Well, here we are. I originally planned to write about "Hotel California" (and I will), but the beef (or feud) over these past months between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has compelled me to talk about my patron saint, Sir Kendrick Lamar Duckworth. That said, I’ll also cover the drama they’ve stirred up (which is still ongoing) at a later time.
First off, let me warn you: this post won’t be impartial, I could try, but honestly, I don’t want to. My admiration for this man and his art runs too deep, so I’ll just state it upfront as a preface: with all due respect to the old school, I believe Kendrick is the greatest rapper of all time and in this post, I’m going to explain why. Give it a chance, even if this genre isn’t your cup of tea.
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987, in Compton, California) is an American rapper better known as Kendrick Lamar or by one of his many aliases/personas (KDot, Kungfu Kenny, Oklama, etc.). Being born in Compton meant he grew up in one of the cities that became the cradle of West Coast Hip Hop, home to legendary figures like Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and the rest of N.W.A., Coolio, and YG, among others. Naturally, this environment left a profound mark on his life.
Compton was a city rife with conflict, notorious for gang rivalries and a high rate of homicides and crime in general, factors that helped the rise of Gangsta Rap and, as mentioned earlier, the creation of the West Coast school of Hip Hop. To make matters more personal, Kendrick’s father, Kenneth “Kenny” Duckworth, was connected to one of these gangs, the “Gangster Disciples.” This is why he and Kendrick’s mother moved from the South Side of Chicago to Compton. Kendrick was an only child until he was seven, when his parents had his two younger brothers and sister.
The Duckworth family lived in Section 8 (government-subsidized housing), and at one point in their lives, they even experienced homelessness. They relied on welfare and food stamps to get by. While Kendrick never joined a gang, he had close ties to the Westside Pirus, a faction of the infamous Bloods.
Two major aspects of Kendrick’s life began simultaneously and at a very early age: his interest in rap and his exposure to violence and police brutality. He lived through the 1992 Los Angeles riots, sparked by the acquittal of four police officers for "lack of evidence" following the brutal beating of Rodney King. Of course, this was just the tipping point of tensions that had been growing for years (and continue to be evident today).
This early exposure to violence and the systemic challenges faced by African Americans would deeply influence his music, a theme we’ll explore further later. These experiences also forced Lamar to mature quickly in order to survive in that environment.
Here is where academicism comes into play. Kendrick was always a brilliant student. In fact, several teachers encouraged him to write and nurtured his interest in poetry. It was poetry that led him to fall in love with lyrics and songwriting, as he explored the study of metaphors, rhymes, wordplay, and “double entendres.” Many of Kendrick’s lines rarely have just one meaning or interpretation. This isn’t to say other rappers don’t put effort into their lyrics, but Lamar truly turned it into an art form. He’s done so in such a seamless way that it seems almost effortless, but of course, no one is born trained. His beginnings involved freestyling and writing raw or “profane” lyrics, so to speak. But, like everything in life, there’s a reason behind it, Kendrick himself has explained that those early lyrics were a way of channeling and overcoming the trauma and depression he experienced during his teenage years.
His teachers played a crucial role in this journey, recognizing his potential and encouraging him. One of the most influential was his English teacher, Regis Inde, who constantly pushed him to go further, whether by expanding his vocabulary to enhance his wordplay or improving his prose.
In addition to recognizing his immense potential, Kendrick's teachers also aimed to keep children away from the gang culture of Compton, a goal that, for Kendrick, worked for a time, however, inevitably, he found himself entangled in that environment. Fortunately, his father, who had experienced that life firsthand, organized an intervention that successfully steered him away from it. At 16, Kendrick was baptized and converted to Christianity after the death of a close friend—a turning point in his life. Around the same time, he began a relationship with Whitney Alford, with whom he remains to this day, despite the relationship's many ups and downs. Both of these aspects of Kendrick’s life, his Christian faith and his relationship with Whitney, would become deeply significant themes in his lyrics and the messages he shares with the world.
After graduating high school, with a perfect record by the way, Kendrick briefly considered studying psychology or astrology in college (both of which would suit him quite well, if you ask me). However, he decided against attending university because he wanted to stay focused on his music career. He started with freestyles, using the stage name K.Dot, and gradually built a name for himself. So much so that Dave Free, a student at the time who would later become a film director and record executive, traveled all the way from Inglewood just to see him perform. The two formed a friendship and Dave eventually becoming Kendrick's "Hype Man" (someone who provides vocal support and energizes the crowd).
