Black Hippy member Kendrick Lamar sat down with West Coast News Network Dubcnn last week to talk about finding his niche, how Black Hippy came together, and Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). “Watts and Compton is just five minutes away. I used to always see [Jay] Rock around the city,” Lamar says when asked how TDE formed. Lamar, 23, says he had a local mixtape out when he was 16. TDE heard it and brought him into the studio to work with Jay Rock. Jay Rock had been working with TDE for about six months before Lamar hit the studio with him. Then came Ab-Soul, and then Schoolboy Q. “We just started building a family,” Lamar says of TDE.

“It describes who we are when we come together,” Lamar says of the name Black Hippy. Lamar explains that the word “Hippy” comes from their carefree attitude toward the industry. “We placed black in front of that because we’re not just talking about a certain color, we’re talking about all colors,” Lamar says. “Colors represent life.”Click here to check out the exclusive Dubcnn interview with Kendrick Lamar. Check out the 13:00 mark to hear Lamar explain Black Hippy’s name. Lamar says a Black Hippy album and several mixtapes are in the works.

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