Life and career
1987–2009: Early life and musical beginnings
Kendrick Lamar was born in Compton, California, to parents from Chicago, Illinois.[5] In 1995, at the age of eight, Lamar witnessed his idols Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre, film the music video for their hit single "California Love", a very significant moment in Lamar's life.[6] As a teenager Lamar attended Centennial High School in Compton, where he was a straight A student.[5][7]
In 2003, at the age of sixteen, Lamar released his first mixtape, Youngest Head Nigga In Charge, under the moniker K-Dot.[8] The mixtape garnered enough local attention for Lamar to get a record deal with Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment.[8] He then released a twenty-six track mixtape two years later titled Training Day (2005).[9] From 2006 through 2007, Lamar, alongside other young West Coast rappers such as Jay Rock and Ya Boy, had opened for fellow West Coast rapper Game. Lamar, under his pseudonym K-Dot, was also featured on Game's songs "The Cypha" and "Cali Niggaz".[10][11]
In 2008, Lamar made a brief cameo appearance in the music video for Top Dawg label-mate Jay Rock's debut single, "All My Life (In the Ghetto)". More recognition came Lamar's way after a video of a Charles Hamilton show surfaced, where Hamilton went in the crowd to battle fellow rappers in attendance. Lamar did not hesitate and began rapping a verse over Miilkbone's "Keep It Real", that would later appear on a track titled "West Coast Wu-Tang".[6]
After receiving a co-sign from American hip hop superstar Lil Wayne, Lamar released his third mixtape in 2009 titled C4, heavily themed around Wayne's Tha Carter III LP.[12] Soon after, Lamar decided to drop K-Dot as his stage name and go by his birth name. This resulted in him releasing a self-titled EP, Kendrick Lamar, in late 2009.[13] In 2009, Lamar also formed Black Hippy, a supergroup with label-mates and fellow California-based rappers Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q.
2010–2011: Overly Dedicated
In 2010, he toured with Tech N9ne and Jay Rock on The Independent Grind tour.[8] On September 4, 2010 Lamar unveiled the cover art for Overly Dedicated, designed by RedefineCreativity.[14] On September 14, 2010 he released the visuals for "P&P 1.5", a song taken from Overly Dedicated, featuring his Black Hippy cohort Ab-Soul.[15] On September 14, 2010, Lamar released Overly Dedicated to digital retailers under Top Dawg Entertainment, and later on September 23, released it for free online.[16][17] The highly acclaimed mixtape includes a song titled "Ignorance Is Bliss", in which Lamar glorifies gangsta rap and street crime, but ends each verse with "ignorance is bliss", giving the message "we know not what we do;"[18][19] it was this song specifically that made legendary hip hop producer Dr. Dre want to work with Lamar, after watching the song's music video on YouTube.[20] This led to Lamar working with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on Dre's Detox album and him considering signing to Dre's label, Aftermath Entertainment.[8][21][22] In December 2010, Complex spotlighted Lamar in an edition of their “Indie Intro” series.[23]
2011–2012: Section.80
In January 2011, Lamar stated his next project was 90% finished.[8] In early 2011, Lamar was included in XXL Magazine's annual Freshman Class, and was featured on the cover alongside fellow up and coming rappers CyHi the Prynce, Meek Mill, Mac Miller, Yelawolf, Lil B, Big K.R.I.T. and Diggy Simmons, among others.[24] On April 11, 2011 Lamar announced the title of his next full-length project to be Section.80, and revealed he would release it's lead single the following day.[25] As promised, on April 12, 2011 Lamar released "HiiiPoWeR", the album's first promotional single, of which the concept was to further explain the HiiiPoWeR movement.[26] The song was produced by fellow American rapper J. Cole, with whom Lamar began closely working with st the time; the song marked their first of many collaborations to come.[26]
On the topic of whether his next project would be an album or a mixtape, Lamar answered: "I treat every project like it's an album anyway. It's not gonna be nothing leftover. I never do nothing like that. These are my leftover songs y'all can have 'em, nah. I'm gonna put my best out. My best effort. I'm tryna look for an album in 2012."[27] In June 2011, Lamar released "Ronald Reagan Era (His Evils)", acut from Section.80, featuring Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA.[28] On July 2, 2011, Lamar released Section.80, his first independent album and digital release, to critical acclaim. The album features guest appearances from GLC, Colin Munroe, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul, while the production was handled by Top Dawg in-house production team Digi+Phonics as well as Wyldfyer, Terrace Martin and J. Cole. Section.80 went on to sell 5,300 digital copies in its first abbreviated week, without any television or radio coverage and received mostly positive reviews.[29]
In August 2011, while onstage with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Game at a West Los Angeles concert, the three of them crowned Lamar the "New King of the West Coast".[30] On August 24, 2011 Lamar released the music video for thepopular Section.80 track "A.D.H.D". The video was directed by Vashtie Kola who had this to say of the video: "Inspired by “A.D.H.D”s dark beat and melancholy lyrics which explore a generation in conflict, we find Kendrick Lamar in a video that illustrates the songs universal and age-old theme of apathetic youth. Shot in New York City during the sweltering July Summer heat, “A.D.H.D” is the third video to be released from Kendrick Lamar’s album Section.80.[31] In October 2011, Lamar appeared alongside rappers B.o.B, Tech N9ne, MGK and Big K.R.I.T. in a hip hop cypher at the BET Awards.[32] In the second half of 2011, Lamar appeared on several high-profile albums including Game's The R.E.D. Album, Tech N9ne's All 6's and 7's, 9th Wonder's The Wonder Years as well as Drake's Grammy Award-winning Take Care, where Lamar had a solo track.
