Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar initially rapped as K. Dot and released a series of mixtapes under that name. Youngest Head N**** in Charge (2003), Training Day (2005), and C4 (2009) preceded his decision to go by his birth name. Overly Dedicated, released in 2010, was the first Kendrick Lamar mixtape and fared well enough to enter Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart that October. Lamar’s debut album was released the following year; Section.80 which was released by Top Dawg Entertainment, it entered the Billboard 200 at number 113. From 2009 through 2011, he appeared on tracks by Big Pooh, Jay Rock, Tech N9ne, and The Game. A 2011 concert with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Game found the trio dubbing him “The New King of the West Coast,” something Dre endorsed again by later signing Lamar to his Aftermath label.

His official major debut album, good kid, M.A.A.D. City was released by Top Dawg, Aftermath, and Interscope a year later, the album also featured guest appearances from MC Eiht, Drake, and Dr. Dre. The album received critical acclaim and debuted at #2 in the US Billboard 200, it was certified “Platinum” a year later in February 2013. In 2013, Lamar stirred up controversy for his verse on rapper Big Sean’s track “Control” due to him vowing to lyrically “murder” most up-and-coming rappers such as J.Cole, Tyler the Creator, Big K.R.I.T., Drake, Big Sean, and more. The verse also caused more controversy with New York rappers as Lamar referred to himself as “The King of New York” during his verse. Lamar received a total of 7 Grammy nominations but failed to win in any category especially with many critics feeling that Macklemore’s “The Heist” snubbed “good kid, M.A.A.D. City” for “Best Rap Album”.

In 2014, Lamar announced that he was working on his next album and he was also featured on the track “It’s On Again” with Alicia Keys for the soundtrack of the film “The Amazing Spider-Man 2“. In 2015, Lamar released his third studio album To Pimp a Butterfly which received critical acclaim and was regarded as the best album of 2015 by many music publications. Lamar also won five Grammy Awards including “Best Rap Album” at the 58th Grammy Awards while also performing tracks from “To Pimp A Butterfly” from the ceremony which was considered the best performance of the show. A year later, Lamar released a complication album titled untitled. unmastered which was an album featuring demos that were meant to be on “To Pimp A Butterfly” but didn’t make the cut.

In March 2017, Lamar released a single titled “The Heart Part 4” and a week later released the lead single “HUMBLE.” of his fourth studio album DAMN.. The album was released on April 14, 2017, debuting at #1 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified “Platinum” by the RIAA a month later in May. It was later revealed in a Easter egg in Lamar’s video for his third single “LOVE.” that Lamar and the rest of his label mates from “Top Dawg Entertainment” created an original soundtrack for the 2018 Marvel Studios film Black Panther titled “Black Panther: The Album“. The album was released on February 9, 2018 and featured successful singles such as “All the Stars” featuring SZA, “Pray For Love” featuring The Weeknd, and “King’s Dead” featuring Jay Rock, Future, and James Blake.

In January 2018, Lamar was nominated for seven Grammy Awards but ultimately walked away with 5 awards including “Best Rap Album” for “DAMN.” and “Best Rap Performance” for “HUMBLE.”. Months later, “DAMN.” won the 2018 Pulitzer Award for Music, making it the first rap album to win the award.