Kendrick Lamar Biography Essay Example

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, better known as Kendrick Lamar, was born on June 17, 1987, in Compton, California. He put to music some songs about the rough Compton streets he grew up on after composing stories as a boy. He rapped as K-Dot and released a series of increasingly popular mixtapes, catching the attention of Dr. Dre, the hip-hop super-producer. Lamar grew up on the streets and was directly affected by the violence on the streets. He was a straight-A student and incredibly intellectual, he was often soft spoken and an observer. Lamar found an escape through poetry at a young age and it heavily influenced his life. His poems became songs and he wrote about life through his eyes. At the age of 16 he released a mixtape that caught the attention of a record label and he was signed to Top Dawg Entertainment. When Lamar started out he was referred to as K-Dot. He performed under this name until he realized once he started getting big that he did not want to hide behind a stage name. He wanted to be authentic and people to know him as Kendrick Lamar. 

Lamar came out with the album Section 80 in 2011 and it aroused the interest of many people. The title of the album comes from the decade he was born in as well as the name for the inner city housing, known as “Section 8” housing. Section.80 is one of the best hip-hop records ever recorded in its entirety. It is, in my opinion, the beginning of his classic three-album run, which ended with To Pimp A Butterfly. Section.80 is a reflection and study on the vices and traps that plague his generation, all while drawing a loosely-tied story of two females, Keisha and Tammy. What makes this project so strong is Kendrick's ability to dig into daily stories that barely stimulate conversation in hip-hop. Kendrick is more interested in the bleak and morally abstract than in idyllic anecdotes. He's a reporter, an observer, and a folk artist at heart.

Lamar’s second studio album is good kid, m.A.A.d city which was released in 2012, a year after Section 80. The title m.A.A.d city has a double meaning, which is “my angry adolescence divided” and “my angels on angel dust.” He says that’s the reason he doesn’t smoke and in the story he was the one who was laced and he was getting into the wrong thing at the wrong time. When listening to the album the first song that plays is Sherene a.k.a Master Splinter’s Daughter, and the first words we hear are from a prayer. The prayer states, “Lord God, I come to you a sinner and I humbly repent for my sins. I believe that Jesus is Lord, I believed that you raised him from the dead. I would ask that Jesus come to my life and be my Lord and Savior. I receive Jesus to take control of my life and that I may live for him from this day forth. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me with you precious blood. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” This is him recognizing what he has done and wanting change. He has been through so much throughout his life and has done many things that are not right, but he holds himself accountable and asks for forgiveness. When listening to this album a lyric really stuck out to me in this song Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst, which says, “Am I worth it? Did I put enough work in?” This is one of life’s biggest questions: Are we doing enough for those we love? When we are gone will our life be worthy of praise? In the end we all die, but how are we gonna be told? Are people going to call us inspirational and hard working or as someone who wasted our life away? After all it is our decision on how we live it. This song is 12 minutes long speaking on a true story Lamar faced. It is divided in three parts about the harsh reality of Lamar’s life. The first section is about one of his friends, Dave and his brother, and how he had to watch Dave’s brother take his last breath and pass. The second verse of this song is from the perspective of Keisha and a continuation of Keisha’s Song (Her Pain) from his previous album. Keisha was a prostitute who was raped and violently killed and he wanted to have people hear her story. Keisha’s sister actually reached out to Lamar saying she did not want her business out for the world to hear and not to mention her at all. He went against her wishes and wrote about her anyway. The final part of this song is from his own perspective and how he got out of living a hazardous life like these others. This album To Pimp A Butterfly was Kendrick’s third studio album, released in 2015. When listening to the interview Lamar has I found the meaning behind the title of the album which really interested me. The original name was going to be To Pimp A Caterpillar, based on the acronym Tupac of Tu-P-A-C. He says changing it to butterfly was to show the brightness of life and the term pimp has hostility behind the name. He states that he wants to “use his celebrity for good and not be pimped by the industry through his  celebrity.” This album reflects on race and oppression with political commentary, appealing the youth of today. He includes lyrics such as “I need forty acres and a mule, not a forty ounce and a pitbull” and “Oh America, you bad b***h, I picked cotton that made you rich”. These lyrics are talking about how African Americans are perceived and what they have been through. He does not want the negative stereotype of a thug rapper drinking a forty-ounce of malt liquor while holding a pit bull on a leash, but the reparations of "forty acres and a mule" that slaves were given after emancipation. Lamar is able to talk volumes through various melodic sounds and provocative lyrics, from the album cover to the track list. To Pimp a Butterfly also sets the standard for what a classic hip hop album could sound like in the future. People's ability to access information has improved as a result of the widespread use of various social media channels. Riots and other injustices have been visible as soon as they occur, and people of color, unlike during the Harlem Renaissance, have been able to react and express their opinions. Kendrick Lamar, like South Park and other satirical shows that address current issues, is able to hold a mirror up to society and enable us to make our own judgments.

Lamar’s fourth studio album, DAMN, gained a lot of attention after being released in April of 2017. This album blew up quickly winning five Grammys and every song going platinum.  Rumors started surfacing that Lamar was going to release two albums that week. DAMN was released on April 14, which was Good Friday, and they believed he was going to release the second album Easter. In the album cover of DAMN, the ‘M’ is positioned over his head as if they were devil horns. Theorists believed the second album would be called NATION with the ‘O’ over his head as a halo. It was believed that DAMN was representative of Kendrick’s death and NATION would be of his resurrection. He puts the rumors to rest after saying no work was coming soon. After two weeks had gone by, the rumor was found to be true. Diving into the album itself, it is confirmed the album can actually be played forwards and backwards. “The initial vibe listening from the top all the way to the bottom is... this aggression and this attitude,” Kendrick said when asked about his perception of the album when played in both directions. You remember, ‘DNA,' and revealing my true self. It's almost the duality and contrast of Kendrick Lamar's complex Kendrick Lamar when you listen from the back end. “Both of these pieces are who I am.” There was clearly a lot of thought put into this album and it is one of the most elaborate and well-executed concepts in music.

Kendrick Lamar has always been someone I thought highly of and his music has so much meaning behind the lyrics. I did a lot of research for these assignments and learned a lot about Lamar that inspired me. I’ve watched many of his interviews and took time to listen to his albums and really analyze the lyrics.