Kendrick Lamar talks Grammy nominations in Fallon interview

Kendrick Lamar discussed his record 11 Grammy nominations and unveiled a new song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Rapper Kendrick Lamar joined Jimmy Fallon for a sit-down interview, and later performed his new song ‘Untitled 2‘ during Thursday night’s episode of The Tonight Show.

The host, who noted that Lamar had made his television debut on the show a few years ago, introduced the Compton, California native by mentioning that he had received a whopping 11 Grammy nominations for his critically acclaimed and commercially successful album, To Pimp a Butterfly.

Fallon praised the rapper’s recent performance on Saturday Night Live, and then noted that Lamar had made history by receiving the most Grammy nominations for a rapper in one year, including for Album of the Year, as well as Song of the Year for ‘Alright.’

He also pointed out that his 11 nods had just fallen short of the record held by Michael Jackson for most nominations in a year for any artist. The late singer received 12 noms for his legendary album Thriller.

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“I wouldn’t want to go past that though,” Lamar admitted. “But what if you had 13?” asked Fallon.

Lamar responded: “I can’t fathom being as great as Michael without putting out the work. So 11 is the perfect. He’s legendary.”

Fallon then inquired about the samples he used on To Pimp a Butterfly that were all from 1974 and 1975. Lamar explained that he was influenced by the music that his parents would play while he was growing up in the 90s, from the Isley Brothers and The Temptations to gangsta rappers like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

“My first album I debuted I wanted to make an album like this, but I wasn’t confident enough so I had to go back and say, ‘You know what, I’m going to do it this time around,'” he explained.

“The confidence paid off,” concluded Fallon.

Lamar then debuted his powerful new song Untitled 2, which is not a track found on his 2015 LP. The rapper previously unveiled ‘Untitled’ on an episode of The Colbert Report, and performed a medley of songs from To Pimp a Butterfly for Stephen Colbert’s new gig on The Late Show.

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His appearance on The Tonight Show came a day before Kanye West teased his first collaboration with the 28-year-old rapper on his website with the new song ‘No More Parties in LA,’ along with another new track, ‘Real Friends.’

NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon continues tonight with guests Tyler Perry, Narcos star Wagner Moura and comedian Iliza Shlesinger. Meanwhile, the Grammys are slated to air on Feb. 15 on CBS.

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