It's a warm August night in Santa Monica, and Kendrick Lamar is sitting on a low sofa in a hotel suite as the sun sets behind him, very carefully speaking to SZA and me. It's more than a little surreal to have Lamar, the closest thing this era of hip-hop has to a truth teller, leaning forward and looking intently first into SZA's face, then mine, saying things like "I do believe in love and war, and I believe they both need to exist."
Lamar and SZA are, of course, two of the world's biggest superstars, used to commanding stadiums full of fans. Lamar is the MC who many would argue keeps the soul of hip-hop alive. We are one year removed from the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, and the genre that once signified rebellion and artistic freedom has settled into its current iteration as the lingua franca of corporations and the American empire with barely a pang of conscience. Amid all this, Lamar remains a rarity: a true artist interested in exploring the limits of self-expression and creativity. He makes personal records about regret, family trauma, and desire even as he consistently captures the zeitgeist. A dizzyingly fantastical lyricist, he has consistently challenged himself, first with his debut album, 2011's Section.80, and continuing with good kid, m.A.A.d city. In 2018, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his album DAMN, the first time a work outside of classical or jazz traditions was honored.
Early next year, he will be headlining Super Bowl LIX For this issue, only the fifth time this magazine has put a man alone on the cover, Lamar wanted SZA to interview him. It's a move that makes sense when, later on, Lamar explains that he processes information best through connections with others. The two are former labelmates who toured together as they were coming up. In 2018, their song "All the Stars" was featured in Black Panther (Lamar also produced the soundtrack) and was later nominated for Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy awards.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Epic VISION of BARBARA CHASE-RIBOUD
With a MONUMENTAL new EXHIBITION in Paris, the Americanborn ARTIST looks back on a CREATIVE LIFE spent thinking BIG
She's a FREE SPIRIT and an OLD SOUL, a Disney Legend and a Grammy winner.ONE THING MILEY CYRUS is NOT INTERESTED in? Being PREDICTABLE.
Miley Cyrus is sitting in front of the stone-walled fireplace in her house in Los Angeles, holding up two coffee-table books.
Routine HABIT
How executive editor LEAH CHERNIKOFF found a SKINCARE REGIMEN she could finally COMMIT to
LIFE of the PARTY
Dance the night away with looks inspired by PARTY MAKEUP of the PAST. Grab BLACK EYELINER and lots of GLITTER, but leave perfection at the door. Here, how to re-create the coolest EYES, LIPS, and FACE for any FESTIVE OCCASION.
RETAIL Therapy
SHOPPING TODAY often feels more like mindless SCROLLING than BUYING something because it makes you feel SPECIAL. One writer discovers the beauty of a more PERSONAL, CUSTOMIZED EXPERIENCE.
CREATIVE Powers
In this edition, our columnist, DEREK C. BLASBERG, visits the PARIS STUDIO of the inimitable artist SETSUKO KLOSSOWSKA DE ROLA, who was married to one of the most celebrated painters of the 20TH CENTURY and has always approached LIVING her LIFE as if she were CRAFTING a MASTERPIECE
BIRTH Story
NEW MOTHERHOOD is often depicted as a BEATIFIC and BLISSEDOUT EXPERIENCE. Writer SARAH HOOVER'S JOURNEY couldn't have been further from it. In her new MEMOIR, she offers an unflinching LOOK at her STRUGGLE with severe POSTPARTUM DEPRESSIONand how she EMERGED from it.
What WORDS Are FOR
We have been LIVING in “UNPRECEDENTED TIMES\" for 25 years. KAITLYN GREENIDGE reflects on what it means to write through a NEW REALITY.
Tipping POINT
When the PROGRESSIVE A-LIST CLIENTELE of the fashionable workout BALLET BEAUTIFUL learned that its FOUNDER was MARRIED to an ARCHITECT of the MAGA BLUEPRINT to impose an ultraconservative social agenda, PROJECT 2025, many felt SHOCKED and even BETRAYED
SABATO's Way
hor GUCCI creative director SABATO DE SARNO, remaking the storied Italian HOUSE for a NEW ERA isnt about OUTRUNNING its PAST. ts about MAKING some HISTORY ofhis OWN.
