In an interview with Touré published by i-d, Kendrick Lamar revealed his feelings on current president Donald Trump, and reflected on his past visits to the White House with Barack Obama.
Kung-Fu Kenny has made a few trips to the White House during President Obama’s term, and the acclaimed rapper had an emotional and influential experience during their conversation.
“I was talking to Obama,” said Lamar, “and the craziest thing he said was, ‘Wow, how did we both get here?’ Blew my mind away. I mean, it’s just a surreal moment when you have two black individuals, knowledgeable individuals, but who also come from these backgrounds where they say we’ll never touch ground inside these floors.”
“That’s what blows me up,” he continued. “Being in there and talking to him and seeing the type of intelligence that he has and the influence that he has, not only on me, but on my community. It just always takes me back to the idea of how far we have come along with this idea about how [much] further we can go. Just him being in office sparks the idea that us as a people, we can do anything that we want to do. And we have smarts and the brains and the intelligence to do it.”
In a complete 180 from the connection Lamar had with the 44th president, he confessed that he was “feeling hated” by the current administration and admitted that the outcome of the election was a total “mind fuck.”
“The key differences [between Obama and Trump] are morals, dignity, principles, common sense,” he explained to Touré. “How can you follow someone who doesn’t know how to approach someone or speak to them kindly and with compassion and sensitivity?
According to the rapper, however, the constant negativity from Donald Trump has only been “building the fire” inside Lamar, and encourages him to keep “pushing as hard as I want to push.”
Click here for the entire interview.
Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna
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