The scale and impact of ComplexCon 2017 is still sinking in. It was even bigger and better than last year, and so full of stars and surprises that picking highlights is hard. That said, this right here was an obvious standout moment. Our guy Jinx, host of the P&P Update, sat down with Kendrick Lamar and Kobe Bryant, and the legends in their respective fields talked about something they both know well: greatness.
Jinx didn't know this interview was even a possibility until a couple of days before the shoot. "As soon as I landed on Thursday I went to the convention center," he says. "I was walking around the market place floor to see what the booths were looking like this year. I ran into some of the Complex team and that’s when I got word. I’m a huge Kendrick fan and interviews with him are rare. I was just hoping it would all work out."
Kendrick and Kobe have a lot in common when it comes to their ambition and evolution, and the two spoke eloquently about how they got where they are today, the darker side of striving to be the best, and what's next. On his transition from the early days of proving himself to becoming the legend he is today, Kendrick explains that there's a big difference between the two approaches.
Now you're just not connecting with people in the studio and your homies, you're connecting with people around the world, universally.
"K-Dot—this is me prepping myself as far as lyrical ability and being able to go in the studio and say you know what, I want to be the best wordsmith," Kendrick says of the early stages in his career. "Anybody who gets on this track I have to just annihilate, however that is, whether it's through rhyme schemes, whether it's through metaphors, whether it's just punchlines, or whether it's wordplay. I didn't have the actual technique of songwriting then."
"I look at Kung Fu Kenny as a master of the craft now," he continues. "Now you have the ability to make songs and 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 and your homies, you're connecting with people around the world, universally."
"This was my first time meeting or interviewing Kendrick," Jinx tells us. "He’s the interview I’ve always hoped for. I’m not sure if I was surprised by anything, but there’s always that moment when interviewing people where you get to observe the context that comes with human interaction. You get to see the interviewees mannerisms and volley energy. Kendrick has a presence about him and intention to his words."
Watch the full interview above, and see Jinx interview Ski Mask The Slump God at ComplexCon below:
