Kendrick Lamar Duckworth started as K.Dot before signing to Top Dawg Entertainment in 2005. good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) became one of the longest-charting hip-hop albums ever, and To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) folded jazz and funk into some of the most direct social commentary in mainstream rap. DAMN. (2017) made him the first artist to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music outside classical or jazz. 27 Grammys and counting — the most of any rapper — plus a 2025 Super Bowl halftime show that became the most-watched in the event's history.
