History Music / KendrickLamar

With this recognition, Kendrick signed to both Interscope and Aftermath and in 2012 released his second full-length album, ''Music/GoodKidMAADCity'', an album about his teenage years and experiences with drugs, alcohol and gang violence. It was highly regarded as one of the best albums of 2012, and mass controversy was elicited when [[AwardSnub it lost all of its]] UsefulNotes/GrammyAward [[AwardSnub nominations]]; some of the awards went to Music/{{Macklemore}}, who even admitted himself that Kendrick should've won.

** "Worldwide Steppers" and "Mr. Morale" are tracks about parenthood and generational trauma, the former depicting him as uncertain and at times unfaithful as a newly-christened patriarch, the latter being more honest, faithful, and hopeful towards everyone's future.

Kendrick Lamar (full name Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter born and raised in Compton, California. Known for his progressive musical influences and socially conscious, story-driven lyrics, he is regarded by many fans and publications as one of the greatest rappers of his generation if not all time.

With this recognition, Kendrick signed to both Interscope and Aftermath and in 2012 released his second full-length album, ''Music/GoodKidMAADCity'', an album about his teenage years and experiences with drugs, alcohol and gang violence. It was highly regarded as one of the best albums of 2012, and caused mass controversy when [[AwardSnub it lost all of its]] UsefulNotes/GrammyAward [[AwardSnub nominations]] with some of the awards going to Music/{{Macklemore}} (who even admitted himself that Kendrick should've won).

In August of 2013, Kendrick featured on the Music/BigSean song "Control". His verse, in which he managed to call out the entirety of the rap game's current artists while simultaneously claiming that he is the best in the game and urging the others to catch up, was widely considered to be the year's best display of raw lyricism. Kendrick's verse became so popular that some are [[SpotlightStealingSquad surprised to learn that there are two other artists on the song]]. That verse can be heard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2z4YSqcmus here.]]

On March 15, 2015, Kendrick's third full-length album, ''Music/ToPimpAButterfly'', was unexpectedly released[[note]]due to an error on Interscope Records' behalf which caused the album to be released a week earlier than scheduled[[/note]] to widespread critical acclaim. Similarly to ''GKMC'', the album was infamously snubbed for an Album of the Year Grammy that went to Music/TaylorSwift, although it did win a number of other Grammys. A compilation of demos that were created during the production of ''TPAB'' was eventually released in March 2016 under the name ''untitled unmastered.''

Kendrick began hinting towards a fourth album in late March of 2017, with the release of promotional single "The Heart Part IV" signaling an upcoming return and notably ending with the line, "Y'all got 'til April the 7th to get your shit together." Following the release of lead single "HUMBLE.", the album, titled ''DAMN.'', was released on April 14[[note]]The album was simply made available for pre-order on the 7th and not released, much to the dismay of fans[[/note]] to widespread critical acclaim, becoming the best-selling rap album of the year with 600,000 units sold. On April 17, 2018, ''DAMN.'' also became the first non-classical or jazz album to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

* DreamTeam: Really, Kendrick and pretty much anyone, but some noteworthy ones include
** Kendrick and Music/DrDre on "The Recipe" and "Compton"
** Kendrick and Music/JayZ on the "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" remix.
** Kendrick and Music/LadyGaga on the original version of "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe".
** Kendrick, Big KRIT and Music/JCole on Music/DJKhaled's "They Ready".
** Kendrick and Music/JCole in general.
** Kendrick and Pusha T on "Nosetalgia".
** Kendrick and Music/{{Eminem}} on "Love Game".
** Kendrick and Music/KanyeWest on "No More Parties In L.A.".
** Kendrick, Music/DannyBrown, Ab-Soul, ''and'' Music/EarlSweatshirt on "Really Doe".
** Kendrick and Music/TravisScott on "goosebumps".
** Kendrick and Music/{{Rihanna}} on "LOYALTY."
** Kendrick and Music/{{U2}} on "XXX."
** Kendrick and Music/TheWeeknd on "Sidewalks" and "Pray For Me
** Kendrick and Music/LilWayne on "Mona Lisa".

