Terrence ‘Punch’ Henderson, the President of Top Dawg Entertainment believes Kendrick Lamar‘s 2012 album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, has set the bar for records today. During an interview with Elliot Wilson and Brian ‘B.Dot’ Miller on Rap Radar’s podcast, Henderson spoke about each member of the TDE collective, with a special focus on Kendrick, and his connection to Tupac.
“I think [Kendrick Lamar] really, really raised the bar high,” Punch said on the podcast. “We just playing for who [is] coming in second at this point. It’s not being biased because that’s my artist but before that album, out of all of the new guys, this album was almost a throwback to what we love about Hip Hop; the way the whole album was sewn together through a narrative to the beats to all the lyrics. Everything just linked and connected. It pretty much set the bar for classic records of today.”
The TDE president also touched on To Pimp A Butterfly‘s closer Mortal Man. The track features a back and forth like conversation between Lamar and Tupac Shakur. Lamar used an interview recorded in 1994, and added his own vocals to create the track.
“He got the [Tupac] interview overseas,” Punch said. “He played it for me before one of the shows. Just a little clip. I was like, ‘This is stupid right here. This is what’s gonna make it classic if you weave it in the proper way.” Henderson also spoke of the cautiousness he felt going into the track, which makes sense considering the hold Tupac still holds over the Hip-Hop game.
On Kendrick’s future career, Henderson detailed his hunger for Kendrick to grow, even suggesting that Kendrick could try his hand at acting in the future.
Check out the podcast below: