Kendrick Lamar praises Obama for honouring hip-hop artistes

Rapper Kendrick Lamar has lauded US President Barack Obama for welcoming him and other hip-hop artistes, including Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross, to the

White House

.


The 29-year-old rapper thanked Obama and his My Brother's Keeper initiative, which has given a lot of opportunities to the artistes like him to make their voices heard on such issues as youth

mentoring

and criminal justice reform.

"I think the world, not just hip-hop, owes him (Obama). We all have to give him his credit due for even allowing us into the building. We would probably never get inside that house ever again. Think about it like that. Rick Ross, (J) Cole, Nicki Minaj, he really went for us to come experience it."

"This is something our grandparents always wanted to see, never thought in a million years. But (we can) pass it down to our generation to say, 'All right, I'm in here and I'm finna use my power to let y'all see how this thing works," he said.

Praising the president, he further said, "You look at him as such a high figure in the world but for him to embrace you and have a connection with you further than just being the president and make you feel like an actual friend, that's probably the best moment and one of his best characteristics."