One of the great young talents in rap music, Kendrick Lamar (full name Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper born and raised in Compton, California. He is known for delivering politically charged, story-driven, and often nostalgic lyrics, drawing on his experiences growing up in a bad neighborhood.

He released his first mixtape at the tender age of sixteen. Having signed to Top Dawg Entertainment, Kendrick continued to pump out acclaimed mixtapes and finally released his debut album in 2011, titled ''Section.80''. The album won him great critical acclaim and revealed to the public the great potential the young MC had, including Music/DrDre and Music/SnoopDogg, who crowned him the "New King of the West Coast" at a concert.

With this recognition, Kendrick signed to both Interscope and Aftermath and in 2012 released his second full length album, ''Music/GoodKidMAADCity'', an album all about his teenage years and experiences with drugs, alcohol and gang violence. It has been highly regarded as one of the best albums of 2012 and caused mass controversy when [[AwardSnub it lost all of its]] UsefulNotes/GrammyAward [[AwardSnub nominations]] and some of the awards went to Music/{{Macklemore}} (who even admitted that Kendrick should've won).

In August of 2013, Kendrick featured on the Music/BigSean song "Control". His verse, in which he managed to call out the entirety of the rap game's current artists while simultaneously claiming that he is the best in the game and urging the others to catch up, was widely considered to be the year's best display of raw lyricism. Kendrick's verse is so popular, that some are [[SpotlightStealingSquad surprised to learn that there are two other artists on the song.]] That verse can be heard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2z4YSqcmus here.]]

On March 15, 2015, Kendrick's third full length album, ''Music/ToPimpAButterfly'' was unexpectedly released (due to an error on Interscope Records' behalf which caused the album to be released a week earlier than scheduled) to widespread critical acclaim. Similarly to ''GKMC'', the album was infamously snubbed for an Album of the Year Grammy that went to Music/TaylorSwift, although it did win a number of other Grammys. A compilation of demos that were created during the production of ''TPAB'' was eventually released in March 2016 under the name ''untitled unmastered.''

Kendrick began hinting towards a fourth album on March 22, 2017, where he deleted all of his pictures on Instagram and uploaded a since-deleted picture with nothing but the word "IV". The following day, "The Heart Part IV" was released as a promotional single, signaling an upcoming return of Kendrick, supposedly taking shots at Music/BigSean and Drake, and hinting the date of his fourth album with the line "Y'all got April the 7th to get your shit together."

A week later, the album's lead single, "HUMBLE.", was released ahead of schedule due to the cover art being leaked online. On the announced date of April 7, 2017, the new album was not released but merely made available for pre-order, to the dismay of fans. On April 14, 2017, Kendrick's fourth studio album, ''DAMN.'' was released to widespread critical acclaim, beating out Drake's ''More Life'' for best selling hip-hop album of the year with 600,000 units sold. On April 17, 2018, ''DAMN.'' also became the first non-classical or jazz album to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

After a performance at Coachella, Lamar finally announced he would be releasing his long awaited fifth album in 2022, with him teasing the album in the beginning of May with the name ''Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers'', with the album dropping on May 12th, 2022. It will also be the last record with Top Dawg Entertainment and the first of Kendrick's label [=pgLang=].

** A working title for ''To Pimp A Butterfly'' was ''To Pimp A Caterpillar'', because if you [[Letters2Numbers change "to" into "2"]], then FunWithAcronyms initialize the rest, you get [[Music/TupacShakur 2PAC]].

** A working title for ''To Pimp A Butterfly'' was ''To Pimp A Caterpillar'', because if you [[Letters2Numbers change "to" into "2"]], then [[FunWithAcronyms initialize the rest]], you get [[Music/TupacShakur 2PAC]].

* GratuitousSpanish: On his feature verse on ScHoolboy Q's "Collard Greens", he starts out in English, then transitions seamlessly into Spanish.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: A song version of this plays out in R.O.T.C. (Right On Time Conscience). Kendrick is weighing out the pros and cons of the fast money a return to the drug-dealer lifestyle would have, since his rap career isn't taking off as fast as he'd like. Right as he's about to go back to it, he has a moment of conscience kicking in and decides against it.

