Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar is opening up about his “spiritual practices” and admits that he “literally talks to God,” adding, “Ain’t no bullsh*t. Ain’t no cliché.”
In a recent sit-down conversation with SZA for Harper’s Bazaar, Kendrick Lamar was asked about his “spiritual practices” and how he applies his faith to his daily activities. During his sit-down, K.Dot reveals spirituality plays a huge role in his life, especially his conversations with God, in which he admitted he clearly hears every word spoken to him.
SZA asked Kendrick Lamar, “Speaking of honesty and ego, have you done ayahuasca?” The rapper stated, “I haven’t done it.” SZA then replied, “What? I wonder how you’re arriving at all of these conclusions.” She asked Kendrick Lamar, “I want to talk to you about your spiritual practices. How many spiritual practices contribute to your day-to-day?”
K.Dot said, “All day, every day.” SZA asked, “All day is ceremony?” Kendrick Lamar admitted, “Ain’t no bullsh*t, ain’t no cliché, but, I literally talk to God. Like, it’s to a point where I’ll be starting to think I’m going crazy. But then He has to remind me, ‘No, this is really me.'”
He continued, “My early-morning practice is that I have to run. When I started running, that’s where I started to understand. There was this threshold of pain in the spirituality for me. I remember my shins was aching and I was like, I got one mile to go. Then I get whispers and downloads and start talking about sh*t that I want to know about. And next thing I’m three miles in, four miles in. I wake up and do that sh*t every day.”
SZA replied, “Loss of self … you have to break yourself.” Lamar agreed, “I have to.” SZA added, “I’m grateful for the God tea. Sidebar, what do you feel like your top three contributing factors to self-transformation in the last few years have been?”
Lamar replied, “The power of honesty and being honest with myself, perspective about the person sitting across from me, and learning that vulnerability is not a weakness. That last one probably been one I’m still developing.” She asked, “Which one is the hardest,” and Lamar replied, “The last one.”
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When asked why, he explained, “We talk about our childhood. I hate going back to that. It’s traumatizing. My pops, he was tough. He was militant, as far as every day you are expected to go to work, take care of your family, and get back up to do it all over again. Being-a-man type sh*t, right? And he never showed no weakness. He never showed any emotion that could garner a one-up from the person sitting across from him. And I learned to experience that, not knowing I had them same traits, right?”
He continued, “But for what I do, there is certainly no growth without vulnerability. If I understood the power of vulnerability earlier, I could have had more depth and more reach to the guys that was around me in the neighborhood coming up. You know, our parents, they never had these outlets to express themselves the way they wanted to. I’ve always looked at us as somewhat of a beacon of hope [for them].”
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Kendrick Lamar previously spoke about talking to God earlier this year, during the commencement ceremony at Compton College, where he served as a guest speaker and reflected on how important it is to talk to God. At the time, he said, “I walk on the beach every day and I’m talking to God. I’m just talking. Like he the homie. I swear to God I put that on my grandmother’s grave. I talk to him, next to me like the homie. Just like the people you grow up with. I don’t care if you got to curse, you talk to him as if you known him since you were born the way he knows you.”
K.Dot also talks about his spirituality in his music and several other interviews, like that with Billboard in 2015. At the time, he claimed to be one of God’s favorites, allowing him to avoid obstacles growing up in Compton, which was riddled with violence and other crimes. A year before this, he spoke with Complex and said, “I got a greater purpose. God put something in my heart to get across, and that’s what I’m going to focus on, using my voice as an instrument and doing what needs to be done.”
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