Kendrick Lamar: Rapper Thanks Taylor Swift for Kind Comments
Rapper Kendrick Lamar responded to Taylor Swift's comments about his music in a recent interview, appreciating the fact that good music can move people across genres. The country singer was featured on the cover of the most recent edition of Rolling Stone magazine, where she discussed Lamar's "Backseat Freestyle" as her "go-to" song to feel good.
Lamar praised Swift for appreciating his music, acknowledging that hip-hop music shouldn't be defined to one audience or listener.
"Some people always try to lock it down and categorize it for one particular listener," Lamar told The Associated Press at the ONE Musicfest in Atlanta Saturday night. "But it moves all, even people from other genres."
The Grammy-nominated rapper also added that he recognizes how large of a fan following Swift has and how grateful he is that she mentioned that she is a fan of his music.
"I appreciate Taylor Swift for supporting not only my music but just the hip-hop culture," Lamar said. "There's really no gap. It's music and it feels good."
In the Rolling Stone interview, she was asked how she stays composed during her hectic schedule and among screaming fans.
"You want to know a trick to immediately go from feeling victimized to feeling awesome?" she said. Swift then pulls out headphones and begins to play "Backseat Freestyle" from Lamar's latest "Good Kid...M.A.A.D. City," saying, "This is my go-to. ... I know every word."
While Taylor raps the Compton-based rapper's rhymes, many are patiently awaiting "King Kendrick's" highly anticipated sophomore album, which he has been rumored to currently be working on.
At the ONE Musicfest, he didn't perform any new material. The audience, who had also come to the one-day festival to see Nas, Jhene Aiko and Method Man & Redman, didn't seem to mind. The crowd shouted out lyrics to his popular "Swimming Pools (Drank)" and "Poetic Justice" tracks.
Between songs, Lamar thanked fans for helping him rise to success and reminisced about playing for much smaller crowds in Atlanta a few years ago.
"I remember when I used to perform in front of 200 people," Lamar said to the thousands of festival attendees. "Now, it's a sea of people. I'm glad to see the growth here. It speaks volumes about the hip-hop culture."
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