Music was just played all around me, and I couldn't run from it. My pops, he never learned to sing, but he'd have his little drink on the side, and he'd put on the best of his hits - gangster rap or oldies - and he'd sing all day on his mic plugged up to the wall set-up. It's a trip. I've just seen that my whole life, so I've always just had a love for music. By the time I was 13, I really just jumped in it. And it's something I took on to have as a hobby.
Kendrick LamarI felt like, what better way for people to understand me by taking the initiative in giving my real name, my name that moms taught me so y'all actually know what's going on in my life and my music.
Kendrick Lamar