The self-proclaimed “King of New York” has finally taken a moment to discuss his verse on Big Sean’s “Control” after all the hype, challenges, and responses. Kendrick Lamar spoke to Peter Rosenberg on New York’s Hot 97 this morning, saying he was surprised by the reaction it got — something he didn’t hear about until days later because he was in the UK at the time. Lamar said his verse had no motives other than “to just get on there and rap… to challenge myself to rap some bars.”

Hear the full interview with Hot 97 after the jump, or read a few words from it below:

“It’s rap, man. People know I respect them… The whole point of the culture is to elevate the culture… I think the people who really took it out of context were the people who wanna make opportunity off the hype of the record rather than tuning in and listening.

“The ignorance behind it, you can kill that noise. It will never be like that again where two coasts rival. Not on my behalf, not while I’m doing this. I think the OGs in the game want that competitive nature but with no bloodshed. I’m way too wise, too polished to get caught up in the hype of the media. What I am scared of is cats who are not that polished who get caught up on their Twitter responses and what their homies are saying.”

In another interview with LA’s Power 106, he spoke specifically about his king of New York line, saying, “I think that’s a case where I maybe had to dumb down my lyrics just a little bit. The irony of that line is that the people that actually understood it and got it was the actual kings of New York. We’ve been down with them this past week, and them understanding that it’s not about actually being the King of whatever coast, it’s about leaving the mark as great as Biggie, as great as Pac.”

We’ve seen responses from Run the Jewels, Riff Raff, B.o.B, and more, but Lamar said he wasn’t expecting any beef to come out of it. In fact, he lists whose responses were his favorites. “At the end of the day, these are cats who I felt could inspire the game,” he said.”You know, if they’re competitive and respect the culture of hip-hop, I don’t feel there should be any type of ill feel.”

Listen to the interview below:

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Nina Corcoran

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