Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre certainly aren't strangers, collaborating on several tracks over the years, perhaps none more memorable than "Compton" from the former's debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city. However, a feature apparently isn't the only thing that one of hip-hop's most distinguished figures had to share with the DAMN. rapper. According to a new interview that Kendrick did as part of Forbes' Under 30 Summit in Boston on Tuesday (October 3rd), Dre had a bounty of helpful advice that he's shared with one of the young greats of the genre.
Quoting the wisdom the former N.W.A member bestowed upon him, Kendrick Lamar said, "You gotta continue to work, you’re gonna make mistakes along the way, but you have to ask questions." According to him, even with all of his recent success, that last part is an area he feels that he can improve upon. “That’s something I’m learning now. I don’t know it all. I have to ask questions. I’m still fairly a new cat, as far as being a business man.” If there's a man who's brain you'd want to pick as a young rapper, Dre seems like the ideal candidate. Releasing his first solo album in 1992, Mr. Young has gone on to have an illustrious career that has included giving rappers like Eminem a platform that they may not have had otherwise.
Elsewhere in his chat with Forbes, Lamar was asked about his thoughts on (former?) NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who remains without a job on the field because of his kneeling protest during the American National Anthem - a protest that many athletes and celebrities alike have continued in his absence. “He wants to stand for something,” K. Dot said. “Simple as that. You don’t look at the moment, whether it’s gonna work or not. No, you look at what the next generation is gonna receive from it.” The rapper is about to embark on the European leg of his DAMN. Tour, which will make stops in several countries beginning in February of next year. He'll be supported by James Blake, a British singer-songwriter who has accumulated an impressive following of his own. Check out the tour details here and watch Kendrick's interview with Forbes below.