Although Kendrick was making strides, Dave played a significant role in his journey, because while working as an IT technician, Dave passed a mixtape to Anthony Tiffith, known as "Top Dawg", who was impressed and offered Kendrick an audition for his newly founded independent record label "Top Dawg Entertainment" (which remains independent to this day :D though they are distributed by UMG). Other artists signed to TDE include Jay Rock, SZA, and ScHoolboy Q. It's important to highlight that Kendrick’s audition was a remarkable two hours of continuous freestyling. Naturally, they signed him in 2005, making him one of the first artists to join TDE, alongside Jay Rock. Beyond his earnings, Kendrick also received equity in the label for an undisclosed amount.
Kendrick continued releasing mixtapes, and after his tape "C4", he decided to stop going by K.Dot and start using his real name, Kendrick Lamar. However, it was with his fourth mixtape, "Overly Dedicated", that he truly began to get noticed by other artists in the genre. Big names like Dr. Dre himself took notice and wanted to feature him in a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, he even considered signing him to his label, "Aftermath Entertainment". Then, encouraged by artists like J. Cole, Kendrick released his debut album, "Section.80", with the lead single being “HiiiPower” (a standout track). The album was an experimentation by Kendrick, blending different styles and striking a balance between social critique and commercial music (as much as Gangsta Rap can be commercial). To promote the album, he performed in small venues and college campuses across the country. After a performance in Los Angeles, he was dubbed the “New King of the West Coast” by respected figures in the scene, such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and The Game. And here’s where it gets exciting: even before the release of "Section.80", Kendrick was already planning his next album, "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City".
Album covers of *C4*, *Overly Dedicated*, and *Section.80* respectively.
During this time, Kendrick began to move in increasingly influential circles. He opened for Drake (LOL) on the Club Paradise Tour and started working with J. Cole on a joint album that never came out and they made clear that it never will. There were also changes in his record label situation: he reached an agreement with Aftermath Entertainment (Dr. Dre’s label) and Interscope (UMG), although his main label was still TDE (Honestly, I need to research these multi-label deals more, because I don't fully understand how they work, but if I'm not mistaken, they play with revenue percentages). It was under this deal that Kendrick released the critically acclaimed "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" in 2012. It's hard not to go into depth about the album, because this post is focused on Lamar's figure in music and his career, but I promise to dedicate a post to dissecting his albums because if there's anyone whose albums deserve a deep dive, it’s this man. I'll just say that this album catapulted Kendrick into the mainstream, In fact, it surpassed "The Eminem Show" as the hip hop album that stayed the longest on the charts (watch out). In 2022, it marked 10 consecutive years on the charts, something no other album in the genre had achieved. (Oh, and it earned seven Grammy nominations, including Best Artist, Best Rap Album, and Album of the Year).
This period was very tumultuous for Kendrick. He was baptized for the second time and had to learn how to cope with the dichotomy that, despite being a successful artist, he still had to attend the funerals of friends who had died for staying loyal to the gang life (for whatever reasons). He also carried out numerous collaborations, but I’ll just mention “Control” by Big Sean and Jay Electronica. Kendrick’s verse in that song was seen as a warning to industry artists about a rising star in the genre, and if you ask me, it was a harbinger of his future dominance in the style. This verse is also considered the beginning of his "feud" with Drake.
After finishing the Kanye West’s tour he was in, Kendrick began working on his third album, "To Pimp a Butterfly", with the lead single “i” (which won two Grammys for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song). The full album was officially released in 2015. Once again, it pains me not to go into depth about this album, but I’m already on the fourth page of this Word document and haven’t even reached the halfway point of this man's career. What I can say, however, is that it was both critically and commercially acclaimed, considered one of the best hip-hop albums in history. On "To Pimp a Butterfly", Lamar delves into every style that originated from the African American community, such as jazz, soul, and funk, forcing anyone who listens to reflect deeply on his words. The album addresses both the artist's personal struggles and issues within the community he belongs to, all during a very turbulent time when racial tension and police brutality were on the rise (if they’ve ever truly stopped being an issue). The album received eleven Grammy nominations and won five, making it one of the most awarded albums of the night. During this time, he also released "Untitled Unmastered", a collection of tracks that were meant to be part of "To Pimp a Butterfly" but continued the experimentation and mixing of styles that defined TPAB. "Untitled Unmastered" was critically acclaimed for this and performed well on the charts, but it remains largely forgotten except by his die-hard fans.
To Pimp a Butterfly and Untitled Unmastered
With the next album, we arrive at the reason for my decision to write this post. In 2017, Kendrick released "DAMN" (with the lead single “Humble” and the promotional single “The Heart Part 4”). Needless to say, this album blew up, and although it still played with styles like R&B, it had a more pop influence that pushed it to the top of the charts, becoming the rapper's most commercially successful album and the sixth best-selling album of the entire year. The tour for the album became one of the highest-grossing hip hop tours in history.
Now, why is this album more important than the others? It's not the most socially conscious or the most experimental, like GKMC or TPAB, but in 2018, Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for Music with DAMN. This in itself is a milestone, but to me, it carries much more weight than usual because it was the first time this prestigious award was given to a musical project outside the realms of classical or jazz music. Had it been awarded to a genre like progressive rock, folk, or soul, it wouldn’t have been as surprising to me as it was for a genre as urban, street-oriented, and far removed from the academic elitism of other styles. But “Why does this seem so important to you, Lucía?” you might ask, and my answer is: because it makes it human. Like the legend of Icarus, the Pulitzer Prize for Music was the sun, and the only ones who could reach it were the gods, in this case, those musicians with the means and years of specialized training to get there. But Kendrick was the man who, unlike Icarus, reached the sun without having his wings melt, and brought it down to the earthly realm.
Cover of the album DAMN, promotional images, and photographs from 'The DAMN. Tour'.
Don’t get me wrong, with all of this, I’m not saying that Kendrick didn’t work like an animal to achieve this, far from it, but I think there’s a radical difference in that all of his art and learning comes from his experience, while almost all of the previous winners were classical composers with decades of study behind them. And I’ll tell you that this brings me a lot of joy because it sends the message that you can achieve great things without formal education, which in today’s world, with all the emphasis on degrees, seems almost impossible. And although I’m not a fan of meritocracy or the "if you want it, you can have it" mentality, because I believe there are always many more factors at play, I do recognize that it gives hope. It made Kendrick a symbol for African American children all across the United States (and other countries), offering something for those kids to hold on to—kids who want to make it big in a world as elitist as the music industry but whose parents can’t afford their education, or who might even be pushed to study something else. I also think it’s important to emphasize that although Kendrick didn’t pursue higher education, he is a strong advocate for young people being able and willing to study, especially supporting marginalized communities to follow that path, helping to keep youth off the streets.
And those of you who aren't fans of Kendrick, or aren’t into rap or hip hop, might be wondering why he and the album "DAMN" received the award, because if you look at the list of past winners, they definitely aren’t on the same vibe, let's say. Well, in the words of the organization itself: “DAMN is a virtuoso collection of songs unified by their vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism, offering poignant scenes that capture the complexity of modern African American life.” So, I interpret this to mean that, in this case, the judges focused more on the lyrical aspect of the project than the melodic one (though I’m not saying they didn’t take it into account), because it’s true that, while the album has exquisite production and some symbolic elements in terms of the artists involved, the weight falls on the lyrics, where Lamar expresses concepts like a crisis of faith, anger at the situation his community faces, the fear of losing what he’s achieved, and internal struggles, as can be inferred by the track titles (LOYALTY, LUST, FEAR, PRIDE...), thus breaking the stereotype that rap and hip-hop only deal with topics like violence, drugs, and women. It’s a bit like what rock went through in the 80s with older generations, but with the difference that most rap artists and listeners are African American, so there’s a significant racial component to these stereotypes.
It is true that, in my humble (and completely biased) opinion, there are many works by Kendrick that would be worthy of this award, as he is a master at speaking to the soul. As can be seen in the album he released after "DAMN" following a 5-year hiatus, "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" (2022), where he does an intense introspective work on all his internal conflicts, from his family and childhood, how he's navigated them, and how he has managed to become the man he is now. But frankly, you could pick any song from his discography at random, and it's very unlikely that, whatever song it is, it won’t make you think, feel, laugh, dance, or cry with the lyrics. That's why I believe that, stepping away from the academic spirit of awards like the Pulitzer, if there's anyone who truly deserves that prize, someone who, against all odds, with little resources and few opportunities, has managed to reach that level and break the barrier between "good" music, academic, perfect, and well-born, and "bad" music, street, irregular, direct, and not always sweet—it's Kendrick Lamar.
Lastly, I must say, I know that starting to listen to a genre that we’ve already predetermined that "we don't like" is difficult, but I’m going to ask you to trust me on this. To share the love I have for this man’s music and for you to fully understand everything I’m referring to in this post, I’ve created a Spotify playlist called “Kendrick Lamar 101” (I’ll also leave the tracklist with links below just in case you don’t have Spotify). If you’re curious, give it a listen, and if you’re not, do it anyway—you won’t regret it. Read his lyrics, feel what he feels, it’s the beauty of music. And with that, I’ll see you in the next post.
“Love, let's talk about love
Is it anything and everything you hoped for?
Or do the feeling haunt you?
I know the feeling haunt you”
-- Kendrick Lamar (All The Stars ft. SZA)
“Kendrick Lamar 101” Tracklist
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