Turns out, interviewing Kendrick Lamar today yields a similar result as it did back in 2009.

As exemplified by a throwback interview now making its rounds online, the emcee has been walking the walk and talking the talk since he first got his start in the rap game, and while some artists might be embarrassed by interviews they gave when they were only 22 years old, Lamar truly is a rare exception.

Throughout the six-minute clip, Lamar talks shop, explaining why he changed his moniker back to his government name, previously rapping as K. Dot, and also dropped all sorts of subtle gems regarding his life's missions. 

"I’m 22, I was born and raised in Compton, California," Lamar said in the archived footage. "I love music. I think I was put on Earth just to do music. I think everybody has they mission to set out what they want to do or what they supposed to do in life. I think God made me to spread my voice to the world — straight up."

Looks like he hasn't strayed from that path whatsoever in the past eight years and even more impressively, has stayed true to himself throughout the entire journey.

"The whole thing I'm stressing now about me and my story is, I'm a good kid in a mad city," the rapper said in what we know now was foreshadowing to his kick-start album, Good Kid, m.A.A.d City.

Take a listen to a young Kendrick Lamar proving he's always been wise beyond his years in the throwback interview below, with a freestyle over Kanye West's "So Appalled" hitting around the halfway mark.