Kendrick Lamar may be one of the biggest names in male rap, but he also shows off his softer side.
He recently opened up about being “soft-spoken” and how his feminine side has become a “superpower” over the years.
“I had to balance both. At first, all I knew was masculinity, and I kept that wall up because of my pop music. But the deeper I got into my music, the more I showed more clearly with yourself… that feminine energy is right there,” he told SZA in an article for Harper’s Market.
Lamar went on to share that his feminine side is his “superpower.”
“That’s not the bravery I used to see growing up. This is who I am, I’m soft-spoken and I have to own it. This is where my superpowers are,” he added.
“Because if my job is to communicate, I need to be able to communicate with people. I need to be able to sit in front of SZA and talk to you in a way that makes you feel comfortable, in a way that makes you feel authentic.” I’m with you, you’re with me, and I can’t do that with a towering wall.
The interview comes after he scored one of the biggest hits of the year with the song “Not Like Us,” a scathing criticism of fellow rapper Drake.
While Lamar talked about the song in the interview, he did not mention Drake by name.
“Unlike us? Unlike us is the energy of who I am, the type of person I represent. Now, if you sympathize with the man I represent… This man has morals, He has values, he believes in something, he stands on something. He is a person who can recognize his mistakes and is not afraid to share them and being able to delve into fear-based ideologies or experiences to be able to express them without feeling less than a man thinking of me and anyone else who sympathizes with that,” he revealed.
It has not yet been confirmed whether Lamar will perform the song at his upcoming Super Bowl halftime show in February 2025. Lamar previously co-headlined the 2022 West Coast Hip-Hop celebration alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige.
Tags Kendrick Lamar, Drake