Kendrick Lamar ‘Definitely Influenced’ By Snoop Dogg’s ‘Doggystyle’

Kendrick Lamar was heavily influenced by Snoop Dogg’s classic album Doggystyle.

Since you couldn’t escape the funky collection of songs crafted by the iconic rapper back in 1993, Lamar ended up listening to the tunes at the tender age of six. During an interview with XXL, the rapper said Doggystyle “definitely influenced” the music he makes today.

“The structure. The cohesiveness. The skits. The flow. The melodies Snoop kicked. The raw raps. There wouldn’t be a Kendrick Lamar without Doggystyle. [What stood out about the album] was its sound. Albums that last that long have their own sound. It was nothing duplicated, that’s why it stood out. It was that G-Funk,” the rapper told the publication.

Kendrick Lamar told GQ magazine:

“With the whole ‘Control’ verse, like, I knew it would bring an element of hip hop that hasn’t been there in a little while. But how much people put the hype on it? That’s the only thing that threw me off. Damn, you all attracted to it this much, but this ain’t nothing no different from what I grew up listening to, from Snoop. So it’s not new to me. I thought it wouldn’t be that much new to you guys too. But I see that it really is a whole ‘nother generation and demographic out there that’s listening. A whole ‘nother mainstream that’s not too familiar. You feel me?”

Despite being named one of GQ’s Men of the Year, apparently Lamar and his label weren’t too happy with the way they were portrayed by the magazine. Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, the CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, recently explained why Lamar recently decided not to play the publication’s Man of the Year party.

“While we think it’s a tremendous honor to be named as one of the Men Of The Year, these lazy comparisons and offensive suggestions are something we won’t tolerate. Our reputation, work ethic, and product is something that we guard with our lives,” Tiffith explainedexplained.

Kendrick Lamar was recently asked to lend his skills to Eminem’s album The Marshall Mathers LP 2. When the rapper realized he didn’t have any guests on his latest effort, he reached out to Lamar for a little lyrical assistance.

“I kinda sat back like f*** man,” he said, “I got no rappers on this s***! Kendrick, as incredible as he is, he’s also on the same label. He’s in our camp. It only made sense. To this day I’m not sure if he understood that I always wanted him to rap on it, because he laid two hooks and then he kind of looked like, ‘Is that it?'” Eminem told BET.

“He gets it, he really does,” the rapper said.

Are you a fan of Kendrick Lamar? Were you surprised to learn that Snoop Dogg’s classic 90s album Doggstyle had such an effect on the rapper?