Kendrick Lamar paid a visit at High Tech High School in North Bergen, New Jersey this past Monday where he interacted with students and even performed for a select audience.
Here’s a little backstory: Brian Mooney, an English teacher at the school, incorporated songs from his sophomore album To Pimp a Butterfly into his lecture on Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye. The news reached Kendrick who arranged a visit at the school to meet up with students, participate in freestyle cypher and later perform his upcoming single ‘Alright’.
Said Kendrick at the school:
“I was intrigued how somebody can — other than myself — can articulate and break down the concepts of To Pimp A Butterfly, almost better than I can. Something even — for me — even bigger than mentoring is really listening. “And when I do that, we have a little bit bigger connection than me being Kendrick Lamar and you being a student. It’s almost like we’re friends, you know? Because a friend listens and we learn off each others’ experiences.”
Check out a video clip from his visit below (via NPR).