What started out as a dream from a group of hungry men has evoled into one of the strongest forces in hip-hop. In the latest Billboard cover story, Kendrick Lamar and Anthony ‘Top Dawg’ Tiffith have a candid conversation of their journey to success.
Read an excerpt below:
Anthony Tiffith: Growing up in the era of the gangsta shit, a lot of my friends were getting killed, a lot of friends were in the pen, I got shot. When I got with the [TDE artists], it was up to me to show them something different — to lock them in my studio and make them build a bond as brothers, and struggle a little bit. I had the money to do whatever I wanted, but they weren’t going to appreciate shit if I just handed it off to them. So they were rushing to McDonald’s to look at what’s on the dollar menu, or going to get a River Boat special from Louisiana Fried Chicken. But I was showing them family life because my family lives in this house, too.
What made you trust these kids?
Tiffith: Me being in the streets all my life, I judge people pretty good. Jay Rock is from my hood, Nickerson Gardens. I was chasing him around, and he hides, thinking I’m trying to discipline him about some bullshit. I finally catch him while he was getting a haircut: “Yo, you rap. I’m trying to do this shit. Let’s go.” Dave [Free] was a computer dude, he came to fuck with my computer and played [Lamar’s] music.
Top, who did you look to as an example once you found success?
Tiffith: I learned from my uncle. When I got in the streets, he was always like, “Be low-key. Don’t be no loud n—a.” And just watching, like, JAY-Z and Puff. I don’t dance. I can’t jump in no video.
People have compared you to Suge Knight.
Tiffith: Have you seen any of his qualities in me? You’re not seeing me go crazy, beating on anybody, arrested every week. If they were talking about success, I would’ve been cool with that because he had great success. But they judge us brothers like that. They put us all in the same box.
Kendrick, how have your relationships with the other TDE artists changed?
Lamar: Being a fan of groups and labels, you hear stories of motherfuckers fighting, this one jealous of the other. Those cats never had brotherhood from the jump. I still can look in [ScHoolboy] Q’s eyes, and he can still look in my eyes, like, “N—a, I know.” Or Rock. I know what we did to get here. No matter how far we get, we’ll always have that bond, period.
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