M. Night Shyamalan has offered his thoughts about Kendrick Lamar's use of an iconic line from his classic film.
During an interview on Way Up With Angela Yee on Friday, July 19, the famed director and his talented daughter Saleka opened up about their upcoming film Trap starring Josh Hartnett. Midway through the conversation, Yee asked M. Night how he felt when he heard K.Dot utter the timeless catchphrase from his 1999 film The Sixth Sense at the beginning of his hit song "Not Like Us." He admitted that he knows Kendrick well and was thrilled when he heard the song for the first time.
“We kind of lightly know each other," the director said. “He’s very gracious with me, and I love him.”
Shyamalan mentioned that his taste in music comes from artists with integrity, and he believes "Kendrick comes from the right place." He admitted the Compton rapper didn't give him a heads-up about the mention. He explained that he actually found out about the song from someone in his office.
“The first song ['Euphoria'] ends with it,” the filmmaker recalled. “He references it in the end. So someone in the office was like, ‘Oh, Kendrick just dropped something and it references one of your [movies].’ I was like, ‘Oh, cool.’ That was before everything blew up.”
Kendrick Lamar does mention Shyamalan's film towards the end of his verse in "Euphoria." In it, he spits "Am I battlin' ghost or AI? N***a feelin' like Joel Osteen/Funny, he was in a film called A.I./And my sixth sense tellin' me to off him." The star of A.I. and The Sixth Sense Haley Joel Osment reacted to the mention by liking and reposting the song on X when it came out in April.
Check out the full interview with M. Night Shyamalan and his daughter Saleka below.