Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, and one of the greatest rappers of all time, he is known for his technical artistry and complex songwriting. He was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to be honored.
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Kendrick Lamar
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Kendrick Lamar Duckworth
June 17, 1987 Compton, California, U.S.
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| Other names | K.Dot |
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| Years active | 2003–present |
| Organization | PGLang |
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| Partner | Whitney Alford (eng. 2015) |
| Children | 2 |
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| Formerly of | Black Hippy |
| Website | oklama |
Lamar began releasing music under the stage name K.Dot while he was attending high school. He signed with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005, where he co-founded the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy. Following the success of his alternative rap debut album Section.80 (2011), Lamar secured a joint contract with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. He rose to prominence with his gangsta rap-influenced second album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012) and its top 40 singles “Swimming Pools (Drank)”, “Poetic Justice” and “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”. It is the longest-charting hip hop studio album on the Billboard 200.
To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), Lamar’s third album, embraced historical African-American music styles such as jazz and funk. It became his first of four consecutive number-one albums in the U.S., and was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 2010s. Lamar’s work on the remix of Taylor Swift‘s “Bad Blood” garnered his first number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100. His critical and commercial success continued with his R&B and pop-leaning fourth album Damn (2017), yielding his second chart-topping single “Humble”. The double album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022) concluded Lamar’s tenure with TDE and Aftermath. His 2024 feud with Drake spawned the chart-topping songs “Like That” and “Not Like Us”. Lamar surprise released his sixth studio album, GNX (2024), his first album not under TDE.
Lamar has received various accolades throughout his career, including one Primetime Emmy Award, one Brit Award, four American Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards (including two Video of the Year wins), 17 Grammy Awards (the third-most won by a rapper), and 37 BET Hip Hop Awards (the most won by any artist). Time listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016. Two of his concert tours, the Damn Tour (2017–2018) and the Big Steppers Tour (2022–2024), are amongst the highest-grossing rap tours in history. Three of his works were included in Rolling Stone‘s 2020 revision of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Outside of music, Lamar co-founded the creative company PGLang and ventured into film with his creative partner, Dave Free.
Early life and career
Kendrick Lamar grew up in a high-crime area of Compton, California, where his parents had moved to escape a violent milieu in Chicago. He began writing rhymes as a young teenager, and he released his first mixtape, Youngest Head Nigga in Charge (2003), under the name K. Dot. The music impressed Anthony Tiffith, head of the newly formed record label Top Dawg Entertainment, and he signed the musician.
Duckworth put out two more mixtapes as K. Dot—Training Day (2005) and C4 (2009)—before releasing Overly Dedicated (2010) as Kendrick Lamar. He became a popular guest performer on tracks put out by other rappers and also joined fellow Top Dawg artists Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and ScHoolboy Q in a hip-hop collective known as Black Hippy.
In 2011 Top Dawg made Lamar’s album Section.80 available on iTunes, and at a concert that same year Lamar was ceremonially declared the “new king of the West Coast” by veteran rap artists Game, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre.
Good kid, M.A.A.d city and To Pimp a Butterfly
In 2012 Lamar signed with Dr. Dre’s label Aftermath Entertainment and released his first LP, good kid, m.A.A.d city; it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart and yielded the R&B/hip-hop hits “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and “Poetic Justice.” Critics noted that it was a concept album with an autobiographical narrative. Lamar was nominated for seven 2013 Grammy Awards, including best album and best new artist, but failed to win. The following year, however, his single “i” took the awards for best rap song and best rap performance.
In 2015 Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly, which was a huge success. The album broke a Spotify record—being streamed more than 9.6 million times—within a week of its release, and U.S. Pres. Barack Obama declared that the single “How Much a Dollar Cost” was his favorite song of 2015. The following year Lamar received 11 Grammy nominations, and he won for best rap performance and best rap song (both for “Alright”), best rap/sung collaboration (for “These Walls”), best music video (for “Bad Blood”), and best rap album (for To Pimp a Butterfly). He also enlivened the ceremony with a vivid performance of “The Blacker the Berry.”
Untitled Unmastered., DAMN., and additional recordings
In March 2016 Lamar unexpectedly released a new album, untitled unmastered., consisting of eight tracks that he described as unfinished demos. Later that year he was nominated for two Grammy Awards, both for his contribution to Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” from her popular 2016 album Lemonade.
In 2017 Lamar released another album, titled DAMN., which features the hit song “HUMBLE.” and was well received by fans and critics alike. He won Grammys for best rap album (DAMN.), best rap song, rap performance, and music video (all for “HUMBLE.”), and best rap/sung performance (“LOYALTY.”; with Rihanna). In addition, DAMN. became the first nonclassical or jazz recording to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music.
In 2018 the soundtrack for the film Black Panther was released. Lamar produced and curated the album, a collection of songs “from and inspired by” the movie, and he performed on every track. The single “King’s Dead,” which also features Jay Rock, Future, and James Blake, won a Grammy for best rap performance.
Lamar performed with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, and other hip-hop stars at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2022. Later that year he released his fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. The 18-track recording features collaborations with a diverse range of musicians and was noted for its complexity and introspection. It won Grammys for best rap album, rap song, and rap performance; the latter two awards were for “The Heart Part 5.”
Rap feuds
Lamar had stirred up trouble with his peers in previous work, such as his feature verse on Big Sean’s 2013 track “Control,” in which he took shots at a litany of other rappers, both new and old. However, in early 2024 Lamar started a viral rap beef with Canadian rapper and singer Drake.
Fans had called Lamar, Drake, and J. Cole the “Big Three” of hip-hop until Lamar started the beef by dissing both Drake and Cole on a feature verse of the song “Like That” (on the collaboration album We Don’t Trust You by Future and Metro Boomin). Cole quickly released a half-hearted diss track in response but then just as quickly apologized and removed the track from audio streaming services.
The two would go on to release several diss tracks against each other. Although the scathing bars began as relatively benign, they quickly devolved into sobering accusations. Drake, among other affronts, claimed that Lamar was physically violent toward his fiancée Whitney Alford, who was Lamar’s high school sweetheart. In one of Lamar’s responses, the catchy West Coast rap song “Not Like Us,” he attacked Drake for reportedly being a pedophile. Drake denied the allegations. “Not Like Us” debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list and topped radio charts.
The feud between Lamar and Drake has been compared to previous rap rivalries such as:
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Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.
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Jay-Z and Nas
The peculiar dynamics of technology in 2024 have made the Lamar-Drake feud unique—it is an Internet sensation. Audio streaming services have made it possible for Drake and Kendrick to quickly release response tracks, in some cases just minutes after the latest diss. Artificial intelligence is a near-omnipresent element; not only have Drake and others incorporated its use in songs, but also fans online have sifted through inauthentic diss tracks made by unknown actors. Furthermore, the historic feud has made headlines as both artists weaponized controversy in addition to lyricism. Fans, hip-hop content creators, and journalists have raced to analyze the layers of each subsequent surprise release, always debating, of course, who is beating who.
Public image
Despite becoming a prominent figure in popular culture, publications have noted Lamar’s unconventional approach to celebrity culture. He is notoriously reserved, reluctant to publicly discuss his personal life and generally avoids using social media. He is also decisive when engaging with mainstream media outlets, although journalists have complimented his “Zen-like” calmness and down to earth personality. According to Lamar, he has become “so invested in who I am outside of being famous, sometimes that’s all I know. I’ve always been a person that really didn’t dive too headfirst into wanting and needing attention. I mean, we all love attention, but for me, I don’t necessarily adore it.” His lyrics have been a topic of media scrutiny, leading to both praise and controversy.
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Lamar’s public perception has also been influenced by the various rap feuds he has been involved with. Although journalists unanimously declared him the winner of his highly publicized conflict with Drake, some felt that his victory was pyrrhic due to the severity of accusations introduced and the spread of online misinformation. Following the release of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, media outlets have described Lamar as the “modern hip hop messiah”. Some critics dislike his “grating” political infusions, causing him to be viewed as having a savior complex. However, Lamar has declared himself to be the “greatest rapper alive” due to his personal connection to hip hop. “I’m not doing it to have a good song, or one good rap, or a good hook, or a good bridge,” he explained to Zane Lowe. “I want to keep doing it every time, period. And to do it every time, you have to challenge yourself and you have to confirm to yourself—not anybody else, confirm to yourself that you’re the best, period. […] That’s my drive and that’s my hunger, I will always have.”
