Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Known for his cinematic storytelling, melodic cadences, and artistic reinventions, he is regarded as one of the most influential artists of his generation, earning him the nickname "King Kendrick". He was named the second-greatest rapper of all time by Billboard and Vibe in 2023.
Duckworth started releasing music under the stage name K.Dot while he was attending high school. He signed with Top Dawg Entertainment in 2005, where he co-founded the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy. Following the success of his alternative rap debut album Section.80 , Duckworth secured a joint contract with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. He rose to prominence with his gangsta rap-influenced second album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and its top 40 singles "Swimming Pools ", "Poetic Justice" and "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe". It is the longest-charting hip hop studio album on the Billboard 200, spending over ten consecutive years on the chart.
Inspired by a visit to South Africa, Duckworth embraced jazz and G-funk styles on his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly . It became his first of four consecutive number-one albums in the U.S., and is one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the 2010s decade. His collaboration with Taylor Swift on the remix of "Bad Blood" garnered his first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. Duckworth's critical and commercial success continued with his R&B and pop-leaning fourth album Damn , yielding his second chart-topping single "Humble". He curated and executive produced the soundtrack album for the film Black Panther , and departed from TDE with his double album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers ; both projects broke various records.
Heralded as a generational icon by the California State Senate, Duckworth is the first non-classical or jazz artist to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. His accolades include 17 Grammy Awards , a Primetime Emmy Award, a Brit Award, four American Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards, and 29 BET Hip Hop Awards . He was named MTV's Hottest MC in the Game in 2012 and one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time in 2016. Billboard named him one of the most successful artists of the 2010s decade and one of the greatest music video artists ever. Duckworth is one of the most-streamed rappers on Spotify, with all of his albums surpassing 1 billion streams each. Two of his concert tours, the Damn Tour and the Big Steppers Tour , are amongst the highest-grossing rap tours in history. Three of his works were included in Rolling Stone's 2020 revision of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Outside of music, Duckworth co-founded the creative company PGLang and ventured into filmmaking with his creative partner, Dave Free. He has worked with various charities and advocates for racial equality and mental health awareness.
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17. June 1987
