Even though Kendrick Lamar's latest single, "i," is all about self, it's all one love. And he used the song's cover art to express that.

“Where I’m from, there’s a lot of gang culture and things like that, so instead of throwing on up gang signs, which we used to, I put a Blood and I put a Crip together and we’re throwing up hearts,” he said, according to HipHop DX.

It's about "sparking the idea of some type of change through music or through me because I go back to the city now and people give me the honor and respect that, you know, this kid can change a little bit something different that’s been going on in the community,” he continued. Full circle.

As for the critics who think K. Dot's already bowed to pop pressure, he also revealed this about his creative process: “When I go into creating an album or any type of song, I usually cut off everything from the radio because you can easily be influenced from songs that you like, songs that you may not like. So I said, ‘I’m gonna go in the studio and I’m going to do what I feel organically without being confined to industry standards or what people assume that I should do. Because at the end of the day, man, I’m an artist and I would hate to be stagnant.”

Erykah Badu would be proud.

The good kid, m.A.A.d. city follow-up is expected sometime this year. Meanwhile, click here for some of the best Twitter reactions to "i."

BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

(Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images)