Kendrick Lamar Discusses His Upcoming Role On Power & How It Came To Be (Video)

Earlier this week, 50 Cent and Courtney A. Kemp, the producers of Starz‘s hit show Power, announced that Kendrick Lamar would be joining this week’s episode. While Kendrick has starred in a number of increasingly cinematic music videos, this believed to be his first acting role in a TV series or film. Previously, few details were available about the character Lamar would be playing but Variety recently spoke with Lamar, Vance and 50 about what to expect and how the role came about in the first place.

“It was something that’s been in the works for a long time, just being a fan of the show,” said Kendrick in a conversation with Vance. “Me, 50 and Top [Dawg], we always communicate like ‘Man, we gotta do something one day.’ It’s been a process, like, I wanna say 4 years. It’s been a while…[It’s] just timing about everything. And, courtesy of you, you found the right moment–the right character–to make it make sense.”

Kendrick Lamar Will Make His Acting Debut On Power

When Vance was first informed by 50 about Lamar’s desire to be on the show, her first question was “What does [he] want to play?” In response, Kendrick said “I don’t want to be something that people predict. I want to be something out of the ordinary, but something I connect to.” Kendrick then reveals that the role he chose was a drug abuser. “A dude that’s just ready to go, always on the take. It’s just a character that I know. I know so well just growing up in Compton. You have relatives or you have dudes around the corner that you actually grew up with that’s been in the neighborhood before you, and you see these dudes walking around every day, just on the go. And, you grow this type of love for them, in a weird way. You don’t want to see nothing happen to them, but you know he’s dangerous.”

Both Vance and 50 were extremely complimentary of Kendrick’s acting abilities, with Vance calling him “fearless,” and 50 saying “When you see what he did, you know that he really worked on this. It’s like ‘How the f*ck did you get your eye to move like that?'” 50 also said he believes people will be very surprised after they see Lamar’s performance.

The next episode of Power can be viewed on Starz at midnight on the Starz app or at 8pm EST on the channel.