“Kendrick Lamar born June 17, 1987 — in Compton. Dave Free born Nov. 13, 1986 — in Inglewood. Kendrick and Dave’s high school days: shopping at Up Against the Wall because all the salesgirls are fine. Macking at the Galleria or Fox Hills Mall. Hitting Tam's for a breakfast burrito, Ramona’s for Mexican food. Those months you couldn’t go nowhere in L.A. without hearing somebody bumping Jeezy’s first album. It was written — the day Dave travels to Centennial High to meet Kendrick, who’s got a burgeoning buzz as a rapper. Kendrick wowing Dave with the line, “I ship keys across the seas like a grand piano” while rapping in Dave’s makeshift garage studio. Kendrick and Dave recording at the Hyde Park apartment of Dave’s older brother, Dion. Dave the hype man and Dion the manager/D.J. for the earliest Kendrick shows. Legend — the day Dave introduces Kendrick to Top Dawg, and he passes Top’s test of an interminable freestyle. Thereafter, Kendrick and Dave spend untold hours in Top’s home studio — christened the House of Pain — in Carson. Kendrick writing and rapping and Dave producing as part of Digi+Phonics. Kendrick and Dave steeped in the experience of home, but also daring to transcend it, which is no small feat in a place that often works as gravity — tugging, tugging — a truth that has made them essential to each other.” In our cover story this week, the Pulitzer Prize-winner @mitchsjackson profiles @kendricklamar, the greatest rapper of his generation. In partnership with his longtime collaborator, @davefree, Lamar is pushing himself — commercially and creatively — onto unexpected terrain. CREDITS: Photographer: @rafaelpavarotti_ Stylists: @georgekrakowiak @jedi__ @karizzasanchez Barber: @slidercuts Braider: @iamkhristn Makeup: @mata_marielle Manicure: @laurenmichellepires Production: @ragidholakiaproductions