Transcript: Kendrick Lamar And Kobe Bryant Interivew
Interviewer: How are you feeling today? You good?
Kendrick Lamar: I'm good, bro.
Interviewer: Yeah?
Kendrick Lamar: Yeah, it's my first time here.
Unknown: You got a single here.
Interviewer: It's a vibe.
Kendrick Lamar: Yeah.
Kobe Bryant: Oh, it's a big fucking deal.
Kendrick Lamar: Yeah, it should be, right?
Kobe Bryant: Yeah, you can feel it.
Interviewer: What's up, everybody? It is Jinx from Complex News. We are on day two of the second year of Complex Con out here in Long Beach, California. As you guys can see, we're sitting here with two very special guests, Kobe Bryant, Kendrick Lamar. How are you guys doing today?
Kendrick Lamar: How you doing?
Kobe Bryant: Fantastic, man.
Interviewer: Doing all right, man. It's day two, so I'm holding up. You guys are just getting here. You guys ready to hit the floor and see what's going on out there?
Kobe Bryant: Come on, man.
Interviewer: All right, you guys can do it together. You guys are both icons, right, in your respective fields. We're here today to talk about the evolution of that process of arriving. We look at you, Kobe, 8 to 24 is two different chapters, the way you came into the league, the way you finished your time in the NBA. Can you find distinct moments where you felt like, can you find a distinction between number 8 and number 24 for yourself?
Kobe Bryant: It's crystal clear to me because it's two different, it's almost two different people in a sense, you know, of having a certain mentality of coming in the league where you're literally headhunting everyone, right? Because it's your time to establish yourself and say, no, I belong here, right? And so this, as a result, everybody must go, right? And then when you hit a certain maturity level, which is where 24, it becomes less about your self-domination. It becomes, how can I help others grow? How can I lead a group of guys to get to a certain level as a group? And that's a really big distinction.
Interviewer: Looking back on number eight, what would 24 say to number eight in those early years?
Kobe Bryant: I think with 24 and his really old grandfatherly wisdom would say just keep head, honey, because that's how I got to be number 24 in the first place.
Interviewer: Word, word, word. Kendrick, for you, K-dot into I guess what we want to call now Kenny, Kung Fu Kenny. You're at a point now where the respect is there. Can you find a distinction point between those two personas, or are they different?
Kendrick Lamar: Yeah, definitely. It's definitely a big difference. Same with what Kobe just said. K-Dot. This is me prepping myself as far as the lyrical ability and being able to go in the studio and say, you know what, I want to be the best wordsmith. Anybody that gets on this track, I have to just, you know, annihilate, however that is, whether it's through rhyme schemes, whether it's through metaphors, whether it's just punchlines, whether it's just wordplay. And I didn't have the actual technique of songwriting then. And this where, you know, this is the transition where Kendrick Lamar, Kung Fu Kenny, I look at Kung Fu Kenny as a master of the craft now. Now you have the ability to make songs still have the wordsmith technique and intertwine it and have a composed mentality on how to approach music. Now you're just not connecting with people in the studio or your homies, you're connecting with people around the world universally.
Interviewer: Is the desire to be great something that you walk in the game with or is it something that you start to earn as you start to see your skills develop? You start feeling like, I got this, I got something I can do. Or do you set out the moment you first pick up the rock, get in the studio and say, I'm going to do this. I'm going to be the best.
Kobe Bryant: I mean, for me, I set out immediately to be the best. I mean, it was a decision, right? You can't... At what point do you say, okay, I have the skills that are good enough to be one of the best ever? How do you even know that, right? I think it has to be a quest from day one. This is a choice that you're going to make. You know the sacrifices that come along with that. But once you make that deal with yourself... That's it. There's no going back.
Interviewer: It's a process and it's kind of gradual, but was there ever like a game or a point in practice, any point, personal, where you were like, oh, I'm here, this is...
Kobe Bryant: There was a practice. I was 18 and we were scrimmaging. And so it was myself, Derek Fisher at the time. You only remember Travis Knight. Travis Knight was, you know, in a... And it was our second unit going against the first unit. So that was Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Shaquille O'Neal, Elton Campbell. And so on my second unit team was a player named Corey Blount. And so the score was tied. The game goes to seven, 6-6, right? I get doubled. I pass the ball to Corey Blount. Corey Blount takes the shot from the corner, misses it. Ball bounces long. Nick goes down, lays it up. First team wins. And so I start flipping tables, throwing chairs. I mean, I let Corey have it. And Corey's like, hey, man, it's just a game. I'm like, man, it's not a game. And I went back in the locker room, and I was like, I might be cut a little different. Maybe this is just a game, and I can't get over it. Why can't I get over this thing? Like, they left, went home. I'm still thinking about it the next day. I'm like, all right, well, maybe I'm a little different. So that's not so much as I've arrived here, but it's more like I care about this a little bit more than everybody else. And in that sense, I arrived.
