Kendrick Lamar Quote

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Lamar is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time and one of the greatest artists of his generation thanks to his acclaimed discography that involves his experiences within African-American and hip-hop culture, fusing progressive music styles and topics about religion, political criticism, mental health and social commentary.
Raised in Compton, California, Lamar developed an interest in music and poetry at an early age. Inspired by witnessing rappers Tupac and Dr. Dre filming the music video for California Love in his city, Lamar decided to pursue a career as a rapper. After releasing several mixtapes under the stage name K.Dot when he was just a teenager, he managed to earn a contract with the independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005, with which he would release the albums Overly Dedicated (2010) and Section.80 (2011). The success of the latter would provide him a massive Internet following and the opportunity to sign a joint contract with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records after being discovered by Dr. Dre.
Leaving aside his indie phase, Lamar produced his first major studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012). Described as a "short film by Kendrick Lamar", the gangsta rap-influenced record is a concept album that focuses on Lamar's experiences as a teenager in the dangerous city of Compton; a critical and commercial success, the album was certified platinum, earned him his first Grammy Award win, and is named one of the best concept albums of all time. Inspired by a visit to South Africa and Nelson Mandela's prison, his next album, To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), included genres of G-funk, soul and jazz, and is based around his struggles with being an African-American and his complexes with his ascending social status. It became his first of four consecutive number-one albums in the U.S., and was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 2010s. Lamar's critical and commercial success continued with his R&B and pop-leaning fourth album Damn (2017), yielding his second chart-topping single "Humble". After taking a five-year hiatus, he would release his final album with TDE, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022), a double-album with a strong theme around mental health and personal growth. Along with this, Lamar co-founded the creative company PGLang and ventured into filmmaking with his creative partner, Dave Free.
Lamar has received various accolades throughout his career, including one Primetime Emmy Award, one Brit Award, four American Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards (including two Video of the Year wins), 17 Grammy Awards (the third-most won by a rapper), and 29 BET Hip Hop Awards (the most won by any artist). Time listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016. Two of his concert tours, the Damn Tour (2017–2018) and the Big Steppers Tour (2022–2023), are amongst the highest-grossing rap tours in history. Three of his works were included in Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Outside of music, he has worked with various charities and advocates for racial equality and mental health awareness.