Kendrick Lamar On His Grammy Nominations: ‘I Want to Win Them All’

Kendrick Lamar is an amiable guy with a quick smile, but he’s at his most effusive onstage and in the recording booth. Out of the spotlight, in the company of strangers, he can be diffident; glad-handing isn’t his thing. But surreal times call for extreme measures, which is why Lamar devoted several weeks on either side of the new year to an industry charm offensive. He taped a concert for the venerable PBS live-music broadcast Austin City Limits and made the rounds to NPR, The New York Times and other press outlets. In short, Lamar has undertaken an old-fashioned Grammy lobbying campaign. He makes no bones about his desire to run the table at the awards. “I want to win them all,” he says.

Via Billboard