Kendrick Lamar: Literature is awesome

Kendrick Lamar "always wanted to write" growing up.

The 26-year-old rapper claims English teachers spotted his talent for words early on and encouraged him to pick up the pen.

He feels forever indebted to them for motivating him to follow his dream.

"I always wanted to write. My teachers pushed me to write, so English was always my favourite subject," Lamar told Sway Calloway of MTV News. "I never knew how much of a big deal it would be in my career until I really sat back and looked at all my old-school papers and found out these vocabulary words that I learned over the years."

Kendrick brought his love of literature to Bethel Regional High School in Alaska as part of an initiative started by the Get Schooled Foundation, a charity that celebrates the educational achievements of pupils.

The musician was inspired by the spirited students' enthusiasm for learning.

"I seen the energy, obviously their energy gave me even more fuel to come out here and look them dead in their eyes and see how much more inspiration that I can give them rather than just seeing me on TV or onscreen somewhere," he recalled.

Kendrick rose to fame when Lady Gaga gushed over his 2011 debut studio album Section.80 on her Twitter account last year.

At the time the songstress announced she wanted to collaborate with him, but a joint track ultimately didn't make it on to his 2012 LP Good Kid, M.A.A.D City due to timing issues and creative differences.