Trivia / Kendrick Lamar

• Creator Backlash: Alluded in the song "Auntie Diaries", Kendrick seems to regret to the infamous incident where he shamed a white girl he brought on stage for saying the N-Word while following the performance. It's especially apparently with the last line of the song pointing out the hypocrisy of his rap community saying the F-Word but pointing out the non-usage of the N-Word strictly to blacks.
  To truly understand love, switch position
  'Faggot, faggot, faggot,' we can say it together
  But only if you let a white girl say 'Nigga'"
• Promoted Fanboy: This is true of most rappers, but Kendrick (especially in good kid, m.A.A.d city) makes this a point in interviews and in his music. He has worked with many artists who were his musical heroes growing up, including E-40 (who he references in "Money Trees"), Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, The Game (Rapper) and, to crown good kid, m.A.A.d city, he got Jay-Z to feature on the remix of "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe".
• Real-Life Relative: Kendrick's real-life father Kenny makes an appearance in the music video for "Backseat Freestyle", where he asks Kendrick to get his "dominos" and sings love for his wife while high on weed.
• Reclusive Artist: He’s known to eschew the spotlight and let his music speak for itself. He has a few social media accounts but they’re only updated if he’s got something to promote. He also rarely gives interviews. The birth of either of his children was never officially confirmed and the only time they’ve ever been seen publicly is on the cover of Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. Only his son’s name, Enoch, has ever been confirmed in a song on the same album.
• Sequel Gap: The gap between his fourth album DAMN. and his fifth album Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers was over five years. In that time, he was able to go on tour, perform at Coachella, curate an album for Black Panther (2018), and perform at the Super Bowl halftime. After many rumors, he announced the release date of his album in April 2022 after a surprise appearance at Coachella.
• Uncredited Role: He's worked as an uncredited ghostwriter for Dr. Dre.
• What Could Have Been:
  • TechN9ne's Strange Music label had the opportunity to sign him along with ScHoolboy Q, but sent them both to Interscope in exchange for cash compensation.
  • Lamar originally intended to include "Cartoon & Cereal" on his major-label debut studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, but due to sample clearance issues, it was released for digital download.
  • The line about LeBron on "Savior" was initially supposed to be about Kanye West, if the lyrics initially uploaded to Apple Music are any indication.
• Working Title:
  • To Pimp A Butterfly's title was supposed to be To Pimp A Caterpillar, with the adjustment of "To" to the number 2, making it "2 Pimp A Caterpillar". And if you take in Fun with Acronyms, it spells out "2PAC", or Tupac Shakur.
  • DAMN. was originally titled What Happens on Earth Stays on Earth, a recurring phrase throughout the album, but was changed because it "didn't read right", according to Kendrick.

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