Compton native Kendrick Lamar has a new job and it's to throw out the first pitch for the LA Dodgers game on April 27. The To Pimp a Butterfly rapper will join his local team for the ceremonial pitch against the San Francisco Giants.
The Dodgers released the news via Twitter yesterday (April 3) in a reply to Lamar's Tweet announcing his video for "King Kunta." The Dodgers' tweet (via NME) included a photo of Lamar in a Dodger's hat that read:
"Really diggin' that lid @kendricklamar. See you April 27 for your first pitch."
K. Dot heavily uses his Compton upbringing in his music. He recently defended a line in his track, "The Blacker the Berry," in an interview with MTV News after MTV reported that the Compton rapper received flack for line:
"So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street/ When gang banging make me kill a n---a blacker than me, hypocrite."
Lamar explained that his depression from the murder of a close friend inspired him to pour his emotion into "The Blacker the Berry." He shared, "When I say these lines, it's for myself, this is therapeutic for myself because I still feel that urge and I still feel that anger and that hatred for that man next door because I gotta get a call knowing that somebody around the corner done did this to my partner," he explained to MTV. "I've only been in this industry for three, four years and I can't forget 20 years of me being in the city of Compton."
In reference to the gang activity he experienced in Compton, Lamar added, "So when I say these things it's therapeutic for me...it's making me remind that I need to respect this man because he's a black man, not because of the color that he's wearing."
