Kendrick Lamar Becomes Principal For A Day In Rhode Island

May 11, 2013 JUKEBOXDC Staff Videos 1 Comment  

As part of the Get Schooled campaign, Kendrick Lamar acted as principal of Mt. Pleasant High School (who won K-Dot by raising their attendance by 4% as part of a competition) to promote staying in school. Interesting fact: Kendrick Lamar graduated from Centennial High School in Los Angeles with a 4.0 GPA.

He did speak on the matter as well:

“Without education you don’t have anything…my teachers were great positive influences in my life. My middle school English teacher was probably the reason I became a rapper. He used to encourage me to write poetry and would challenge me, which helped me improve my vocabulary and made me enjoy writing.”

Fox

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Erykah Badu Interviews Kendrick Lamar For Interview Magazine

May 10, 2013 JUKEBOXDC Staff Interviews No Comments  

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It’s really cool how things work the way they do….having missed his flight from Denver, Kendrick Lamar found the time to talk to Erykah Badu — who was at home in Dallas — about a few things that ended up in the recent issue of Interview Magazine. Among the topics discussed were growing up in Compton, his top ten (eleven, really) emcees, seeing Dr. Dre (who was with 2Pac) more than a decade before actually meeting him and much more.

You can check out an excerpt below and the full feature over at Interview:

BADU: The first time I saw you was on BET’s Cypher. I didn’t know who you were at that time, but you stood out. What do you think your secret weapon is as a lyricist? What do you think that “thing” is that makes you stand out?

LAMAR: Oh, man . . . That’s a good question. You know, I studied people I looked up to: Jay-Z, Nas, B.I.G., Pac . . . But early on, I didn’t really have my own sound. I had a passion for it, but me actually rapping the way they rapped is what got me into doing my own thing. I think me being that intricate and studying songs line for line—I probably spent more time listening to albums than writing songs. But I think that gave me all the tricks in terms of wordplay, from how I pronounced my words to the actual delivery. I’m very intricate about that stuff when I go into the studio—it has to sound the way I heard it in my head. So that’s probably one of the biggest things that separates me when I’m working in the studio—just how I hear certain things.

BADU: Is there an MC who influenced you or whose level of excellence you feel that you will never reach? LAMAR: [laughs] That I feel I’ll never reach? I’ll have to say Jay or Eminem. Jay for sure—just off the simple fact of his longevity. That, to me, is probably one-in-a-million for rappers. A good career for a rapper is five or six years, so I think Jay still being relevant and having the skills he has—it’s really unmatched. I hope I get to that level and keep my work ethic up and strategically think of certain things. But there will probably only ever be one Jay. He’ll probably go down as the greatest to ever do it. Pac also could’ve had that, but due to his passing, we’ll never know if he’d have reached that.

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Kendrick Lamar Announces World Tour

April 20, 2013 JUKEBOXDC Staff Events No Comments  

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Starting in West Palm Beach, the man formerly known as K-Dot will be hitting up arenas and festivals (and everything in between) all summer. All those eyes the U.S. dates should expect all or most of Black Hippy (ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul & Jay Rock) to join Lamar on stage. If you see him headed in your direction (dates below), then make sure you pick up your tickets here.

May 5 West Palm Beach, FL SUNFEST *
11 Columbia, MD Sweetlife Festival*
17 La Jolla, CA Sungod Festival*
18 Gulf Shores, AL Hangout Festival*
22 Las Vegas, NV Cosmopolitan
23 Salt Lake City, UT The Great Saltair
29 Portland, ME The Waterfront At Ocean Gateway
30 Albany, NY Armory
Jun 1 Junction, VT Champion Valley Exposition
3 Belle Vernon, PA Ice Garden
4 Cleveland, OH Jacob Pavilion at Nautica
5 Detroit, MI Chene Park
6 Indianapolis, IN Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn
8 Randall’s Island, NY Govenors Ball*
10 Baton Rouge, LA Baton Rouge River Center
11 Houston, TX Reliant Arena
12 Grand Prairie, TX Verizon Theatre
13 New Braunfels, TX Whitewater Amphitheatre
16 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo*
19 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheatre
20 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
21 Simpsonville, SC Charter Amphitheatre
22 Dover, DE Firefly Music Festival*
23 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheatre
26 Mesa, AZ Mesa Amphitheatre
28 San Diego, CA Del Mar Fair*
29 Kansas City, KS Kanrocksas*
29 Los Angeles, CA BET Experience
Jul 3 Gdynia, PL Heineken Open’er Festival
4 Roskilde, DK Roskilde Festival
5 Zurich, SE Touch the Lake Festival
6 Haachtsesteenweg, BE Rock Werchter Festival
7 Arras, FR Main Square Festival
8 Birmingham, UK Academy
9 Manchester, UK Apollo
10 Leeds, UK Academy
11 Grafenhainichen, DE Splash Festival
12 Kinross-shire, UK T in the Park Festival
13 London, UK Wireless Festival
14 Rotterdam, NL North Sea Jazz Festival
17 Montreaux, CH Montreaux Jazz Festival
18 Molde, NO Molde Jazz Festival
19 Tonsberg, NO Slottsfjell
20 Pori, FI Pori Jazz Festival
27 Naeba, JP Fuji Rock Festival
Aug 2 Toronto, CA Sound Academy
3 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza*
4 Montreal, CA Osheaga Music Festival
8 Oslo, NO Oya Festival
9 Helsinki, FI Flow Festival
10 Gothenburg, SE Way Out West
15 Hasselt, BE Pukkelpop Festival
16 Biddinghuizen, NL Lowlands Festival
17 Chelmsford, UK V Festival
18 South Staffordshire, UK V Festival
20 Glasgow, UK Bellahouston Park
22 Paris, FR Stade de France
23 Paris, FR Rock En Seine Festival
24 Hradec Kralove, CZ Hip Hop Kemp Festival

* Denotes Festival

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