S. Samuel
Bad Boy Records CEO Diddy recently offered his take on the buzz Kendrick Lamar ignited over the summer with his "Control" lyrics and, notably, referencing himself as the "King of New York."
In Puff’s opinion, there are plenty of notable entertainers like Jay Z, Kanye West, himself and Lamar worthy of being recognized as kings.
“When I was coming up, I always stated I was a king because I knew who I was. That’s like knowledge of self. So with [Kendrick] being a king, he’s a king, Jay’s a king, Ye’s a king but there are some cats that are not kings. You got to be a prince sometimes before you can be a king,” Diddy explained in an interview. “Kendrick is deserving of his crown because he took hip-hop and put it on his back so crazy and has given birth to a whole type of real hip-hop generation that we needed to come back and it came from a cat that was, ironically, from the West Coast. He went back to the essence of what hip-hop is about.” (“Big Boy’s Neighborhood”)
The music mogul also dismissed rumors and gossip which suggested he held a grudge toward Lamar giving himself such a high title.
With the ‘king of New York’ line, I mean, it turned me up. I was just like, ‘Whoa, yo. This cat is bold, man.’ And I was like, ‘I love every minute of it.’ You know, I tweeted that I loved every minute of it. I was like ‘Yo, what are y’all cats gonna do now?’ A lot of y’all don’t take your time. Even if I get some of my rhymes co-written, I’m at least taking my time on what I’m saying. Certain cats, they don’t even take they time on what they saying. They’re not really, like, into the details and into the importance of it. And I just think he put the game into perspective and he ignited a fire in the game that was needed.” (“Big Boy’s Neighborhood”)
During a recent “Chelsea Lately” interview, K. Dot revealed his childhood dream to become the next Michael Jordan and how his “Control” lyrics could be seen in the same vain as NBA stars sparring.
“Nah, nah, a lot of the cats I named, they’re actually good friends of mine and I basically wanted to show that I’m competitive,” Lamar told host Chelsea Handler. “When you get out on that sport, get out on that basketball court and you’re playing — before music, I wanted to be Michael Jordan. No, seriously. But like you said, I’m a small guy, I only grew to like 5’6 and it deferred my dreams to actually writing rhymes and I pinned it somewhere else. I have a lot of insight on hooping, whether you know it or not. I know looks may be deceiving. … [I’m saying I’m a really good rapper] in a competitive nature, the same way basketball would be on the court. Kobe [Bryant] versus LeBron [James]. I’m sure they’re good friends off the court. But when you’re in that booth, you have to be able to annihilate whoever’s out there. That keeps the level of hip-hop alive as far as the culture.” (“Chelsea Lately”)
Despite the ample name-drops and proclamation of being the king of New York, Lamar initially admitted the backlash surprised him in an interview a few weeks back.
“Honestly I didn’t know there would be so much speculation behind it,” said Kendrick. “I just wanted to rap. Anybody that knows me doing music, I wanna just rap.” He also proclaimed himself the “king of New York,” which rubbed some rappers the wrong way. “I think that’s the case right there of maybe I just dumbed down my lyrics just a little bit,” he said. But he didn’t mean it literally. He had a conversation with some of hip-hop’s elite, who weren’t offended by his verse. “The irony of that line is the people that actually understood it and got it, was the actual kings of New York,” explained K-Dot. “You know, me sitting down with them this past week and them understanding that it’s not about actually being the king of whatever coast. It’s about leaving a mark as great as Biggie, as great as ‘Pac.” (Rap-Up)
Check out Diddy’s interview:
