Kendrick Lamar Concert Tickets

About Kendrick Lamar

Named after American singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (known by his stage name, Kendrick Lamar) was born in Compton, California on June 17, 1987.

Drawn to music and wordplay from a young age, Lamar had a life-changing experience in 1995, aged eight, when he saw his idols Tupac and Dr Dre filming the music video for their hit single "California Love".

Lamar was a model student as a child, studying at McNair Elementary and Vanguard Learning Center in the Compton Unified School District and later achieving straight-As at Centennial High School in Compton.

Career

2004-2009: Career Beginnings

At the age of 16, Lamar released his debut miztape, Youngest Head Nigga in Charge (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year), under the moniker K-Dot. The popularity of the release led to a contract with the freshly founded independent label Top Dawg Entertainment in 2004.

After dropping a series of progressively well-received mixtapes over the next few years, and gaining the respect and recognition of more prominent rappers (including Lil Wayne) via several features and live shows, Lamar dropped K-Dot and began performing under his birth name.

In 2009, he released his self-titled debut: The Kendrick Lamar EP. That same year, he also formed the hip hop collective Black Hippy, alongside Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and ScHoolboy Q, his Top Dawg Entertainment label-mates.

2010-2011: Overly Dedicated and Section.80

2010 saw the release of Lamar's fourth mixtape, Overly Dedicated; his first release to enter the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The music video for the mixtape track "Ignorance Is Bliss" caught the attention of Lamar's hero, Dr. Dre, who sought him out to work with himself and Snoop Dogg on his Detox album.

At the beginning of 2011, Lamar was featured alongside several other rising stars of rap, including Cyhi the Prynce, Meek Mill, Mac Miller, Yelawolf and Big K.R.I.T., on the cover of XXL magazine as part of their annual Top 10 Freshman Class.

That April, he released his debut single, "HiiiPoWeR", from his upcoming debut independent album, Section.80. The critically acclaimed album was released on July 2, 2011, and features guest appearances from GLC, Colin Munroe, Ashtrobot, BJ the Chicago Kid, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and was certified gold by the RIAA.

That August, a concert of Lamar's in West Los Angeles was attended by Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Game, who named him the "New King of the West Coast".

Throughout 2011, he collaborated with a variety of high-profile rappers on their albums, including Game's The R.E.D. Album, Tech N9ne's All 6's and 7's, 9th Wonder's The Wonder Years and Drake's Grammy Award-winning Take Care. In October, he appeared alongside fellow rappers B.o.B, Tech N9ne, MGK, and Big K.R.I.T. in a cypher at the BET Hip Hop Awards, where he won Lyricist of the Year.

2012-2013: Good Kid, M.A.A.D City

Lamar signed a deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment in March 2012, and that October he released his debut studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, jointly through Top Dawg, Aftermath, and Interscope. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and earned the highest first-week hip hop album sales of 2012 from a male artist, along with making the best-selling debut from a male artist that year. It launched five hit singles - "The Recipe", "Swimming Pools (Drank)", "Backseat Freestyle", "Poetic Justice", and "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" – and was eventually certified triple-platinum. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was critically acclaimed and appeared on multiple end-of-year lists.

In October 2013, Lamar supported Kanye West on his Yeezus Tour – his first tour in five years. That same month, it was announced that he would be featured on Eminem's eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, and he also won five awards at the BET Hip Hop Awards, including Album of the Year and Lyricist of the Year.

2014-2016: To Pimp a Butterfly and Untitled Unmastered

In January 2014, Lamar received a total of seven Grammy nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and Best Rap Song, but did not win in any category, leading several publications to suggest he had been snubbed by The Recording Academy.

At Sundance's NEXT Fest in Los Angeles that August, he premiered the short film M.A.A.D, which was inspired by Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.

The following month, he released "i" as the first single from his third album, later winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for the track at the 57th Grammy Awards in 2015.

That March, To Pimp a Butterfly was released to rave reviews across the board. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and set the global first-day streaming record on Spotify at 9.6 million. It launched five singles - "i", "The Blacker the Berry", "King Kunta", "Alright" and "These Walls" – all of which charted on the Billboard 200. By year end, it was the most frequently ranked record in top ten lists of the year's best albums, topping the charts in 51 publications, including Rolling Stone, Billboard, Pitchfork, Slant Magazine, Spin, The Guardian, Complex, Consequence of Sound, The Irish Times, and Vice.

At the 58th Grammy Awards, To Pimp a Butterfly earned Lamar 11 nominations – the most nominations for any rapper in a single night. He went on to win five Grammys, including Best Rap Album.

Untitled Unmastered, a compilation of previously unreleased demos that were recorded during the making of To Pimp a Butterfly, was released in March 2016 and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200.

2017-Present: Damn. and Black Panther Soundtrack

March 2017 brought the release of Damn, Lamar's third number one album on the Billboard 200. Another hugely successful album both critically and commercially, Damn was certified triple platinum by the RIAA in 2018 and was the Billboard Year-End number one album of 2017, as well as winning Best Rap Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards and also the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music - the first ever non-jazz or classical work to earn the accolade.

2018 also saw Lamar produce and curate the film soundtrack for the Marvel Studios superhero film Black Panther (2018), titled Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By, alongside Top Dawg Entertainment founder Anthony Tiffith. "All the Stars", one of Lamar's singles from the soundtrack, featuring SZA, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. "King's Dead", another single from the album, by Lamar, Jay Rock, and Future with British singer James Blake, won Best Rap Performance, and was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Lamar won five awards in total at the ceremony: for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Music Video, and Best Rap/Sung Performance.