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Damn, best man

Kendrick Lamar, a cherished narrator, social commentator, prolific jazz artist and admired rapper, can add an unanticipated honour to his résumé.

Damn, best man


Saurabh Chadha

Kendrick Lamar, a cherished narrator, social commentator, prolific jazz artist and admired rapper, can add an unanticipated honour to his résumé. The California artist becomes the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize for music, one of the most prestigious arts awards in the United States.

Lamar, 30, won the Pulitzer for his 2017 album DAMN, which also marked him as the first music winner in the 100-year history of the Pulitzers to come from outside of the world of classical or jazz.  Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer is a groundbreaking moment for hip-hop. In their statement, The Pulitzer board hailed DAMN, as “a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”

DAMN sees Lamar question his inspiration, negations and weaknesses against the backdrop of political and cultural chaos in America. The album went platinum in the US just a month after its release. It has now sold more than a million copies in his home country and, streaming included, the figure rises to 3.1 million sales.

Kendrick Lamar is one of the rare artistes to have achieved critical and commercial success while earning the respect and support of those who motivated him. A resident of Compton, California, Lamar initially rapped as K. Dot and released a series of mixtapes under that title. When he was only 16, Lamar caught the attention of Top Dawg Entertainment that showed the way to a long-term association that helped elevate the rapper’s career. He later became a part of Black Hippy, with fellow Top Dawg artists Jay Rock, ScHoolboy Q and Ab-Soul, a group whose members, for the most part, showed on one another’s mixtapes and albums. In 2010, Overly Dedicated became the first Kendrick Lamar outing that easily managed to make a place on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 2011, Lamar released his first official digital download album, Section.80 and entered the Billboard 200 at number 113. Early in 2015, he announced his third album, featuring George Clinton, Snoop Dogg, Thundercat and Bilal. Due to a technical accident, the digital album had to be released eight days early, but it instantly received an enormous response and sold 3,25,000 copies within its first week. 

In 2016, he released an eight-track compilation, untitled unmastered, and he’s contributed guest verses to tracks by artistes such as Beyonce, SZA, Vince Staples, Kanye West, Taylor Swift and more. The rest is history. In 2017, his first top five hit, DAMN, entered the Billboard 200 at the top. Astonishingly, all 14 of its songs entered the Hot 100. The album featured contributions from a handful of prominent artistes, including James Blake, Greg Kurstin, U2 and Rihanna to name a few. 


10 facts about Kendrick Lamar

  • The artiste’s full name is Kendrick Lamar Duckworth.
  • His birth name was given to him by his mother in honour of singer Eddie Kendricks.
  • Lamar attended Centennial High School in Compton, the same school as Dr Dre.
  • Kendrick Lamar broke through with his 2012 album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
  • The rapper wrote most of No. 1 album Damn in his mother's kitchen.
  • Lamar earned his career’s first Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist and Album of the Year for Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, in 2013. He won his first career Grammys for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for I in 2014. 
  • Lamar made his Grammy stage debut alongside Imagine Dragons at the 56th Grammys, performing a mashup of M.A.A.D City and Radioactive.
  • Lamar has donated to Compton-area school districts to support their extracurricular, music and afterschool programs.
  • During a 2011 concert, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Game dubbed him The New King of the West Coast.
  • Kendrick Lamar has won 12 Grammys out of his 29 nominations.

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