Interviewer: Yeah, dope.
Kendrick Lamar: Mine's probably a little bit different. Mine's come from a standpoint where, you know, after so long of spitting raps to your homies and your friends in the neighborhood and being in the studio, you kind of feel that, you know, this is all you know and this is your audience. Especially being in Compton, you know, it's a small city. And I think the moment I was able to go overseas and I think it was a show in London and I'm doing my raps or whatever and I see the people in the front row reciting these lyrics as if they wrote them inside my mom's kitchen where I was at writing them. And this right here took my whole approach and appreciation for music on a whole nother level because now I see that these words just not for me and my friends. It's people that actually connect with them that I've never met. And that's the moment I felt I've arrived. This is not just... It's not just something I do for fun. I'm always doing it for fun, but now I see that other people enjoy it the same way we enjoy it. And that gave me another fuel and battery in my back to keep doing it.
Interviewer: In rap, even as a competitive sport, a lot of guys will call themselves great. You're at a point where you can call yourself the best rapper alive, and you have, and it's fact. You can mean it. What do people misconstrue about greatness? What's the missing puzzle piece, right? Because it's like, of course, there's hard work, right? Of course, you have to have the mindset. What's the missing puzzle piece in greatness that you can't just say it?
Kobe Bryant: Well, I think there's a certain stubbornness that comes along with being great. I think people see greatness as kind of an easy road, right? It's like a one-path thing. You work hard, and then all of a sudden it happens. It don't work like that. You know, there's a lot of darkness that comes from that as well. I mean, there's a lot of experiences, personal experiences that you go through that you use as fuel to propel you forward, whereas otherwise it would just be obstacles for others. It might even prevent them from going forward. Whereas for us, those moments do nothing but fuel us even more. So there's a lot of the anxiety, the fear, the anger, all of that stuff plays a significant part in it, just as much as love does. And it's not easy, but if it was easy, I guess everyone... You have a world full of lions, but lions need gazelles.
Kendrick Lamar: Exactly. It's the curiosity of it. You know, what he's saying, the fear, the anxiety. It's the curiosity of knowing, damn, I can possibly overcome this. You know, and when you do... And another one approaches like, I want to challenge that too. And that's real greatness to almost be, you know, we spend so much time prepping our careers and what's next and how we're going to move through it. But at the same time, it's always that curiosity in the back of our heads, like what's to come and how can I conquer that? That's for me, I know for Kobe as well. That's a thing for us, and it always drives us.
Interviewer: What inspires you now? Is it the same things from before? And if so, what are they? Or is it something different?
Kendrick Lamar: Yeah, definitely the same things. I think it just magnified now. I always go back to, you know, how I will feel, you know, once I've reached these amount of records or touched this amount of people and being on these certain stages. Now for me, it's really just keeping that compassion for that and always remembering that hunger and that challenge.
Interviewer: Not getting jaded.
Kendrick Lamar: Yeah, exactly. And sometimes even going back to smaller venues, you know, you're doing these arenas all day, every day. When you go back to these small hole in the walls, same what we did with 2 Pickle Butterfly. We did 11 dates, 500 people in the building. You know what I'm saying? That inspires me, because these are the same people that have been with me from day one. Yeah. And I can look them there in their eyes and say, you know, we're going to continue to carry this thing we call great music forever. You know, that is the inspiration behind that. And seeing them out there and rocking, you know, they can actually hang on a banister.
Interviewer: You can't do that in the stadium.
Kendrick Lamar: You can't do that in the stadium. You can't do that. You can't feel that energy. You know, so being out there in the field, that's, you know, that's still giving me that same drive and that same hunger.
Interviewer: Yeah. You're at a different point in your career now. You're no longer on the court. Yeah. What's your inspiration now?
Kobe Bryant: Fast forward 20 years from now, if basketball is the best thing that I've done in my life, then I've failed. It's a very simple, very simple mission, very simple quest, very simple goal. These next 20 years need to be better than the previous 20. Wow. Right? And it's as simple as that. And that's what drives me.
Interviewer: That's heavy. Yeah. Basketball and hip-hop, right? It's like they're married. Is there someone on the court that he reminds you of?
Kobe Bryant: Yeah, it was me.
Kendrick Lamar: You can't ask that. You better not ask me that question. I know the answer. No, listen, it's the same hunger. Step out there on the court taking heads off. It's not, there's no, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear Michael's the best player in the world. I want to hear they call him Black Jesus. I don't want to hear that. You don't have to show me. Right? So that's that.
Interviewer: All right. All right. Let me just skip. You just like erase the next three. All right. You were in the building for his final game. What was that like? I mean, like L.A., right? Like you've watched the entirety of his career. A lot of ways he's defined L.A. and the world you grew up in, showing you possibilities, and he's not that far from you. Right. But then especially when you see the final game, he's actually like not that far from you. Yeah. What was that?
