Kendrick Lamar is intentional about leveling up in part two of Timothée Chalamet interview

Kendrick Lamar and Timothée Chalamet have unveiled the second half of their raw conversation about their respective crafts and the inspirations behind their successes. The almost seven-minute video is a follow-up to the exclusive interview clip posted by the NFL days ahead of the Compton emcee’s Super Bowl halftime performance on Sunday (Feb. 9).

The latest segment is a special treat for fans as Lamar and the Dune star get nostalgic going bar for bar rapping part of “The Heart Pt. II” and the Section.80 deep cut “Kush & Corinthians (His Pain).” The pgLang co-founder reflected on the latter body of work released in 2011, as he explained, “This is a case where, ok, I had to learn from this and say, ok, I’m at a point now in my career [where] I don’t have to play the game by having the album track at the end of the record.”

Having learned from his past approach to shaping his art, he said, “I want that motherf**ker up. I want it at the top, so you gon’ get ‘Man at the Garden’ (featured on 2024’s GNX) at the top of the record because I’ve put in enough work to say I want it this way… If I could do this s**t all over again, which I wouldn’t, this motherf**ker would be at the top.” Chalamet agreed, noting that none of the Section.80 tracks are throwaways but that there is something special about “Kush & Corinthians (His Pain).”

In 2024, Lamar easily had the biggest year of his career with the massive success of “Not Like Us.” The diss song led him to sweep at the 2025 Grammys, winning five categories, including Record of the Year, earlier this month. However, with his second halftime show hours away, the Pulitzer Prize recipient is keeping his focus on the now. Not even the suggestion of his legacy being cemented for the big or small screen has been a thought.

“I don’t be thinking about no documentaries, no nothing. I’m present, I’m going, I’m going. For sure I still got ideas, man, I wanna get to. All that,” he admitted. Furthermore, he explained, “You know, to be real man, I’m infatuated with, like, now. Like, I look at the present day and I see the goals that I sought out and that I accomplished, and I feel like I wanna live a full life, man. A full life of inspiration… and gratitude, so that s**t is like an appreciation not only to myself but to the grind and everyone else that’s putting that work in, you know, in order to inspire one another and set the tone. S**t, you deserve it all.”

As far as the big game-day performance is concerned, fans know they can expect to see SZA hit the stage and that a big surprise has been teased. But something Lamar shared with Chalamet about his philosophy on music and life is, “For me, I can never do the same thing twice, right? It always gotta be something that shows growth [of] who I am today versus yesterday,” so there is no question if he will raise the bar from his 2022 halftime performance alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, and 50 Cent, reminding millions of viewers he deserves it all, praise, accolades, and more.