A 2012 album subtitled 'a short film', about a teenager, a borrowed van and a girl in Compton (2012)
good kid, m.A.A.d city.
Popular music · Hip hop
Kendrick Lamar
born 1987 · American
West Coast hip-hop — Top Dawg Entertainment and pgLang
Kendrick Lamar is the most decorated rapper of his generation and the first musician outside classical and jazz to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, awarded for DAMN. in 2018. His albums are long-form narratives about Compton, survivor's guilt and Black American history; "Alright" became a protest anthem, and his 2024 feud with Drake produced "Not Like Us", which swept the main Grammy categories and preceded a Super Bowl halftime show watched by a record audience.
How to spot them
- ▸Compton; Top Dawg Entertainment, then his own company pgLang with Dave Free
- ▸Shifting voices and pitched-up characters within a single verse; jazz, funk and spoken-word interludes
- ▸Concept albums with recurring narrative voicemails and a closing revelation
- ▸The 2024 battle with Drake, and the diss record that came out of it
Songs & albums
A 2015 album of jazz and funk that closes with an imagined interview with Tupac Shakur (2015)
To Pimp a Butterfly.
A 2015 song adopted as a chant at protest marches, insisting things are going to be fine (2015)
"Alright", produced by Pharrell Williams.
A 2017 album of one-word capitalised track titles, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Music (2017)
DAMN. — the first Pulitzer for a work outside classical or jazz.
A 2022 album framed as therapy sessions, his last for the label that raised him (2022)
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.
A 2024 diss record aimed at a Canadian rival, which swept the main categories at the Grammys (2024)
"Not Like Us" — Record and Song of the Year in 2025.
A 2024 surprise album named after a 1987 Buick (2024)
GNX — the Buick Grand National Experimental.
A 2025 halftime show with Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam and a cameo from a tennis champion (2025)
The Super Bowl LIX halftime show; the dancer was Serena Williams.
Quick-fire facts
- •Born Kendrick Lamar Duckworth on 17 June 1987 in Compton, California
- •He signed to Top Dawg Entertainment and later founded pgLang with Dave Free
- •He won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music for DAMN., the first winner from outside classical music or jazz
- •He curated and produced the soundtrack to the film Black Panther in 2018
- •At the 2025 Grammys "Not Like Us" won five awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year
- •He performed the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in February 2025, the most-watched halftime show on record
- •At the 2026 Grammys he and SZA won Record of the Year for "luther", making him the first rapper to win that award twice
- •His Grammy total reached 27 after the 2026 ceremony, more than any other rapper
- •He toured stadiums with SZA on the Grand National Tour in 2025
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