Kendrick Lamar: You know what's funny? We didn't actually know what was happening until, like, the final moments. Because, I mean, you're in it. We were watching him. I mean, it's like, okay, 34 points, okay? 40 points. Okay, this is a Kobe night on his last night. You know what I'm saying? But it's a switch that's starting to happen. Now it's like a damn near glitch. And me and schoolboy Q looking at each other like, is this really happening? You know, everybody's just, you know, appalled, but we're looking like, damn, he's really about to do this on his final game. That's a different type of fucking greatness. Like, you, you, you, that's like.
Interviewer: Storybook.
Kendrick Lamar: Yeah, I mean, it's not even just a story, but it's just like the hunger, you know, to be able to say, I'm still finna go out here and give my motherfucking blood, sweat, and tears on this court. Like, you know, most people be like, farewell. Nah. Like, me and Q was like, yo, this is the type of stuff we gotta apply to not only in music, but our day-to-day lives. You know, this man went out there and gave his all for years, and still, you know, on his last game, put that energy and that effort out there. This is just a, you know, a life lesson, you know, for everybody that was in that building. That's how we was feeling. I remember sitting next to Q saying the exact same thing.
Kobe Bryant: Appreciate that, man.
Kendrick Lamar: Yep.
Interviewer: That final walkout. What was it?
Kobe Bryant: When I showed up at Staples Center, it felt like the building felt almost somber. I said, why is everybody so damn down? This should be a celebration. I just played 20 years, and my goal was to give the city something to remember. Let's give them something to talk about, something to leave here and be excited about. And then the game started, and I missed my first eight shots. And I was like, okay, well, this is either going to be the worst exit game ever or it's going to be the best one. And so I'm comfortable either or. So, you know, I'm going to just keep on going and keep on going. And then what happens is the game starts rolling. Then you start thinking tactically. That's when things get going because the crowd disappears and all you see is the schematics of things. You start processing movements and you start processing how to pick things apart and everything else vanishes. And then the game, the buzzer sounds and you're like, whoa, wow.
Kendrick Lamar: Whoa, this just happened.
Kobe Bryant: That's crazy.
Kendrick Lamar: That's how we felt. That shit just happened.
Kobe Bryant: Yeah.
Kendrick Lamar: That's crazy.
Interviewer: Both Nike boys, you have a signature line. You work tons of other models on the court. Hirachis, 2K4s, 2K5s, Zoom Flights. Yep. I seen you sporting, you got Air Forces on, right? You're doing the 97s, you're doing the Cortez's. Could you ever see yourself having your own signature line?
Kendrick Lamar: Oh yeah, definitely.
Interviewer: What advice would you give to them for a signature line?
Kobe Bryant: Make it your own, right? And I mean that, I mean, it's like, it has to come from within. It's your story. So like, if you take all of my signature sneakers, they're just snapshots of where I was at a moment in time in my life. And the reason why they're designed a certain way is because it's a snapshot of a particular journey in my life emotionally that I'm going through, where my game is going. So when the designs come from inside, then they truly become signature because you can't take that shoe and apply that to anyone else in the world because it's your own story. That's the magic.
Kendrick Lamar: That's a real talk.
Interviewer: Finally, you guys are at two very different places. Kobe, you're embarking on a new journey. I want to know what challenge you think, what's the biggest challenge you think you have ahead of you? And you're in the eye of the storm right now. You're in the game still, right? And you're scoring at a very high level. What's the big, I think sometimes people can look at you and think, well, he's good, right? Like, he's up there. But those are new challenges. What's the biggest challenge ahead of you?
Kendrick Lamar: More time in a day.
Interviewer: That's real.
Kendrick Lamar: To do more.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Kendrick Lamar: At the level I'm at, you know, on a music level it's opened up so many different avenues as far as business. But I always want to keep the music first, you know what I'm saying? This is a challenge that I'm seeing that's happening right now today. Keeping the music 100% first, but not being stagnant in other ideas and other creatives that I have to offer in the world.
Kobe Bryant: My challenge is letting go of what was. Focus on building what's to come. And that's very, very hard because 20 years of career, legacy, Kobe Bryant, things of that nature, the easy thing would be to build upon that still. The hard thing to do is to let that go and now focus on building a studio, focus on building a content company from books to films and everything in between. Focus on what's ahead. Right? And it takes a lot of bravery to be able to do that. Because what if that falls flat? Then what? Right? It's always easier to go with what is.
Kendrick Lamar: What you know.
Kobe Bryant: Right. But that ain't what we do. Right? We push forward. And that's the biggest challenge ahead. And we can make these next 20 years greater than the previous 20. I'll be happy.
Interviewer: Yeah. Icons. Fellas. Thank you.
Kobe Bryant: Appreciate it, man.
Event Date: November 6, 2017
