Kendrick Lamar made an appearance on Hot 97’s morning show today to talk about his upcoming album, where he revealed that he wrote the affirmational lead single “i” for prison inmates and suicidal teenagers. “I wrote a record for the homies that’s in the penitentiary right now, and I also wrote a record for these kids that come up to my shows with these slashes on they wrists, saying they don’t want to live no more,” he explained, saying he wanted his upcoming record to have a positive, inspirational sound.
Later in the interview, Lamar answered a question about the apologetic text message Macklemore sent him (and later posted on Instagram), following the “Thrift Shop” rapper’s Grammy win. “I think it was uncalled for, to be 100 [percent honest] with you,” Lamar said. “When he sent it to me I was like okay, I can see him feeling that type of way because he’s a good dude, but I think for confirmation from the world he felt like he needed to put it out there, which he didn’t need to do.”
Still, the self-proclaimed “King of New York” said he appreciated the sentiment in the end, saying “I know where his heart is at.” You can listen to the whole, half hour-long interview above.
In a separate interview with Vibe, Lamar issued an apology to one person and one person only that he named in his controversial “Control” verse from last year — Phil Jackson. “I don’t want to be on Phil’s bad side, so he’s the only person I will apologize to about the line. Phil Jackson,” he said. “I’ll tweet that tomorrow.”
