Kendrick Lamar knows how to show his respect to the greats. Last month, he penned a letter to Tupac on his 19th death anniversary, and he recently interviewed Quincy Jones. Now, he’s paying tribute to the late Eazy-E in Paper magazine’s October issue.

“I remember when I was five or six years old, waking up one morning and seeing this guy bust through the TV screen, rapping over some song called ‘We Want Eazy,'” he recalls, adding, “Little did I know, Eazy-E came from my same neighborhood in Compton.”

He goes on to call the N.W.A legend a “visionary,” explaining that he “told a different type of truth.” He describes how Eazy “had the idea of speaking the honest truth,” which “really resonated with a lot of people.”

“He’ll always live forever, not only 50 years from now but a thousand years from now,” concludes Kendrick, who recently announced his 1st annual “Kunta’s Groove Sessions” tour.

You can read his tribute to Eazy-E in full here.