Kendrick Lamar is widely seen as the most decorated and most respected rapper of his generation. Born Kendrick Lamar Duckworth on June 17, 1987, in Compton, California, he turned the streets he grew up on into dense, literary albums that critics and fans treat as events. He has won a Pulitzer Prize, a record twenty-seven Grammy Awards, and headlined the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show ever. Few artists in any genre carry that mix of acclaim and reach.
Compton and Top Dawg
Lamar started rapping as a teenager under the name K-Dot and signed to the Los Angeles label Top Dawg Entertainment in 2005. His early mixtapes built a local following, and his debut album, Section.80, arrived in 2011. By then Dr. Dre had taken notice, and Lamar signed to Aftermath, setting up the breakthrough to come.
good kid, m.A.A.d city
His 2012 major-label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, told the story of a single day in Compton with the detail of a film. It was a critical and commercial hit, and it announced a rapper who could write narratives, not just verses. To Pimp a Butterfly followed in 2015, a sprawling fusion of jazz, funk and spoken word that many name among the best albums of the century, with “Alright” becoming a protest anthem.
DAMN. and the Pulitzer
DAMN., in 2017, gave him “HUMBLE.” and “DNA.” and topped the charts. A year later it made history as the first album outside classical or jazz to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. The board praised its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism. That same year he curated the soundtrack for the film Black Panther.
The 2024 feud and Not Like Us
In 2024 Lamar and Drake traded diss tracks in one of the most-watched rap feuds in years. Lamar’s “Not Like Us” debuted at number one and became the biggest hit of his career. At the 2025 Grammys it won five awards, including Record and Song of the Year. He closed the year by surprise-releasing his sixth album, GNX.
The Super Bowl and the records
In February 2025 Lamar became the first solo hip-hop artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, and his set drew 133.5 million viewers, the most-watched in the event’s history. His Grand National Tour with SZA became the highest-grossing co-headlining tour ever. At the 2026 Grammys he passed Jay-Z to take the record for the most Grammy wins by a rapper, with twenty-seven.
Most loved songs
A spread across the catalogue. Each title opens through the in-site player.
- Full nameKendrick Lamar Duckworth
- BornJune 17, 1987, Compton, California
- GenresHip-hop, rap, conscious hip-hop
- LabelsTop Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath
- Grammy Awards27, the most ever for a rapper
- Also known forA 2018 Pulitzer Prize for DAMN.
From a verse you cannot shake to a hook that took over the year, the odds are good a Kendrick Lamar song has been stuck in your head. Type the line you remember into the search box above and you may find it leads back to him.