Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

When Barack Obama met Kendrick Lamar

'Can you believe that we're both sitting in this Oval Office?'

Christopher Hooton
Tuesday 12 January 2016 09:08 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

In addition to being President of the United States of America, Barack Obama is a big fan of Kendrick Lamar, having at the end of last year declared his To Pimp a Butterly album track ‘How Much a Dollar Cost’ his favourite song of 2015.

The pair finally got to meet recently in the Oval Office, and today Kendrick discussed it in a new video promoting his Pay It Forward program.

“I look at where I'm at today and realise that most of my success is owed to the mentors that was in my life," Lamar says at the opening, playing basketball with a young kid.

"I sat down with President Barack Obama and we shared the same views. Topics concerning the inner cities, the problems, the solutions, and furthermore embracing the youth, both being aware that mentoring saves lives."

Obama’s senior adviser elaborated on the meeting to Buzzfeed with a charming anecdote.

"You know what the president said to him?” she said. "[Because Lamar] was a little nervous - bless his heart, he's really a very nice young man, and the president said, 'Can you believe that we're both sitting in this Oval Office?’’”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in