[When I heard I got it], I thought, to be recognized in an academic
world... whoa, this thing really can take me above and beyond. It’s
one of those things that should have happened with hip-hop a long time
ago. It took a long time for people to embrace us—people outside of
our community, our culture—to see this not just as vocal lyrics, but
to see that this is really pain, this is really hurt, this is really
true stories of our lives on wax. And now, for it to get the
recognition that it deserves as a true art form, that’s not only great
for myself, but it makes me feel good about hip-hop in general.
Writers like Tupac, Jay Z, Rakim, Eminem, Q-Tip, Big Daddy Kane,
Snoop.... It lets me know that people are actually listening further
than I expected. When I looked up at that man on the podium today [May
30], I just had countless pictures in my mind of my mother putting me
in suits to go to school. Suit and tie, from the dollar store, from
thrift shops, when I was a kid.

 

Elsewhere, Kendrick discussed the use of the “n-word” in hip-hop, as well as the infamous incident during his set at Alabama’s Hangout Festival, where a white fan rapped the “n-word” uncensored while performing “m.A.A.d city” on stage with Kendrick. (“You gotta bleep one single word,” Kendrick told her.) “Let me put it to you in its simplest form. I’ve been on this earth for 30 years, and there’s been so many things a Caucasian person said I couldn’t do. Get good credit. Buy a house in an urban city,” Kendrick said to Vanity Fair. “So many things—‘you can’t do that’—whether it’s from afar or close up. So if I say this is my word, let me have this one word, please let me have that word.”

In addition, Kendrick commented on Kanye West’s recent remarks about Donald Trump and slavery. “He has his own perspective, and he’s on this whole agree to disagree thing, and I would have this conversation with him personally if I want to,” Kendrick said.