One of the great young talents in rap music, Kendrick Lamar (full name Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, born June 17, 1987) is a Compton-born rapper known for delivering politically charged, story driven, and often nostalgic lyrics, drawing on his experiences growing up in a bad neighborhood.

+ Music/TupacShakur, Music/TheNotoriousBIG, Music/{{Eminem}}, Music/JayZ, Music/{{Nas}}, Music/{{DMX}}, [[Music/{{Outkast}} Andre 3000]]]

** At one point during "Hood Politics", Kendrick briefly namedrops [[Music/RunTheJewels KillerMike]].

** In an interview, he stated that he could've easily made an album full of hits with Mr. Morale and the Bug Steppers, but he felt compelled to speak as honestly as possible instead.

** This is deconstructed in ''Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers'', while Kendrick himself understands the idea of him being viewed as a "savior" to some, in regards to the music scene as well as to those struggling, he himself is a human being and can't always save everyone, as much as he wants to. This is exemplified in the final track "Mirror", where he choses himself in the end and apologizes to the listener for not being the "savior" they truly wanted,

* ParentsAsPeople: Thoroughly discussed in "Father Time", with Kendrick delving into what he freely admits are his "daddy issues". He calls out [[BrokenPedestal the dissonance of looking up to his own father as a paragon despite instilling in him what may have been toxic values]] (i.e. [[RealMenHateAffection "Men should never show feelings, being sensitive never helped"]]). Despite this, Kendrick sympathizes with him and his attitude as a consequence of the environment he himself was raised in, and that his ToughLove was born out of genuinely wanting Kendrick to learn to fight for himself and avoid the same mistakes he made.

* ParentsAsPeople: Thoroughly discussed in "Father Time", with Kendrick delving into what he freely admits are his "daddy issues". He calls out [[BrokenPedestal the dissonance of looking up to his own father as a paragon despite instilling in him what may have been toxic values]] (i.e. [[MenHateAffection "Men should never show feelings, being sensitive never helped"]]. Despite this, Kendrick sympathizes with him and his attitude as a consequence of the environment he himself was raised in, and that his ToughLove was born out of genuinely wanting Kendrick to learn to fight for himself and avoid the same mistakes he made.

* ClusterFBomb: Used to tragic effect in "We Cry Together".

* DistinctDoubleAlbum: ''Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers'' broadly covers Kendrick's journey through his various traumas and personal grievances that pass by in his mind, split across two nine-track sections. The first half (''The Big Steppers'') is the more openly volatile of the two, depicting his thoughts in a more destructive, toxic way, but the second half (''Mr. Morale'') is much more guided by his desire to overcome and heal from his demons in the name of peace. Structurally, both playlists are directly meant to mirror each other and reflect on each other's general themes in their respectively cynical or idealistic way -- for one example, "United in Grief" starts the double album on a rumination on processing grief through unhealthy external means, while "Mirror" ends on looking inward and making the hard choices to move on. In a way, the structure carries the frontwards/backwards DualityMotif of ''DAMN.'', but actually processed as a two-part album.

* DualityMotif: Explored in various forms throughout ''DAMN.'', up to and including the album having an alternate storyline when played in reverse.

* MindScrew: ''To Pimp A Butterfly''. It's definitely about ''something'', but nobody's quite sure what. There's a general message about black violence in there, but it doesn't seem to be the only one.

->''[[HumbleHero "I'm no mortal man; maybe I'm just another nigga."]]''

** Kendrick and Music/TheWeeknd on "Sidewalks" and "Pray For Me".

After a performance at Coachella, Lamar finally announced he would be releasing his long awaited fifth album in 2022, with him teasing the album in the beginning of May with the name ''Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers'', with the album dropping on May 12th, 2022 only a few days ''after showing the album cover''. It will also be the last record with Top Dawg Entertainment and the first of Kendrick's label [=pgLang=].

* ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}: The Album'' (2018)[[note]]The album itself hosts contributions from various artists, most of them from TDE; Lamar was just chosen as the curator.[[/note]]

* TextlessAlbumCover: ''To Pimp a Butterfly''.