Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is an American rapper and songwriter. Raised in Compton, California, Lamar embarked on his musical career as a teenager under the stage name K-Dot, releasing a mixtape that garnered local attention and led to his signing with indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment.

Lamar has received a number of accolades over the course of his career, including twelve Grammy Awards. In early 2013, MTV named him the number one “Hottest MC in the Game”, on their annual list. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016. Aside from his solo career, Lamar is also known as a member of the West Coast hip hop supergroup Black Hippy, alongside his TDE label-mates and fellow South Los Angeles-based rappers Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Schoolboy Q.

“The hardest thing for – not only an artist but for anybody to do is look themselves in the mirror and acknowledge, you know, their own flaws and fears and imperfections and put them out there in the open for people to relate to it.”

“I learned, when I look in the mirror and tell my story, that I should be myself and not peep whatever everybody is doing.”

“People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they at. Do your thing – continue to rock it – because obviously, God wants you here.”

“People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they at. Do your thing – continue to rock it – because obviously, God wants you here.”

“At first, I was scared to show fear because you can never be sure how people will perceive you. But I dared myself to do that, to stand out. Now I’ll talk about being beaten up or robbed or making a stupid decision because of a girl or whatever.”

“I got a greater purpose. God put something in my heart to get across, and that’s what I’m going to focus on, using my voice as an instrument and doing what needs to be done.”