A sensitive, spiritual superhero? As he prepares to step back into his role as The Flash, the young actor and musician finds his footing as a vital voice of his generation—that is, if you can get on his level.

Inside the dirty little mind of Kendrick Lamar: Wunderkind rapper, radiant dreamer, gangsta avoider, groupie evader, freshly anointed poet-laureate of South Central Los Angeles, and deliverer of hip-hop's message of the moment.