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Kendrick Lamar Describes Creating To Pimp a Butterfly as 'Therapy'

"This s**t belongs to you and only you,” he told the crowd at a recent show.

When Kendrick Lamar talks, everyone listens.

That was certainly the case at a recent show in New York on his Kunta’s Groove Sessions tour. During his set, the Compton rapper reflected on his latest album, To Pimp a Butterfly, and called its creation therapeutic.

“People have said a lot about this album,” he told the intimate crowd over music provided by his band, Wesley Theory. “They done said ‘album of the year,’ ‘album of this generation’ and all that s**t. That’s cool. But on some real s**t, making this motherf**kers album was therapy. Not only for you, but for me… [It’s] some s**t that y’all can feel whether you insecure, vulnerable, mad, happy, angry, sad. You pop this motherf**ker's tape in, and you love and you live this s**t.”

Kendrick also credited his fans for the album’s success. It is currently sitting at gold status and debuted at the top of the charts upon its release back in March.

“I think this s**t can live forever,” he said. “Y’all allowed this motherf**king album to soar all the way to the top with no motherf**king commercial success. Y’all allowed it to be top 10 without a constant radio single and s**t. So that proves that you were there. Music is not something you can motherf**king market all the time. This s**t belongs to you and only you.”

Watch Kendrick Lamar’s full speech to fans here.

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 (Photo: Leon Bennett/WireImage)

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