Photo by Ari Marcopoulos

Update: In the article, Lamar commented on recent controversies over police brutality, saying, "What happened to [Michael Brown] should've never happened. Never. But when we don't have respect for ourselves, how do we expect them to respect us? It starts from within. Don't start with just a rally, don't start from looting -- it starts from within." On Twitter, Azealia Banks criticized his statements. Check out her comments below.

Kendrick Lamar has been busy working on the follow up to 2012's good kid, m.A.A.d. city, which he initially hoped to release before the end of 2014. Now, Billboard reports that the album will be out in the first half of 2015. In an interview with Billboard, Lamar said that "the end is in sight" for finishing the album.

According to Billboard, the new song he performed on The Colbert Report in December is "unlikely" to even be on the album. "I just like the energy of the song, he said. "I didn't go on there to sell a single. I just did what I felt."

In the Billboard interview, Lamar offered thoughts on a number of topics such as Taylor Swift's love for "Backstreet Freestyle" ("That's a beautiful thing, Taylor Swift enjoying that song and knowing the words") and his frenemy relationship with Drake ("Drake is definitely a great artist in this world. I'm a great artist in my world"). In particular, he said he doesn't fault Iggy Azalea for rapping. "She's doing her thing," he said. "Let her. People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they at. Do your thing, continue to rock it, because obviously God wants you here."

Apparently, he also thinks the world is about to end. "We're in the last days, man -- I truly in my heart believe that," he said. "It's written. I could go on with Biblical situations and things my grandma told me. But it's about being at peace with myself and making good with the people around me."

Let's hope we get that album before it's all over!

Update: Some of Azealia's comments:

Watch Lamar perform "Fuck Your Ethnicity" at Pitchfork Music Festival: