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Kendrick Lamar
Photo: Fuzheado, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons25

Kendrick Lamar

American rapper and songwriter (born 1987)

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, his music features conscious, introspective lyrics, with political criticism and social commentary concerning African-American culture.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Kendrick Lamar (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jun 17, 1987.1

About

Music journalists have listed Lamar among the greatest rappers of all time. In 2018, he became the first musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Born and raised in Compton, California, Lamar began releasing music under the stage name K.Dot in high school. He signed with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005 and co-founded the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy. His alternative rap debut album, Section.80, led to a joint contract with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. He rose to stardom with his gangsta rap–influenced second album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012), which became the longest-charting hip hop studio album on the Billboard 200 and was named the greatest concept album of all time by Rolling Stone. In 2015, he had his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, with the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood", and released his first of five consecutive number-one albums on the Billboard 200, To Pimp a Butterfly, which infused hip-hop with historical African-American music genres such as jazz, funk, and soul.

Lamar's critical and commercial success continued with his R&B and pop-leaning fourth album Damn (2017), featuring his second US number-one single, "Humble". He contributed to the soundtrack of the 2018 film Black Panther, earning a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "All the Stars". His fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022), delved into introspection and concluded his tenure with TDE and Aftermath. In 2024, his highly publicized feud with Drake and sixth album GNX spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Like That", "Not Like Us", "Squabble Up", and "Luther". "Not Like Us" won five Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year, while "Luther" also won the latter and became his longest-charting number-one song in the US, at 13 weeks.

Lamar's accolades include 27 Grammy Awards—the most for a rapper—2 Primetime Emmy Awards, a Brit Award, 5 American Music Awards, 7 Billboard Music Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards and a record 37 BET Hip Hop Awards. Time listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016. Three of his works were included in Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2025, he headlined the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history, while his Grand National Tour with SZA became the highest-grossing co-headlining tour of all time. Outside of music, Lamar co-founded the creative company PGLang and ventured into film with his longtime creative partner, Dave Free.

From Wikipedia’s article on Kendrick Lamar, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedCentennial High School3

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born on June 17, 1987, in Compton, California. He is the first child of former gangster Kenneth "Kenny" Duckworth and hairdresser Paula Oliver. Both of his parents are African-Americans from South Side, Chicago. When they were teenagers, they relocated to Compton in 1984, due to his father's affiliation with the Gangster Disciples. Lamar was named after singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations. He was described as a "loner" by his mother. Eventually, his parents had his two younger brothers and younger sister, businesswoman Kayla Sawyer (née Duckworth). His cousins are former basketball player Nick Young and rapper Baby Keem.

Lamar and his family lived in Section 8 housing, were reliant on welfare and food stamps, and experienced homelessness. Although he is not a member of a particular gang, he grew up with close affiliates of the Westside Pirus. Despite suffering hardships, Lamar remembered having "good memories" of his childhood that sparked his interest in hip hop music, such as sneaking into his parents' house parties. He felt "spiritually unsatisfied" as a child when attending sermons, finding them empty and "one-sided" before discovering "more truth", adding "Our God is a loving God".

After hearing a recording of his voice for the first time, Lamar became interested in rapping. He was introduced to police brutality after experiencing the first day of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. When he was five years old, Lamar witnessed a murder for the first time while sitting outside of his apartment unit, as a teenage drug dealer was killed in a drive-by shooting. "It done something to me right then and there," Lamar later admitted to NPR Music. "It let me know that this is not only something that I'm looking at, but it's something that maybe I have to get used to." His parents nicknamed him "Man-Man" due to his precocious behavior, although he confessed it "put a stigma on the idea of me reacting as a kid sometimes—I would hurt myself and they would expect me not to cry."

In school, Lamar was a quiet and observant student who excelled academically and had a noticeable stutter. His first grade teacher at Ronald E. McNair Elementary School encouraged him to become a writer after she heard him correctly use the word "audacity". As a seventh grade student at Vanguard Learning Center, Lamar was introduced to poetry by his English teacher, Regis Inge. Inge integrated the literary form into his curriculum as a response to the growing racial tensions amongst his students. Through its connection to hip hop, Lamar studied rhymes, metaphors and double entendres, which made him fall in love with songwriting: "You can put all your feelings down on a sheet of paper, and they'd make sense to you. I liked that." Instead of completing assignments for other classes, Lamar would scribe lyrics in his notebooks. His initial writing was entirely profane, and helped him manage the psychological trauma and depression he struggled with during his adolescence. Inge played a vital role in his intellectual growth, often criticizing his lexicon and suggesting prompts to strengthen his prose.

Lamar later attended Centennial High School. He was enrolled in summer school during the tenth grade, which he dreaded because it forced him to be embroiled in a gang war. Despite his efforts to avoid them, Lamar soon became heavily involved with Compton's hedonistic gang culture, which led to numerous health scares and encounters with the police. He distanced himself from the lifestyle following an intervention staged by his father. When he was 16, Lamar was baptized and converted to Christianity following the death of a friend. He graduated from high school in 2005 as a straight-A student. He considered studying psychology and astronomy in college, but suspended his academic pursuits to focus on his music career.

From Wikipedia’s article on Kendrick Lamar (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: pop singer, composer, record producer, singer, rapper, songwriter.5

2003–2008: Beginnings

During high school, Lamar adopted the stage name K.Dot and began freestyling and battle rapping at school. His performances caught the attention of fellow student Dave Free, who traveled from Inglewood to watch him rap. They quickly formed a friendship over their love of hip-hop and the television sitcom Martin. They recorded music together at Free's makeshift garage studio and at his older brother's Hyde Park apartment. Lamar's earliest performances were held at a "super hood" comedy club and behind a tattoo parlor. Free was his hype man during that time, while his older brother was his manager and disc jockey. Lamar recorded five mixtapes throughout the 2000s; his first, Youngest Head Nigga in Charge (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year), was released in 2004 or 2005, through Konkrete Jungle Musik. The mixtapes primarily consisted of freestyles over the production of popular hip-hop songs.

In a series of retrospective reviews for Rolling Stone, Mosi Reeves complimented Lamar's "unerring" sense of rhythm and timing found in Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year, but criticized his "clumsy" lyricism and that his flow was "overly beholden to... Jay-Z and Lil Wayne". Free, who was working as a computer technician, introduced the mixtape to record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith while attempting to repair his computer. Tiffith was impressed with Lamar's burgeoning abilities and invited him to partake in an audition process for entry into his newly established independent record label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). During his audition, Lamar freestyled for Tiffith and record executive Terrence "Punch" Henderson for two hours, a strategy that impressed Henderson but bewildered Tiffith. He was offered a recording contract by TDE in 2005, joining Jay Rock as the label's first signings. Upon signing, he purchased a minority stake in the label for an undisclosed amount.

Lamar had a brief stint as a security guard when he started working on music with Jay Rock at TDE's in-house recording studio. The bond he formed with him, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q led to the formation of the hip-hop supergroup, Black Hippy. Lamar released his second mixtape, Training Day, in 2007. Reeves complemented its varied production and "well-executed" concept, which was based on the 2001 film. In 2006, Lamar signed an artist development deal with Def Jam Recordings and was featured on two singles by the Game. He also heavily contributed to Jay Rock's first two mixtapes, Watts Finest Vol. 1 and Watts Finest Vol. 2: The Nickerson Files. Lamar was ultimately let go from Def Jam after an encounter with its president and chief executive officer, Jay-Z; he later described it as "one of those situations where I wasn't ready." Lamar and Jay Rock released a collaborative mixtape, titled No Sleep 'til NYC, on December 24, 2007. Reeves thought the project was a "fun cypher session, nothing more, nothing less."

Read more

2009–2011: Overly Dedicated and Section.80

Lamar's third mixtape C4, released on January 30, 2009, is a tribute project to Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III (2008) and was supported by his co-sign. Reeves felt that the mixtape was a "wrongheaded homage to a year-old, well-worn album." From February to July, he toured with the Game on his LAX Tour as a hype man for Jay Rock. Lamar disliked how his stage name diverted attention away from his true identity, and decided to retire it. He opted to use his first and middle names professionally and regards the name change as part of his career growth. For his eponymous debut extended play (2009), Lamar eschewed the creative process of his mixtapes in favor of a project heavily focused on his songwriting over "lovely yet doleful" production. Reeves described the EP as the "first standout project" of his career, praising its melancholic tone. He felt that the project restored his reputation following the sting of criticism he received over C4.

After striking a music publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music, Lamar released his fourth mixtape, Overly Dedicated, on September 14, 2010. It was his first project to be purchased through digital retailers. Reeves described Overly Dedicated as a partial "victory lap" that marked a shift in his songwriting. The mixtape peaked at number 72 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Lamar served as Jay Rock's hype man for a second time during Tech N9ne's Independent Grind Tour, where Overly Dedicated was introduced to Dr. Dre. After watching the music video for the song "Ignorance Is Bliss" on YouTube, he reached out to Lamar with hopes of working with him and Snoop Dogg on his unfinished album, Detox. He also considered signing him to his record label, Aftermath Entertainment, and was encouraged to by artists such as J. Cole.

Lamar entered a brief relationship with Nitty Scott, and was featured on XXL's 2011 Freshman Class list. He released his debut album, Section.80, on July 2, 2011, which was supported by its lead single "HiiiPower". The album explored conscious and alternative hip-hop styles and experimented with "stripped-down" jazz production. Ogden Payne of Forbes considers it to be "the genesis to [Lamar] successfully balancing social commentary with mass appeal." Section.80 marked Lamar's first appearance on the Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at number 113. It sold approximately 5,000 copies in its first week of tracking, with minimal coverage from mainstream media outlets. To promote the album, Lamar performed at small venues and college campuses across the U.S. He was dubbed the "New King of the West Coast" by Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and the Game during a performance in West Los Angeles. Throughout the year, he appeared on the Game's The R.E.D. Album, Tech N9ne's All 6's and 7's, 9th Wonder's The Wonder Years, and Drake's Take Care.

2012–2013: Good Kid, M.A.A.D City

Lamar began planning a new album before Section.80 was released. From February to April 2012, he opened for Drake on his Club Paradise Tour. He began working with J. Cole on a collaborative album around that time. On February 14, Lamar would release the song "Cartoon & Cereal" for digital download, a track that features Gunplay. On March 8, The Fader reported that Lamar had signed a joint venture recording contract with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records; under the deal, TDE continued to serve as his primary label. His next single, "The Recipe" featuring Dr. Dre, premiered on rhythmic crossover radio on April 2.

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, Lamar's second album and first project under a major record label, was released on October 22, 2012. He worked with producers such as Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, Scoop DeVille, Jack Splash, and T-Minus to create an atmospheric West Coast hip-hop album with heavy gangsta rap influences. Its lead single, "Swimming Pools (Drank)", marked Lamar's first top 20 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Its other singles, "Backseat Freestyle", "Poetic Justice", and "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe", enjoyed moderate commercial success. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was met with widespread critical acclaim, with critics lauding Lamar's nonlinear songwriting and thematic scope. Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune applauded him for giving gangsta tropes a "twist, or sometimes upend[ing] them completely" on a record that "brims with comedy, complexity and the many voices in [Lamar's] head." The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 242,000 copies sold; the highest first-week album sales of the year by a male rapper. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City surpassed The Eminem Show (2002) to become the longest-charting hip-hop studio album on the Billboard 200. In October 2022, it became the first hip-hop studio album to spend over ten consecutive years on the chart.

From September to October 2012, Lamar headlined the BET Music Matters Tour with Black Hippy and Stalley. He won Lyricist of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards, and was featured on ASAP Rocky's single "Fuckin' Problems" alongside Drake and 2 Chainz, which reached the top 10 in the U.S. Lamar embarked on two headlining concert tours in 2013: a national college tour with Steve Aoki and his first international tour. He struggled with depression, survivor's guilt and suicidal ideation during promotional events upon learning of the deaths of three close friends. From October to December 2013, Lamar opened for Kanye West on his Yeezus Tour, despite disapproval from his label and management team. He was baptized for a second time during the beginning of the tour, and experienced a nervous breakdown near the end. Lamar won three awards each during the BET Awards and BET Hip Hop Awards, including Best New Artist at the former.

Lamar was featured on six songs throughout the year: "YOLO" by the Lonely Island featuring Adam Levine, the remix of "How Many Drinks?" by Miguel, "Collard Greens" by Schoolboy Q, "Control" with Big Sean and Jay Electronica, "Give It 2 U" by Robin Thicke featuring 2 Chainz, and "Love Game" by Eminem. His performance on "Control" was described as a "wake up call" for the hip-hop industry and commenced his decade-long feud with Drake. Rolling Stone noted that his verse made the track one of the most important hip-hop songs of the last decade. Lamar was named Rapper of the Year by GQ during their annual Men of the Year edition. Following the issue's release, Tiffith pulled him from performing at GQ's accompanying party and accused Steve Marsh's profile on him of containing "racial overtones".

2014–2016: To Pimp a Butterfly and Untitled Unmastered

After his opening stint for the Yeezus Tour ended, Lamar began work on his third album. He earned seven nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards (January 2014), including Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, and Album of the Year for Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. He was winless at the ceremony, which several media outlets felt was a snub. Macklemore, who won Best New Artist and Best Rap Album, shared a text message that he sent Lamar after the ceremony ended, in which he apologized for winning over him. The incident was the subject of widespread media attention, controversy, and Internet memes. During the awards ceremony, Lamar performed a mashup of "M.A.A.D City" and "Radioactive" with rock band Imagine Dragons, which was met with critical acclaim.

Lamar opened for Eminem on the Rapture Tour from February to July 2014. On August 9, he premiered the short film M.A.A.D, which he starred in, commissioned and produced, during the Sundance Institute's Next Fest. He released "I" as the lead single to his second album, To Pimp a Butterfly, on September 23, which won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. His performance of "I" during his appearance as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live was lauded by contemporary critics. Lamar was featured on three songs in 2014: "It's On Again" by Alicia Keys, "Babylon" by SZA, and "Never Catch Me" by Flying Lotus. He won Lyricist of the Year for the second consecutive time at the BET Hip Hop Awards.

Originally scheduled to arrive at a later date, To Pimp a Butterfly was released on March 15, 2015. The album incorporated various genres synonymous with African American music, such as jazz, funk, and soul. To capture its essence, Lamar recruited producers such as Sounwave, Pharrell Williams, Terrace Martin, and Thundercat. Other singles from the album were "The Blacker the Berry", "King Kunta", "Alright", and "These Walls" – all of which enjoyed moderate commercial success. Selling 324,000 copies in its first week, To Pimp a Butterfly became Lamar's first number-one album on the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart. Billboard commented that "twenty years ago, a conscious rap record wouldn't have penetrated the mainstream in the way [Lamar] did with To Pimp a Butterfly. His sense of timing is impeccable. In the midst of rampant cases of police brutality and racial tension across America, he spews raw, aggressive bard while possibly cutting a rug." Pitchfork opined that the album "forced critics to think deeply about music."

He earned his first number-one single in the U.S. through the remix of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood". It won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the MTV Video Music Awards, while the music video for "Alright" won Best Direction. Lamar later re-recorded his featured appearance on the "Bad Blood" remix in support of Swift's counteraction to her masters dispute. He opened the BET Awards with a controversial performance of "Alright" and won Best Male Hip Hop Artist. He also won three awards at the BET Hip Hop Awards. In support of To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar embarked on the Kunta's Groove Sessions Tour, which ran from October to November 2015 in select intimate venues across the U.S. For his work on the album and other collaborations throughout the year, Lamar earned 11 nominations at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, the most by a rapper in a single night. He led the winners with five awards: To Pimp a Butterfly was named Best Rap Album, "Alright" won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song, "These Walls" won Best Rap/Sung Performance, and "Bad Blood" won Best Music Video.

During the ceremony, Lamar performed a critically acclaimed medley of "The Blacker the Berry", "Alright", and an untitled song. He previously performed untitled songs on The Colbert Report (December 2014) and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (January 2016). After receiving a request from basketball player LeBron James to share the untitled works, Lamar released his first compilation album, Untitled Unmastered, on March 4, 2016. It contained eight untitled, dated, unfinished, and entirely self-written tracks that were intended to be included on To Pimp a Butterfly, and continued the album's exploration of jazz, funk, soul, and avant-garde styles. Untitled Unmastered received critical acclaim and debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 178,000 album-equivalent units, becoming Lamar's second consecutive number-one project. Throughout the year, he was featured on four commercially successful songs: Beyoncé's "Freedom", Maroon 5's "Don't Wanna Know", the Weeknd's "Sidewalks", and Travis Scott's "Goosebumps".

2017–2019: Damn and Black Panther: The Album

On March 1, 2017, during a cover story for T, Lamar confirmed that he was working on his third album, Damn. He released the promotional single "The Heart Part 4" on March 23, before releasing the album's lead single "Humble" on March 30. The song debuted at number two on the Hot 100 and reached the top spot in its second week of charting. It is Lamar's second single, and first as a lead artist, to top the chart. Damn was released on April 14. It utilized a more mainstream musical palette than To Pimp a Butterfly, exploring R&B and pop elements. Rolling Stone described its sonics as a "brilliant combination of the timeless and the modern, the old school and the next-level." Damn became Lamar's most commercially successful album. It spent four non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, marking his third consecutive number-one album, and debuted with 603,000 units sold. All of the album's 14 songs debuted on the Hot 100, including the top-20 singles "Loyalty" and "Love". Damn was the seventh best-selling album of 2017, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), while "Humble" was the sixth best-selling single of the year. By June 2018, it became the first album by a rapper or solo artist to have every song featured earn a gold certification or higher from the Recording Industry Association of America.

To support Damn, Lamar embarked on his first headlining arena tour, the Damn Tour, from July 2017 to July 2018. It grossed $62.7 million in worldwide revenue, becoming one of the highest-grossing hip-hop tours in history. At the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, Lamar opened the ceremony with a performance of "DNA" and "Humble". He later won five awards, including Best Hip Hop Video, Best Direction, and Video of the Year for "Humble"; the latter win marked the first time an artist won the prize for a video they co-directed. Throughout the year, he was featured on the remix to Future's "Mask Off", SZA's "Doves in the Wind", and Rich the Kid's "New Freezer". He won Best Male Hip Hop Artist at the BET Awards, while Damn won Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Album at the American Music Awards. A collector's edition of the album, which featured its tracklist in reverse order, was released in December.

On January 4, 2018, Lamar announced that he would be curating and executive producing Black Panther: The Album, the soundtrack from the 2018 film. It was released on February 9 and was supported with three commercially successful singles: "All the Stars", "King's Dead", and "Pray for Me". Lamar contributed lead and background vocals to every track on the album, regardless of credit, and produced on select songs. Music critics consider Black Panther: The Album to be a milestone achievement, giving praise towards its lyrics and cultural significance. It spent two consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, and earned the most single-week streams for a soundtrack album in history. Lamar opened the 60th Annual Grammy Awards with a critically acclaimed medley. He won five awards during the ceremony: Damn was named Best Rap Album, "Humble" won Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video, and "Loyalty" won Best Rap/Sung Performance. Damn won the Pulitzer Prize for Music on April 16, 2018, marking the first time a musical composition outside of the classical and jazz genres received the honor.

From May to June 2018, Lamar co-headlined the Championship Tour with several TDE artists. While on tour, he became embroiled in a public dispute with Spotify regarding the streaming service's Hate Content & Hateful Conduct policy. Lamar was featured on five songs throughout the year: "Dedication" by Nipsey Hussle, "Mona Lisa" by Lil Wayne, "Tints" by Anderson.Paak, and "Wow Freestyle" by Jay Rock; he also executive produced the latter's album Redemption and provided background vocals for the album's second single "Win". At the American Music Awards, Black Panther: The Album won Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album. Lamar made his acting debut as a drug addict in the crime drama series Power (2018). After his two concert tours ended, he entered a four-year recording hiatus; although he contributed to Beyoncé's The Lion King: The Gift, Schoolboy Q's Crash Talk, and Sir's Chasing Summer (all 2019). As his publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music was beginning to expire, Lamar signed a long-term worldwide deal with Broadcast Music, Inc.

2020–2023: Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers

On March 5, 2020, Lamar and Dave Free launched the creative entity PGLang, which was described at the time as a multilingual, artist-friendly service company. In October, he signed a worldwide administration agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group. Lamar announced through an August 2021 blog post that he was in the process of producing his final album under TDE, confirming rumors that emerged the year before that he would be leaving to focus on PGLang. The following week, he appeared on Baby Keem's single "Family Ties", which won Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. Lamar made additional contributions to Keem's album The Melodic Blue by providing background vocals and appearing on the song "Range Brothers". In November, he held a "theatrical exhibition of his musical eras" during his second headlining performance at Day N Vegas, and featured on Terrace Martin's album Drones. In January 2022, he signed on to produce a comedy feature with Free, Trey Parker and Matt Stone for Paramount Pictures. The film was originally slated for a July 2025 release but has been delayed twice with no official release date planned as of September 2026. He co-headlined the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, and Mary J. Blige on February 13, 2022, which won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).

Other ventures

Entrepreneurship

Lamar has been described as an "authentic" businessman who takes "calculated steps to establish his brand from the ground-up" and leaves nothing to chance. He approaches traditional album rollouts with an unorthodox method, using Easter eggs and leaving cryptic messages. Before releasing a studio album, Lamar shares a promotional single taken from "The Heart", forming a timestamp song series designed to "observe the beating pulse behind his music." The vulnerable themes explored on the non-album singles have strengthened his relationship with his "inquisitive" fanbase known as Kenfolk. His real estate portfolio includes properties in California and New York. In 2011, Lamar crafted an original song with record producer Nosaj Thing to promote Microsoft's Windows Phone in 2011. He starred alongside DJ Calvin Harris and singer Ellie Goulding in a marketing campaign for Bacardi in 2014.

As a minority shareholder of TDE, Lamar was set to serve as the executive producer for the label's film division. He partnered with American Express on advertising campaigns for Art Basel and Small Business Saturday, and is an angel investor of the music creation platform EngineEars. Lamar has also partnered with several fashion designers and outlets. As a brand ambassador, he was involved with designing sneakers for Reebok and Nike, Inc. He developed working relationships with Grace Wales Bonner and Martine Rose; through their respective eponymous brands, they have dressed him for several public events. For her Autumn/Winter 2023 collection, Twilight Reverie, Lamar worked with Bonner to create the show's soundtrack with Sampha and Duval Timothy. Through PGLang, he composed the score and co-designed the stage for Chanel's Spring/Summer 2024 haute couture collection.

From Wikipedia’s article on Kendrick Lamar (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornJun 17, 1987, Compton6 7
  • CitizenshipUnited States8 9
  • Children210 11

Lamar announced his engagement to esthetician Whitney Alford, his high school sweetheart, in April 2015. Although they keep their relationship private, Lamar admitted that he suffered a sexual addiction and cheated on Alford multiple times. Alford contributed background vocals on select tracks from To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), and was the primary narrator on Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022). The couple welcomed their first child, a daughter on July 26, 2019. They used the cover art for Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers to announce the birth of their second child, a son.

Lamar's cousin, Carl Duckworth, goes by the name Karni Ben Israel and belongs to a Hebrew Israelite group in New York City. On "Yah" Lamar raps: "I'm a Israelite, don't call me black no mo'".

Lamar is a teetotaler and lives a drug-free lifestyle. During October 2012, he recalled once trying marijuana, where the blunt had been laced with Phencyclidine (PCP), and he has not used any drugs since. In an interview with Starz, Lamar stated he asked to play a drug abuser on the TV series Power, saying Laces was "just a character that I know. I know so well, just growing up in Compton. You grow this type of love for them, you know, in a weird way. You know, you don't want to see nothing happen to them, but you know he's dangerous."

Lamar is an avid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers of the MLB, the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, and the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL. In 2024, he released a track entitled "Dodger Blue" as a reference to the effect of the team's colors in the city's culture on his album GNX.

From Wikipedia’s article on Kendrick Lamar (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Politics

Philanthropy and activism

A supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Lamar is a vocal advocate for racial equality. In 2012, he commended Frank Ocean for coming out. Lamar developed a strong friendship with former US president Barack Obama, having worked on a promotional video for Obama's My Brother's Keeper initiative. He was critical of Donald Trump's first presidency and the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Lamar has headlined charity concerts benefitting local and international non-profit organizations. He donated to the American Red Cross in November 2012 to support victims of Hurricane Sandy. In December 2013, Lamar donated $50,000 to his alma mater, Centennial High School, in support of its music department. He embarked on a small concert tour in 2014, and donated all of the revenue to Habitat for Humanity and his hometown. In July 2017, Lamar purchased a wheelchair-accessible van for a quadriplegic fan. He has regularly performed at TDE's annual holiday toy drive at Nickerson Gardens, and organizes his own toy drive in Compton. He joined a peace walk in June 2020 to protest against the murder of George Floyd and the killing of Breonna Taylor. In June 2024, Lamar spearheaded a $200,000 donation to 20 charities and community initiatives based in Los Angeles.

From Wikipedia’s article on Kendrick Lamar (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 2026Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance12 15
  • 2026Grammy Award for Best Rap Album12 15
  • 2026Grammy Award for Best Rap Song12 15
  • 2026Grammy Award for Record of the Year12 15
  • 2025Grammy Award for Best Music Video for Not Like Us12 14
  • 2025Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance for Not Like Us12 14
  • 2025Grammy Award for Record of the Year for Not Like Us12 14
  • 2025Grammy Award for Song of the Year for Not Like Us12 14
  • 2018Pulitzer Prize for Music for DAMN.12 13
  • 2016Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance for These Walls12
More awards (4)
  • 2015Grammy Award for Best Rap Song12
  • 2013BET Award for Best Collaboration for Fuckin' Problems12
  • 2013BET Award for Best New Artist12
  • Date not recordedPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program12

Sources

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