Celebrity lifestyles are an endless pool of information and we keep on hearing more and more about their wealth. Besides being interested in their houses, pools, cars and other material things, many of us like to learn more about their difficult lifestyles and their journey to the top.
In today’s text, we will talk about a talented American rapper called Kendrick Lamar, whose name grew significantly more popular in the last few years.
Early years
Kendrick Lamar (June 17, 1987) rapper and singer-songwriter. He was born in Compton, Los Angeles, California. His mother named him this in honor of the member of the band The Temptations: Eddie Kendrick’s. At 8 years of age, thanks to his father he met 2Pac and Dr. Dre while they carried out the recording of the music video for California Love. For the child this moment was the most important of his life. Even today it is.
He attended Centennial High School in Compton, and stood out as a good student, his favorite pastime in childhood was to write, especially poems, which eventually end up being rap songs. In his first years of life he had no intention of becoming a famous rapper, but wanted to be a professional basketball player, but, over the years he realized that he had a great ability to improvise and great ease to compose. His biggest influence is Tupac Shakur, Mos Def and Snoop Dogg.
With the stage name K-Dot, he began his musical career as a teenager, he published a mixtape that was popularized locally. Subsequently, he signed with the independent record company Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). In the year 2010 he published his first commercial album Overly Dedicated, it was at that moment when he began to gain recognition.
Independently working on his first studio album Section and his debut single HiiiPoWeR, Kendrick achieved great success with this play, especially on the internet. Dr. Dre listened to the topic and quickly contacted him for his Aftermath label and knew that with this young man he could achieve important results, as he had achieved with Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, and The Game.
Kendrick released the first single along with Dre entitled The Recipe, which was included in Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, in the deluxe version. Soon after, his album Swimming Pools (Drank) was released under the Aftermath label and was published by Interscope Records. Section (2011), increased in fame and his visits in the iTunes Store grew in a surprising way.
With this theme the African-American rapper discusses his problems with alcohol and the struggle he undertook to quit. Since its publication, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City got wide acceptance from critics and their supporters, who greeted its subject diversity and profound lyrics.
In the North American country, 242,100 copies were sold in just one week. Later that year, Fuse TV placed the single Backseat Freestyle among the 40 best songs of 2012. HipHopDX named Lamar “Master of Ceremonies of the Year”.
After several months of work, Lamar released, the first single from his third studio album. One of their new single was presented on the Saturday Night Live show. Thanks to its popularity, it obtained a large contract with the sports brand Reebok.
Career development
Kendrick Lamar formally debuted in the artistic medium on September 14, 2010, with the release of “Overly Dedicated”, his first album, properly speaking. The disc contains 14 songs, all written and produced by the rapper, who decided that for its premiere he would use three promotional singles. The first is called “P & P 1.5”, a song that is completely framed in the genre hip hop and reached parking in the first places of the main billboards of the genre in the United States. In the same way, it reached the number 2 spot in the top general of Billboard 200.
The success of this song earned him several awards, especially for being a production with a high content of social criticism. The song was nominated for best mixtape at the BET hip hop Awards 2010, it was also included in several listings of the 50 best albums that same year for the high sales it obtained. He was also number one in the Top 10 Mixtapes magazine of Rolling Stone magazine and even reached number 63 on Billboard’s urban R & B and hip hop list. In turn, it achieved more than one million downloads on several digital platforms at the time of its publication, so it was certified as a diamond in Datpiff.
The second most important song on the album is called “Michael Jordan”, which was used as the second debut track for the promotion of the album. This song, had an exclusive launch for streaming platforms and download, was considered the most important project to portray the story of the renowned American basketball player, Michael Jordan.
For this theme he was nominated for 7 Grammy awards of which he won two for “Best Rap Performance for” and “Best Rap Album”, this being the second digital theme to win this category. In turn, it seized the first place in the Top 200 list of Billboard and other music billboards.
In this production, the artist stands out as one of the best rappers of all time, his songs since that date have been considered as milestones in the genre, around the world. In addition to his award-winning hip hop albums, the artist is recognized for a series of successful commercial interests and charitable causes aimed at actively fighting to combat street violence.
“Heaven & Hell” is the title of the third promotional single from the album “Overly Dedicated”. The theme is a sample of the rapper’s ingenuity, because it is the most creative way that Kendrick Lamar found to portray the ups and downs of his life experiences, how even though he lived in a dark world he was not influenced by the drugs or crime.
For the critics this subject represents a work of great maturity, for that reason it was so acclaimed by the public. After its launch many media began to call the singer as “The voice of the people”, many felt identified with this particular issue. For these reasons, it is not surprising that the song has been located at the top of the main music lists of iTunes, Spotify and SoundCloud.
To Pimp a Butterfly debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, selling 324,000 copies. Critics highlighted its musical variety and the social relevance of Lamar’s lyrics. We must indicate that, it has been the rap album with the best classification by the Metacritic website. This album turned out to be an influence and an example for the rappers that come along the way.
With The Heart Part 4, he released several hints to rappers Drake and Big Sean. Recently, it was launched on YouTube, HUMBLE, went viral on social networks, and ranked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
DAMN, is his most recent studio album, with tracks like: DNA, Loyalty, Element, Love, among others. In the album it owns the collaborations of artists like Rihanna, U2 and Zacari. He has been a success and his fans have welcomed him with great enthusiasm.
