Kendrick Lamar talks about his children. Image Source: Tennessean
Kendrick Lamar talks about his children.
In his interview with W Magazine, Kendrick Lamar got up and personal about how becoming a father has impacted his life, his music and his relationship with himself and everyone else.
Kendrick Lamar said that many times, people play with ideas and don't know if they're real or not until they feel them, and his kids allowed him to be a part of their growth as human beings learning to walk and talk. The rapper stated that it has allowed him to remove his ego and know that his kids will have their independence, allowing him to understand his unconditional love for them.
Kendrick Lamar welcomed two children with his fiancée, Whitney Alford. He has been extremely private about his private life, but with the release of Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, he confirmed the birth of his second baby. Kendrick Lamar appears on the cover wearing a roped crown with thorns on his head and holding his daughter, who is now almost three, while his fiancée sits on a bed, cradling a newborn.
During the interview, he mentioned that will he enable his children to be themselves, travel the world, and experience things for what they know. For him, that is love. He went on to say that he is having to learn and feel that unconditional love from his children has changed not only the way he expresses himself but also the way he conducts his relationships with others, which is with love and without judgment.
Kendrick Lamar says when he thinks about it, he tries to apply it to how he expresses himself, how he looks at his career, and how he meets other people, adding that he wonders if he is allowing them to be themselves without judgment. He went on to say that his children had taught him that.
He shared that he was having second thoughts and doubts about his latest album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, but it was his children who gave him the final push to put it out as he knew that it would be something that would benefit them in the future. He explained that when he completed the album, he thought that he might or may not put it out and decided that he wouldn’t put it out because it was way too much, but then he thought of his children at that moment.
The rapper continued that he thought that when they turned 21 or older in life and when he’ll have grandchildren or if he is long gone, the album could be a prerequisite of how to cope and that is the beauty of the album for him. He shared that the album is something he had been working on for a while, like the stuff that he had written is just seeing the light of day now because he was not secure with himself to do it.
During the interview, Kendrick says that he is not the same person he was yesterday, which is one of the things that keep him creative, adding that he has so much discipline as far as repetition is concerned. He doesn't care if it's a thousand push-ups, pull-ups, or whatever; it's always that extra 5% that matters, like, What is he on today? What will be his development today?
Whitney Alford took to her social media to share a message for Kendrick Lamar on Father's Day and the men all over the world, she wrote that today she is more than happy to celebrate and appreciate the men in her life, and she opts to praise them for moving up instead of trying to step out of their duties, providing for the family, assisting the women, recover, turning up physically, and also most importantly, showing up emotionally.
She went on to say that in her life, she has seen a great majority of fathers run from their responsibilities, and she now understands that they were running from their pain, but children were left behind, and she noted that she understands that they could not communicate well with the women, so children suffered the consequences of their absence. Whitney stated that she learns that they needed validation, that most of the time it was desired outside of the home, and that it was very painful for all of them who were raised in this manner.
Kendrick Lamar’s fiancée mentioned that she is almost 30 years old and has just celebrated Father's Day for the first time; it is still one of the most difficult things for her, and she knows there are many other women like her. Whitney concluded that it is not as important for them to celebrate men as it is to rejoice in themselves; they must start celebrating their contribution to the next generation and noted that she is grateful for the men who are showcasing her a different picture, adding that her lens was previously very narrow but is no longer.
