Kendrick Lamar kept things close to home over the weekend by attending a toy giveaway in Compton.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper returned to his hometown on Saturday (December 16) to support the annual Christmas In Compton Toy Giveaway at Enterprise Park.
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K.Dot took time out to take photos with friends and fans of all ages while wearing a cap and white tee.
In images posted to Instagram, locals could be seen capturing photos of the Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers rapper in his stomping grounds.
Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine and fellow Cali rapper Jay Worthy also attended the event, with the latter taking to Instagram to shout out Kendrick Lamar for pulling up.
“WHO ELSE HOOD YOU KNOW GOT JIMMY IOVINE PULLING UP TO THEY PARK WESTSIDE THE MOST INFLUENTIAL HOOD IN AMERICA THATS WHO,” Worthy wrote.
“ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL TOY DRIVE IN THE CITY OF COMPTON S/O MY BROTHERS @kendricklamar @im_luxxkjr @forevachad @pglang AND EVERYBODY ELSE INVOLVED THIS DEEPER THAN RAP THIS FAMILY.”
Born and raised in Compton, Kendrick Lamar spoke in length about his connection to the city during an interview with The New York Times in December 2022.
“It’s nature versus nurture. I was nurtured in an environment where there’s, like, a lot of gang mentality,” he began. “That certain language, certain lingo. How we walk. How we talk.”
He continued: “All the little nuances and in-speaks that I have in Compton. I have that. That’s not going nowhere. That’s why I can go into any environment, any type of street environment, and be able to still connect even at this high of a level, as the son that never leaves. That’s nurture.
“But the nature of me is pure… And therefore, I lean too much to the nurture of it, I won’t be able to be as expansive as I want to be. A lot of these artists, they want to be expansive, but they so tied into what they homeboys will think about them or their belief system.”
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“I know, because I was once there, but I got out of that mentality as a teenager, my teenage years,” he added. “These cats still be 30, 40 years old and still trying to hold up a certain image. And not to say it’s bad. Everybody got their own journey.
“I was just fortunate enough to have a group of guys around me that gave me that courage to feed myself with the arts, whether it was the street cats in my neighborhood, whether it was Dave [Free] who pushed me to be an artist, whether it was Top from the projects, the Nickerson Gardens. I always was allowed to be myself.”
