Why Kendrick Lamar says making protest music against Trump is like 'beating a dead horse'
But in a new interview with Rolling Stone, the 30-year-old rapper said he now thinks that writing protest music against Trump is futile.
"I mean, it's like beating a dead horse. We already know what it is," Lamar told the outlet of speaking on Trump. "You just get to a point where you're tired of talking about it. It weighs you down and it drains your energy when you're speaking about something or someone that's completely ridiculous."
Previously, on his "DAMN." track, "XXX.," Lamar spoke out against Trump in a meditation on the intersection of violence and capitalism in America. On "LUST.," he recounted how he and his community reacted in disbelief to Trump's victory:
"We all woke up, tryna tune to the daily news
Looking for confirmation, hoping election wasn't true
All of us worried, all of us buried, and the feeling's deep
None of us married to his proposal, make us feel cheap."
Now, Lamar said he's focusing his energy less on combating Trump's policies, and more on continuing to promote self-reflection and self-worth in his music as a means to spark change.
"On and off the album, I took it upon myself to take action in my own community," Lamar said. "On the record, I made an action to not speak about what's going on in the world or the places they put us in. Speak on self; reflection of self first. That's where the initial change will start from."
Listen to Lamar's song "XXX," featuring U2, below: