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Kendrick Lamar

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Kendrick Lamar is an American rapper and songwriter, born in 1987 in Compton, a suburb of Los Angeles. He grew up in poverty, in a neighbourhood where gangs called the shots. At school he was a quiet, good pupil. A teacher introduced him to poetry, and through rhyme, metaphors and double meanings he discovered how to write raps. As a teenager he called himself K.Dot and made mixtapes. In 2005 he signed with the independent label Top Dawg Entertainment.

Music and breakthrough

His debut album Section.80 (2011) attracted the attention of Dr. Dre. Then came good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), a concept album about his youth in Compton, with characters and storylines as in a film. To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) went further still: with musicians such as Thundercat and Terrace Martin he blended hip hop with jazz, funk, soul and spoken word, and he rapped about racism, African American culture and his own depression. DAMN. (2017), Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022) and GNX (2024), with the hit Not Like Us, followed.

Influence

Lamar is known for his conscious, personal lyrics and his narrative style. He changes voice and tempo, and slips into the skin of different characters. To Pimp a Butterfly brought a new generation of jazz musicians from Los Angeles to the attention of a large audience. For DAMN. he received the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018, as the first musician outside classical music and jazz to do so.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Alright from To Pimp a Butterfly and notice how Lamar switches tone and tempo, from frantic to relaxed. Hear how the chorus, we gon' be alright, sounds like a slogan you can shout along to.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: ArtistsNew jazz from Los Angeles