Kendrick Lamar

Born on June 17, 1987 in the city of Compton, California, American Kendrick Lamar was the main name of rap in 2015, when he released his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly, the successor to the also acclaimed Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. Having funk and jazz as the main aesthetic elements of his music, Kendrick Lamar has names like 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne, The Notorious B.I.G, Jay-Z, Nas and Eminem as influences.

Under the name K. Dot, he started releasing a series of mixtapes in 2003 when he was 16 years old. These jobs led him to be a member of the hip hop group Black Hippy. However, it was in 2010 that the artist began to gain greater recognition, when he released a mixtape, titled Overly Dedicated, under his real name. The following year, released independently via iTunes, came the first album, Section.80, which featured the single "HiiiPoWeR".

Released in October 2012, the widely acclaimed Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was recorded in several California studios, with several producers, including Dr. Dre, Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, Scoop DeVille, Jack Splash and T-Minus.

In May 2015, Kendrick Lamar released his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly. The album appeared at number 1 on several best of the year lists from publications such as Billboard, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and The Guardian. The following year came Untitled Unmastered, a compilation of demos recorded during the To Pimp a Butterfly sessions.

The rapper released his fourth studio album in 2017, titled Damn. For Damn, Kendrick Lamar won the Music Pulitzer Prize. He was the first pop artist to win the award. Before, only classical or jazz artists had won the Pulitzer. Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers was released in 2022. Without warning, the artist's sixth album, titled GNX, arrived in November 2024.