Kendrick Lamar Explains To SZA What “Not Like Us” Really Means To Him
Kendrick Lamar has broken down the deeper meaning behind his hit diss-track-turned-global phenomenon, “Not Like Us,” with SZA for Harper’s Bazaar.
In his first interview since his explosive on-wax feud with Drake, K. Dot sat down with fellow Top Dawg Entertainment artist and Grammy-winner, SZA, for the pub’s November issue. As the musical collaborators’ conversation veered into the realms of spirituality and vulnerability, the “Snooze” singer touched on rap rivalry, asking Kendrick what “Not Like Us” means to him.
“[Laughing] Not like us? It’s the energy of who I am, the type of man I represent,” he explained. “This man has morals, he has values, he believes in something, he stands on something. He’s not pandering. He’s a man who can recognize his mistakes and not be afraid to share the mistakes and can dig deep down into fear-based ideologies or experiences to be able to express them without feeling like he’s less of a man.”
“If I’m thinking of ‘Not Like Us,’ I’m thinking of me and whoever identifies with that,” he added. SZA then posed a thought-provoking question about how the Compton star creates intense tracks despite not seeing himself as an angry person.
“I don’t believe I’m an angry person” he clarified. “But I do believe in love and war, and I believe they both need to exist. And my awareness of that allows me to react to things but not identify with them as who I am. Just allowing them to exist and allowing them to flow through me. That’s what I believe.”
The interview further touched on Kendrick’s spiritual practices which include talking to God and running. “Ain’t no bullsh*t. Ain’t no cliché. I literally talk to God,” he shared. “Sometimes I think I’m going crazy, but then He reminds me, ‘No, this is really me.’”
He added that his understanding for many things also comes from running in the early morning.
“When I started running, that’s where I started to understand,” he further explained. “There was this threshold of pain in the spirituality for me. I remember my shins was aching and I was like, I got one mile to go. Then I get whispers and downloads and start talking about sh*t that I want to know about. And next thing I’m three miles in, four miles in. I wake up and do that sh*t every day.”
Give Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Harper’s Bazaar interview a read in its entirety here.
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