Kendrick Lamar thought he was being pranked when Dr. Dre called him for the first time.

The 'Loyalty' hitmaker couldn't believe it when he spoke to the legendary rapper and thought it was all a joke, s

He said: ''I was on tour with my brother Jay Rock, and I was his hype man. I wasn't the main attraction. I was just there to get the crowd ready, get my own thing out, support my bro at the same time. It was Tech N9ne's tour ...

''Me and my boy, we was eating at Chili's - I'll never forget it - we was eating at Chili's, and we got a call like, 'Yo, Dr. Dre likes your music.' And we were like, 'Yo, who the f**k is this on the phone?' We hung up ... We might have blown it. Another call came in from somebody else. Then another call came in from somebody else like, 'Yo, they trying to reach out and figure out who you with.'''

And the 30-year-old rapper admits that phone call completely changed his life.

Speaking on The Howard Stern Show, he added: ''The call definitely [changed his life] because it's evolving. That's the evolution. The first time was the moment I knew I arrived because I'm not only meeting - it's not (just) an introduction - he plays a beat and says write to it.''

Meanwhile, Kendrick previously revealed he is excited to see hip-hop music ''evolve''.

He explained: ''I want hip-hop to continue to evolve. That's why I can't shun a lot of the artists that may not be a Kendrick Lamar. But this is what I tell them every time I see them ... be yourself and do what you do but also know who laid down the groundwork.''