Kendrick Lamar Talks Darkness and Light in Walmart Risers Interview

Kendrick Lamar is featured in a new Walmart Risers interview and in it, he offers some incredibly personal nuggets of wisdom to fans, in addition to talking about his breakthrough debut, 'good Kid, m.A.A.d city.'

The interview shows how self-aware and self-possessed the rap dynamo is, which is impressive since he is all of 25 and it's easy for one's head to get clouded by all the nonsense that takes place in the eat-its-young music biz.

In the chat, Lamar explains that the album is "conceptual, a self-portrait of who I am and what I represent. The ultimate thing is about coming from a dark place and transpiring that energy to do something positive with yourself."

But he isn't just paying lip service to the idea of coming out of the dark and into the light with a PMA. He understands and appreciates the value of struggle and overcoming challenges, saying, "What you go through eventually makes up who you are. Don't let anything like depression or sadness reflect on who you are today. Because tomorrow it will make you a better person. You gotta keep shining."

Those are some big words for fans, but they have some serious weight.

Lamar is certainly in touch with what he wants and what type of rapper he wants to be, and from the sound of it, he's not taking anything for granted. He spoke about working with a legendary assessor of talent like Dr. Dre. "To collaborate with great names like Dre is a great feeling, because you look up to him [and] he's a legend where I'm from," the rapper says. "To be in the studio with him is a confirmation I'm on the right path and doing what I wanna do."

While Kendrick Lamar might be one of the hottest things in hip-hop right now, he's not letting anything go straight to his head. This Good Kid's future is blinding.