2012–present: good kid, m.A.A.d city
On February 15, 2012, a song titled "Cartoon & Cereal" featuring Gunplay of Triple C's, was leaked online.[33] Lamar later revealed that the track was for his debut studio album and had plans to shoot a video for it.[34] The song would later be ranked #2 in Complex's Best 50 Songs of 2012 list.[35] It was announced in February 2012, for their Spring Style issue, FADER enlisted both Kendrick Lamar and Danny Brown to cover the front pages.[36]
In March 2012, MTV announced that Top Dawg Entertainment closed a joint venture deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, marking the end of Lamar's career as an independent artist. Under the new deal, Lamar’s projects, including his debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was set to be jointly released via Top Dawg, Aftermath and Interscope, while releases from the rest of Black Hippy were to be distributed via Top Dawg and Interscope.[37] In 2012, he toured alongside Drake on his Club Paradise Tour, opening along with ASAP Rocky and 2 Chainz. In March 2012, he appeared on the track "Fight the Feeling", from Mac Miller's Macadelic mixtape. In March 2012, Lamar also appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly, where he spoke on Compton and Dr. Dre.[38]
Lamar premiered his commercial debut single, "The Recipe", on Big Boy's Neighborhood at Power 106 on April 2, 2012. The song, which serves as the first single from his debut studio album, was released for digital download the following day. The song was produced by Scoop DeVille and mixed by, as well as featuring, his mentor Dr. Dre.
It was announced on May 14, 2012, that Lamar was working on a collaborative album with rapper J. Cole. In an interview with Bootleg Kev, Cole stated: "I just started working with Kendrick the other day. We got it in, finally, again. We got maybe four or five [songs] together."
On August 15, 2012, Lady Gaga announced via Twitter that she and Lamar had recorded a song tentatively titled, "PARTYNAUSEOUS".[39] The song, later re-titled "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe, ultimately did not feature Lady Gaga due to creative differences. On August 17, 2012, Lamar liberated "Westside, Right on Time", a new song featuring Southern rapper Young Jeezy.[40] The song was released as a part of the "Top Dawg Entertainment Fam Appreciation Week" that the label was hosting. Lamar was also seen touring with the rest of Black Hippy and Stalley on the BET Music Matters Tour, during 2012.
Lamar's major label debut studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was released October 22, 2012. The album was met with critical acclaim and debuted at number two, selling 242,122 copies in its first week.[41] The album has sold 746,000 copies as of February 2013 and has been certified Gold by the RIAA. HipHop DX named Lamar "Emcee of the Year" for their 2012 Year End Awards.[42] On January 26, 2013, Lamar performed the album's lead singles "Swimming Pools (Drank)" and "Poetic Justice" on Saturday Night Live. He also appeared alongside host Adam Levine and The Lonely Island on an SNL Digital Short.[43][44][45] On February 22, 2013, Lamar released video for "Poetic Justice", the Janet Jackson-sampling collaboration with Drake. The video features Drake in bed with a naked woman as he repeatedly tries to get in touch with an absent Kendrick on the phone. [46] On February 26, Lamar performed "Poetic Justice" on the Late Show with David Letterman.[47]
