Kendrick Lamar has rapidly emerged as one of the most promising new MCs in the game. From his appearance at 2011 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cipher to rhyming on Drake's new album to working on Dr. Dre's long-awaited Detox, the Compton upstart's name is popping up everywhere.
But in a recent interview, Lamar revealed that he's keeping a level head in the face of his rising fame, avoiding one common pitfall: the pressure of rising expectations.
"I don't really believe in the type of pressure that people are wanting to put on the type of music that I make," he told 2DopeBoyz. "I always felt like there was a certain standard of music that I had to do from the beginning, even when I didn't have the recognition that I have now. I always felt like I should cater to my music, as far as putting it on a pedestal and giving it 100 percent. It's never been no type of pressure, I just keep doing what I'm doing."

K.Dot also spoke on the hubris that can often be the downfall of rapidly rising new artists. "The best thing is to always keep honest people around, because when you have a bunch of yes men around that know that you're making a mistake but let you go on with it, that's when it ruins your mind state as an artist," he said. "It's easy to forget who you are. You go out and walk into a crowd and you've got thousands of people screaming your name...you can't lose yourself in that and feel like you're bigger than life...when you've got honest people around you that got genuine love for you, they're gonna tell you about yourself and keep you on humble ground."

Check out the entire interview below.