Songs of the rapper like A.D.H.D and Hood Gone Love It, appear in the video game GTA V. Kendrick Lamar was a participant in the Franklin trailer. His song Swimming Pools also appears in the video game Saints Row IV. He is married in a Christian marriage with Whitney Alford.
Lamar won five awards at the BET Hip Hop Awards, including Album of the Year and Lyricist of the Year (the previous year he had won the same prize). In the awards ceremony, Lamar triumphed with his lyric Money Trees, made his show with the collaboration of Top Dawg Entertainment label, Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, Isaiah Rashad, and Ab-Soul. He was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Awards seven times, in the categories Album of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Rap Song, but was unsuccessful. The
In May 2015, Kendrick Lamar released their third album, ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’. The album appeared in number 1 position in several of the year’s best lists of publications, such as Billboard, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and The Guardian. The following year came out ‘Untitled Unmastered’, a compilation of demos recorded during the sessions of ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’. The rapper released their fourth studio album in ‘Damn’ in 2017.
Lamar’s third album (and second for a major label), the highly acclaimed “To Pimp a Butterfly,” was released in March 2015. It reached No. 1 in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. In Portugal, he was number 21. “To Pimp a Butterfly” was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys of 2016 and won the category of Best Rap Album in this same edition of the award. It was considered the best album of 2015 by several publications and sites, namely Rolling Stone, Billboard and Pitchfork.
In March 2016, Lamar released “untitled unmastered” which he called “compilation album”. The album reached # 1 in the US and Canada. In Portugal, reached number 50.
Lamar’s fourth album came out in April 2017 and is called “DAMN.” The album features the participation of Rihanna and U2 (s). The first single from “DAMN.”, “HUMBLE.”, Is, as of April 2017, the rapper’s single that reached the best position in the USA (No. 2), Canada (No. 2), New Zealand No 2), Australia (No 6) and United Kingdom (No 21). It was also Lamar’s second track to reach the lead of Hot Rap Songs and his first single to lead the Hot R & B / Hip Hop Songs chart, also on Billboard.
With his rise in the mainstream circuit, Lamar has collaborated on pop, R & B and rock stars such as Miguel, Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Solange, Robin Thicke, Imagine Dragons, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Sia and Chris.
Kendrick Lamar’s net worth is estimated at around 45$ million, and this number will certainly grow as the years go by since this talented young rapper is only 31 years old.
Personal life
Born on June 17, 1987 in Compton, California, American Kendrick Lamar was rap’s main name in 2015 when he released his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly, the successor to the acclaimed ‘Good Kid, MAAD City ‘. With 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 began to launch in 2003 a series of mixtapes when he was 16 years old. These works led him to be a member of hip hop group Black Hippy. However, it was in 2010 that the artist began to gain greater recognition when he released a mixtape entitled ‘Overly Dedicated’ under his real name. The following year, released independently via iTunes, came out the first album, ‘Section.80’, which featured the single “HiiiPoWeR”.
The artist is known for having a very own musical approach, which is part of the genre of hip hop, a genre that the singer has been exploring for several years, and that certainly grew listening to him in the streets of Compton, the neighborhood where he grew up. . This place has become the birthplace of important groups and artists such as N.W.A., MC Eiht and Coolio, therefore, it is not surprising that during the 70s, emerged one of the great exponents of the genre: Kendrick Lamar.
The singer represents the typical old-school rapper, although he has added touches of his own style to the music. His compositions are probably closer to conventional rap, his lyrics are highlighted by his great poetic depth to portray social and emotional issues related to his life in Compton, also portrays the modern African American society in his songs.
Among his musical influences he identifies Jay Z, Eminem, TuPac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G and Snoop Dogg, who were key elements for Kendrick Lamar to find in hip hop a way of expressing himself. The singer has always stood out for reinventing himself and defining his style in each musical proposal, but he has always made it clear that his goal is to open consciences and make social justice, which is why he sings to the street, poverty, delinquency and situations that the singer lived by himself.
The artist was born and raised in the streets of Compton, California, United States, a place known for its high rates of violence, drugs and weapons. The rapper belonged to a middle class family, his father, had been associated with some criminal gangs in the city, tried to give Kendrick Lamar a different life, however, the environment and life became increasingly hard.
Although the singer grew up in a precarious environment, it was in the street where he learned to rap and compose, in turn in those same streets he found a way to express himself and portray his reality through his songs, so he seemed more influenced than prejudiced in the environment where he lived. Kendrick Lamar completed his high school studies at Centennial High School, where he was known to be a bright student and consistently with good grades. From an early age he began to write, first wrote stories, then poems, and then songs.
Kendrick Lamar was also a born sportsman, at some point in his life he came to think of becoming a professional basketball player, but the dream was overshadowed by his growing talent and strong desire to be a singer, so the performer put his interest in hip hop and abandoned sports to devote himself to music professionally.
Kendrick Lamar is currently engaged to his girlfriend Whitney Alford. The couple still hasn’t tied the knot, but we can expect them to do that soon.
Quick summary
Full name: Kendrick Lamar Duckworth
Date of birth: June 17th 1987
Birthplace: Compton, California
Age: 32
Profession: Rapper, Singer, Writer, Producer
Height: 1, 68 m
Weight: 67 kgs
Net Worth: $45 million