Kendrick Lamar has always made an effort to pay tribute to Tupac Shakur -- always citing the late rapper as one of his greatest influences, and even featuring his voice on his latest album, To Pimp A Butterfly, creating a mock interview at the end of the album (on that note, TPAB was originally meant to be called To Pimp A Caterpillar, making the acronym, 2PAC).
Today (September 13th) marks the 19th anniversary of Shakur's death. Naturally, we've seen many fans and artists honor him on social media, but Kendrick had a special message for his idol, displayed on the official Tupac website today.
"I was 8 years old when I first saw you. I couldn't describe how I felt at that moment..." he begins, "20 years later I understand exactly what that feeling was... INSPIRED".
Read the full message in the gallery above. RIP Tupac.
Item #1
![](https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/imgprst/282x282-contain-81-auto/gallery/57/62/1442176257_c425e8b56e244cf18c393fe5a0779190.jpg)