Kendrick Lamar
*Kendrick Lamar was born on this date in 1987. He is a Black rapper and lyricist.
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born in Compton, California. He is the first child of former gang hustler Kenneth "Kenny" Duckworth and hairdresser Paula Oliver. Both of his parents are African Americans from the South Side of Chicago. As teenagers, they relocated to Compton in 1984 due to affiliation with the Gangster Disciples. Lamar was named after singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations. He was an only child until he was seven and was described as a loner by his mother.
Eventually, his parents had his two younger brothers and younger sister. Lamar and his family lived in Section 8 housing and experienced homelessness. Despite hardships, Lamar remembered having "good memories" of his childhood that sparked his interest in hip-hop music, such as sneaking into his parents' house parties. He occasionally attended church services and was taught the Bible by his grandmother. He felt "spiritually the "empty" and "one-sided" nature of the sermons. After hearing a recording of his voice for the first time, Lamar became interested in rapping.
He experienced the 1992 Rodney King riots. When he was five years old, he witnessed a teenage drug dealer murder in a drive-by shooting. His parents nicknamed him "Man-Man" due to his precocious behavior, although he confessed it "put a stigma on the idea of me reacting as a kid sometimes—I would hurt myself, and they would expect me not to cry." Lamar was quiet and observant in school, excelled academically, and had a noticeable stutter. His first-grade teacher at Robert E. McNair Elementary School encouraged him to become a writer after she heard him correctly use "audacity." In seventh grade, Lamar was introduced to poetry by his English teacher. Through its connection to hip-hop, Lamar studied rhymes and metaphors, which made him fall in love with songwriting.
He later attended Centennial High School. He considered studying psychology and astronomy in college but suspended his academic pursuits to focus on his music career. Lamar began releasing music under the stage name K. Dot in high school. He signed with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005, where he co-founded the hip-hop group Black Hippy. Following the 2011 release of his debut album, Section.80, Lamar secured a joint contract with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. He rose to prominence with his second album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012); Rolling Stone named it the greatest concept album ever.
As of 2025, Lamar has received 22 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Brit Award, four American Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards (including two Video of the Year wins), and a record 37 BET Hip Hop Awards. Time listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016. Lamar won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to receive the honor. Three of his works were included in Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Outside of music, Lamar co-founded the creative company PGLang and ventured into film.
To Become a musician or Singer
To Become a Conductor or Composer
