Tonight is the night: finally i'll be able to see Kendrick Lamar live! I'm excited, i'm thrilled. To me, Kendrick Lamar is an icon. He's what Eminem was to 15-year old me. He's just one of these guys that turns everything they touch into gold, excelling in everything they do. Kendrick has been excelling for already 5 years now and quickly became what's maybe the best living rapper to date.
The streetboy who became a superstar
Kendrick Lamar is born in 1987 in Compton, the city known for the armed gangs, drug abuse and extreme violence. This environment, in combination with the fact that his family has to live off of welfare and has to live in social housing, will leave a big mark on his future development.
Already in the early stages of life Kendrick was very interested and involved with poetry and writing stories. Later on he also started to write his own lyrics. He finds a way to use his environment as an inspiration rather than letting it mess him up. In 2003 Kendrick releases his first collection of rap-song under the pseudonym K-Dot. It garnered local attention and led to him signing with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), the start of his career.
In 2010 Kendrick's stock was already getting higher and he released the first couple of songs under his own name with "Overly dedicated". After this, Dr Dré gets interested in the young artist and decides to take Kendrick under his wings.
Two years later, in 2012, Kendrick Lamar has his big breakthrough with his studio album "good kid, m.A.A.d city". In this album, Kendrick scores hits with Swimming Pools (drank), Bitch Don't kill My Vibe and Poetic Justice and he starts to get mainstream media-attention. This is the album where I personally started to listen to Kendrick Lamar. As a late teenager I wasn't really a fan of the Hip Hop-genre, but Kendrick's songs just had a different vibe to me. They had an attractive beat, were fun to sing along with and the lyrics were thoughtful. It was the start of the resourcefulness we would find in his later albums. Kendrick Lamar was talented, there was no denying that.
His fanbase and popularity quickly rose, as everyone was waiting for the confirmation. The world was ready and eagerly awaiting his next album, and in 2015 Kendrick unleashed "To Pump a Butterfly" to the world. This album was a bit more funky and soulful, but didn't disappoint. It received the Grammy for best rap album and once more Kendrick dominated the radio playlists with song like "King Kunta" and "Alright". After that he released two more albums named "Untitled Unmastered" in 2016 and "DAMN." in 2017. Everything combined, he's good for 82 music prizes, 12 of which are Grammy's he received between 2015 and 2018.
Kendrick Lamar receiving his Grammy for best album for "DAMN."
It's hard to say exactly what caused the extreme popularity of this 30-year old from Compton. Maybe it's his always positive and authentic personality, maybe it's his genius and honest lyrics, maybe it's his great live-reputation or maybe it's his ability to combine rap, soul, funk so easily into a perfect composition. Kendrick Lamar redefined the way we think and listen to Hip Hop. He wasn't afraid to experiment with different styles and stayed true to himself. For me that's why I love Kendrick Lamar. He's good at what he does, and he keeps me excited for what's left in the pool of talent he possesses. It hasn't dried up in the last five years, so who knows what's still left to come.
Now it's time to get ready for his concert.
Thanks for reading!
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Have fun :)