Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (Compton, June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer.

Born and raised in California, Lamar began his music career as a teenager under the moniker K-Dot, releasing a mixtape that drew local attention and led to a deal with the independent label Top Dawg Entertainment. In 2011 he released his debut studio album, Section.80, which also featured his first single, HiiiPoweR, along with collaborations with prominent hip hop artists such as The Game, Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes. His second studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), was a major critical and commercial success, earning triple platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over three million copies in the US alone.

His third album, "To Pimp a Butterfly" (2015), also universally acclaimed by critics, debuted at number one on the US charts and earned him the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The following year saw the release of Untitled Unmastered, a collection of demos recorded during the sessions for the previous album. In 2017, Lamar released the album "Damn", which cemented his status for good and earned him, among other accolades, the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018, making him the first rapper in history to win the prestigious award. The lead single "Humble" became his first number one as a lead artist on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Over the course of his career he has racked up numerous accolades for his contribution to the music industry, including no fewer than twelve Grammy Awards and an Academy Award nomination, and has been hailed by many critics as one of the most incisive hip-hop artists of all time.