JAY-Z once gave Top Dawg Entertainment President Terrence “Punch” Henderson some sage advice concerning Kendrick Lamar‘s career, and those words have “stuck” with him to this day.
During an in-depth sit-down with Elise Not Elise, the record executive was asked if he and the TDE crew had any hesitations about releasing To Pimp a Butterfly given how left-field it was compared to Kendrick’s previous projects.
Punch answered by recalling a particularly impactful conversation he had with Hov during a studio session between SZA (who he also manages) and Beyoncé.
“While we were working on To Pimp a Butterfly, me and SZA would go to Beyoncé’s sessions — [SZA] was writing for her,” he said. “JAY-Z was there every night so I had a chance to talk to him and I told him, ‘Yo, we’re about to drop this album that’s gonna piss off the whole fanbase.’
“His response was, ‘Good, do it n0w so they can’t never put you in a box.’ That stuck with me, for sure. It gave me more confidence like, Yeah, we’re on the right track, for sure … There are rules that are set, but geniuses know when to break those rules.”
JAY-Z has been a longtime supporter of both Kendrick Lamar and TDE, and even blessed the Compton rapper with a coveted guest verse early on his career.
A few months after the release of good kid, m.A.A.d city back in 2012 — a moment that signaled the birth of a modern-day hip-hop icon — Kendrick and Hov joined forces on a remix of the hit single “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe.”
“That was definitely [on my wishlist],” Dot told Sway in the Morning shortly after its release. “That’s the G.O.A.T. Jay is somebody with that much longevity and still can have that skill, and what he put down on there was ridiculous.”
The Aftermath signee also recalled a conversation he had with Jigga at the time: “He said he sees me, in so many words … He said he really appreciated [good kid, m.A.A.d city] and what I’m doing for the culture, as far as continuing the legacy of putting together a full body of work.
“That blew me away because I came up listening to Reasonable Doubt — that’s where I got the antiques of making an album like that from. For him to give me props and say, ‘I’m in the studio [because of] your work,’ that’s a great thing.”
