Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper from Compton, California. In 2004, Lamar signed to the Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment and in 2012, Lamar and the label signed a joint venture deal with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Lamar is also a member of West Coast hip hop supergroup Black Hippy, alongside his labelmates and fellow California-based rappers ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, and Ab-Soul.
Lamar first began to gain major attention in 2010 after the release of his fourth mixtape, Overly Dedicated. The following year he released his first independent album, Section.80, exclusively through iTunes. The album received critical acclaim and was instantly ranked as one of the top digital hip hop releases of the year. Early in his career, before releasing his major-label debut, Lamar had achieved a large internet following and had already worked with several prominent artists, including The Game, Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes.
His major-label debut studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was released on 22 October 2012 to universal acclaim. The album spawned the top 40 singles "Swimming Pools (Drank)", "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe", and "Poetic Justice" featuring Drake. Upon its release, the album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Lamar released his album To Pimp a Butterfly in March 2015 to universal acclaim, which praised its blending of hip hop, funk, spoken word poetry, and jazz. The album was preceded by the lead single "i", which earned him his first two Grammy Awards: Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 2015 ceremony. Later that year, Lamar and Taylor Swift's collaboration "Bad Blood" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Lamar's fourth studio album, DAMN., was released in 2017. In 2018, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the only non-jazz or classical music album to win the award. Duckworth was born in Compton, California to parents from Chicago, Illinois. His birth name was given to him by his mother in honor of singer Eddie Kendricks. In 1995, at the age of eight, Lamar witnessed his idols Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre film the music video for their hit single "California Love", which would later prove to be a very significant moment in his life. As a teenager, Lamar attended Centennial High School in Compton, where he was a straight-A student.
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