Kendrick Lamar Explains How Eminem Changed His Life

Kendrick Lamar and Eminem have a history of saying very nice things about each other in the press.

K.Dot continued that trend in his new Vanity Fair cover story. In it, he discusses his writing process.

 “I spend 80 percent of my time thinking about how I’m going to execute, and that might be a whole year of constantly jotting down ideas, figuring out how I’m going to convey these words to a person to connect to it. What is this word that means this, how did it get here and why did it go there and how can I bring it back there? Then, the lyrics are easy.”

Then he is asked about his particular skill for stuffing extra words and syllables into a bar. 

“It comes from my love of hip-hop. Eminem is probably one of the best wordsmiths ever,” Kendrick says. “There’s a whole list of why, but just bending words. . . . The Marshall Mathers LP changed my life.”

The Vanity Fair article also features a quote from Em about Kendrick:

"By the end of listening to his first full album, I felt like I knew everything about him. He brings you into his world with his lyrics in a way that really paints a clear picture," Shady said.