Kendrick Lamar

Both of his parents are African Americans from the South Side of Chicago; they relocated to Compton in 1984, when they were teenagers, due to his father's affiliation with the Gangster Disciples.

Lamar was named after singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations.

He was an only child until the age of seven and was described as a loner by his mother.

Eventually, his parents had his two younger brothers and younger sister, businesswoman Kayla Sawyer (née Duckworth).

His cousins include basketball player Nick Young and rapper Baby Keem.

Lamar and his family lived in Section 8 housing, was reliant on welfare and food stamps, and experienced homelessness.

Although he is not a member of a particular gang, he grew up with close affiliates of the Westside Pirus.

Despite suffering hardships, Lamar remembered having "good memories" of his childhood that sparked his interest in hip hop music; such as sneaking into his parents' house parties.

He was raised secular, although he seldom attended church services and was taught the Bible by his grandmother.

He felt "spiritually unsatisfied" as a child due to the "empty" and "one-sided" nature of the sermons.

After hearing a recording of his voice for the first time, Lamar became interested in rapping.

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

Often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he is the only musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Lamar's work has been recognized for its continual versatility, characterized by his melodic cadences, cinematic songwriting, and striking visual presentations.

His regular infusion of political criticism and social commentary influenced a rise of social consciousness within his generation.

Lamar began releasing music under the stage name K.Dot while he was attending high school.

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born on June 17, 1987, in Compton, California.

He is the first child of Kenneth "Kenny" Duckworth, a former gang hustler who previously worked at KFC, and Paula Oliver, a hairdresser who previously worked at McDonald's.

He was introduced to police brutality after experiencing the first day of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

When he was five years old, he witnessed his first murder while sitting outside of his apartment unit.

"It done something to me right then and there," Lamar later admitted to NPR Music.

"It let me know that this is not only something that I'm looking at, but it's something that maybe I have to get used to."

His parents nicknamed him "Man-Man" due to his precocious behavior, although he confessed it "put a stigma on the idea of me reacting as a kid sometimes—I would hurt myself and they would expect me not to cry."

In school, Lamar was a quiet and observant student who excelled academically and had a noticeable stutter.

His first grade teacher at Robert E. McNair Elementary School encouraged him to become a writer after she heard him correctly use the word "audacity".

He signed with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005, where he co-founded the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy.

It became his first of four consecutive number-one albums in the U.S., and is one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 2010s decade.

His collaboration with Taylor Swift on the remix of "Bad Blood" garnered his first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Following the success of his alternative rap debut album Section.80 (2011), Lamar secured a joint contract with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.

He rose to prominence with his gangsta rap-influenced second album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012) and its top 40 singles "Swimming Pools (Drank)", "Poetic Justice" and "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe".

It is the longest-charting hip hop studio album on the Billboard 200, spending over ten consecutive years on the chart.

Inspired by a visit to South Africa, Lamar embraced jazz and G-funk styles on his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly (2015).

Time listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.

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".

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.

He curated and executive produced the soundtrack album for the film Black Panther (2018), and departed from TDE with his double album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022); both projects broke various records.

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).

Three of his works were included in Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Outside of music, Lamar co-founded the creative company PGLang and ventured into filmmaking with his creative partner, Dave Free.

He has worked with various charities and advocates for racial equality and mental health awareness.