"I always thought money was something just to make me happy. But I've learned that I feel better being able to help my folks, 'cause we never had nothing. So just to see them excited about my career is more of a blessing than me actually having it for myself. 

My folks ain't graduated from high school or nothing like that, so we always had to struggle in the family—and I come from a big family. But as far as me handling this, it's a weird feeling because it's like a blur right now. I think my worst problem is actually living in the moment and understanding everything that's going on. I feel like I'm in my own bubble. 

People tell me all the time, "You're crazy, going there by yourself," because it wouldn't have soaked in yet that I'm supposed to be quote "Kendrick Lamar"—whoever this guy's supposed to be. I still feel like me. So it's really about me trying to adapt—that's like the toughest thing for me right now. I feel like I'm in my own world."

"My mom's got 14 brothers and sisters, my pop's got 10. They started in Chicago and came to L.A. . . .Well, they actually came to Compton—just them two—in '84, and then they had me in '87. But they paved the way for all my uncles and aunties and my cousins—eventually everybody came out. 

At one particular time, in the early '90s, we all stayed in the two black neighborhoods in Compton. So it was one of them things where it was like we were the neighborhood. So, as a kid, I was watching all of these things going on—parties, drinking, smoking, violence. But I was totally oblivious to it because I felt like it was just life. At the same time, I had birthdays and Christmas and holidays, which allowed me to actually be a kid. 

It gave me the ability to be a dreamer. That's what separated me from all my homeboys—the fact that I didn't get caught inside the reality. I was always dreaming about doing something else or going somewhere else."