Kendrick Lamar's intimate concert series, Kunta Groove Sessions, came to NYC the other week. The show brings Kendrick's dense To Pimp A Butterfly album to life, but in addition to simply performing it on stage, the NYC audience were treated to a speech that gave fans some insight on the album, the creation of it, and Kendrick's current mindstate. Footage of the speech has just begun circulating online.
Backed by an instrumental from his live band, Kendrick thanked fans for sticking with him since day one (the Kendrick Lamar EP and beyond), and stated that creating TPAB was like a therapy session for him. "Not only for you, but for me," he said. "Because in six months of GKMC dropping, the life of what I knew, what I knew what it was, thinking I knew; that shit completely changed within six months you dig what I'm saying? You go through the vultures of the world telling you you great, and you tryna make yourself believe that shit, but it's hard cause you institutionalized, from where you come from."
"Me, personally, I can't run around with 100 niggas like I used to do," he said of the industry changing or affecting him.
Watch the full speech above.