Featured In
ALBUMThe Hillbillies - SingleBaby Keem & Kendrick Lamar
Albums by Kendrick Lamar
ALBUMMr. Morale & The Big SteppersKendrick Lamar
ALBUMDAMN.Kendrick Lamar
ALBUMDAMN. COLLECTORS EDITION.Kendrick Lamar
ALBUMuntitled unmastered.Kendrick Lamar
ALBUMTo Pimp a ButterflyKendrick Lamar
ALBUMgood kid, m.A.A.d city (Deluxe Version)Kendrick Lamar
ALBUMSection.80Kendrick Lamar
ALBUMOverly DedicatedKendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar's Popular Music Videos
Goosebumps (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Travis Scott
Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show (Live)
Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar & 50 Cent
Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Taylor Swift
All the Stars
Kendrick Lamar & SZA
The Heart Part 5
Kendrick Lamar
family ties
Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar
N95
Kendrick Lamar
Tints (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Anderson .Paak
Count Me Out
Kendrick Lamar
F**kin' Problems (feat. Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar)
A$AP Rocky
Artist Playlists
Kendrick Lamar Essentials
Raw bangers and introspective tales fueled by a mind-blowing flow.
Kendrick Lamar Video Essentials
K-Dot's best videos are deep visual journeys.
Kendrick Lamar: Influences
Weaving together the musical and lyrical fabric of the Black Hippy leader.
Kendrick Lamar: Chill
Lean back and relax with some of their mellowest cuts.
Kendrick Lamar: Deep Cuts
Even at the top of his game, Lamar never stops pushing the limit.
Kendrick Lamar: Flipped
From hits to deep cuts, breaking down the samples that have inspired one of music’s most vital artists.
Kendrick Lamar: Sing
Grab the mic and sing along with some of their biggest hits.
Artist Biography
In an interview with Apple Music, Kendrick Lamar reflected on his 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly—in particular, the song “Alright.” It wasn’t that it sold well (it did). It wasn’t that it won awards (it did). It wasn’t even that it broke new ground for where hip-hop might go. For Lamar, the success was that people sang it in the streets. “A lot of people don’t have voices out there,” he said. “So to see them actually express themselves through song, through lyrics that I wrote?” For a kid from Compton whose life was transformed by hip-hop, the fame was nice, but the singing, the spirit, the possibility that his music was opening a cultural inroad for people joining the fight for civil rights—that was real. He might’ve been writing alone. But he was speaking for many.
Born in 1987, Lamar grew up under the influence of JAY-Z, Eminem, and 2pac—for the wordplay, for the imagination, for the heart and sense of community. Given its popularity, Lamar’s music can be surprisingly dense, taking shape in winding, album-length narratives (good kid, m.A.A.d city), live-band hybrids of jazz and funk (To Pimp a Butterfly), and quasi-conceptual explorations of self (2017’s Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN.). Yes, he wants greatness. But he wants it on his own terms. “I’m not doing it to have a good song,” he said. “Or one good rap. Or a good hook, or a good bridge. 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—that you’re the best.”
Born in 1987, Lamar grew up under the influence of JAY-Z, Eminem, and 2pac—for the wordplay, for the imagination, for the heart and sense of community. Given its popularity, Lamar’s music can be surprisingly dense, taking shape in winding, album-length narratives (good kid, m.A.A.d city), live-band hybrids of jazz and funk (To Pimp a Butterfly), and quasi-conceptual explorations of self (2017’s Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN.). Yes, he wants greatness. But he wants it on his own terms. “I’m not doing it to have a good song,” he said. “Or one good rap. Or a good hook, or a good bridge. 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—that you’re the best.”
Hometown
Compton, CA, United States
Genre
Hip-Hop/Rap