled unmastered.
They go deep into Lamar's creative process and the music (from jazz to Prince to Eminem) and ideas that inspire him. In addition to opening up about the writer's block he had to overcome to pen "Alright" ("I was sitting on that record for about six months"), Lamar hints at the direction his music might take in the near future.
Although he thinks it's "soon" to figure anything out concretely, Lamar revealed that he has "24 bars, 16 bars, hooks and choruses and bridges and ideas" currently "floating around," and inklings of who he'd like to sing on certain parts.
"I have ideas, though. I have ideas and I have a certain approach," he told Rubin. "But I wanna see what it manifests. I wanna put all the paint on the wall and see where that goes. Maybe you can help me with that."
The interview ends with Rubin asking "Should we go inside and record?" to which Lamar answers: "Exactly."
Watch their full 50-minute conversation below, and head over here for the full transcript.
Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly in 2015, then followed it up with the surprise release of this year's untitled unmastered.
