Kendrick Lamar is offering a glimpse into his private life. He shared what keeps him sane in a new interview.
Speaking about songwriting, Lamar revealed that it keeps him sane.
“I’m always locked in and always trying new things,” Lamar said on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football on February 7. “I have to keep the pen moving. It’s my form of sanity. And it has also given me the opportunity to learn about myself, to really understand who I am.”
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He went on to explain how writing helps him process emotions and vulnerability.
“When you’re writing, you have to sit with your emotions and be vulnerable, whether it’s a fun song or a sad one,” Lamar continued. “Regardless of the subject, whether it’s happy or heavy, a lot of these records I write contain feelings and thoughts I might never have expressed—or even realized about myself—if it weren’t for an instrumental behind them.”
The discussion comes ahead of his highly anticipated performance at the 2025 Super Bowl on Sunday, February 9. Recently, SZA was announced as a guest performer for the event.
On the heels of his 2024 rap feud with Drake, Lamar also spoke in a separate interview with Apple Music’s Nadeska Alexis and Ebro Darden about his intent. While he didn’t mention Drake by name, he emphasized the importance of keeping hip-hop’s essence alive.
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“My intent from day one was to keep the nature of it as a sport,” he explained. “I think a lot of people had started pushing rap to the background. You didn’t see that grit. You didn’t see that bite anymore.”
He made it clear that his artistry has always been rooted in hip-hop’s competitive nature, particularly battle rap.
“I don’t care how people look at it in terms of collaboration,” he expressed. “I still watch Smack/URL, from Murda Mook to [Loaded] Lux to Tay Roc. My bro, Daylyt. This has always been the core definition of who I am.”
At the just ended 2025 Grammy Awards, Lamar took home five awards, with his song ‘Not Like Us’ emerging as a major winner.
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