Good Evening! Class is in session! On this day in Hip Hop History Kendrick Lamar was born Kendrick Lamar Duckworth in Compton, California, in 1987. Lamar, whose first name was given to him by his mother in honor of Temptations falsetto singer Eddie Kendricks, was a straight “A” student in school. He developed a love for hip-hop at an early age and was heavily influenced by Dr. Dre and the late 2Pac Shakur. In 2003, at age 16, Lamar released his first mixtape as K-Dot, which helped him land a deal with Top Dawg Entertainment Records, an indie label from Carson, California. After releasing some mixtapes with the label, he began touring with labelmates Jay Rock and Ya Boy, opening for The Game. In 2009, Lamar began using his birth name as his stage name. That same year, he released his Self-Entitled debut EP. During this time, Lamar also formed the super-group Black Hippy with labelmates Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul. In 2010, Lamar toured with Tech N9ne and Jay Rock as part of “The Independent Grind Tour”. After working with industry big wigs such as Dr. Dre, The RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan as well as J. Cole, Meek Mill and Mac Miller, he released his debut album “Section.80” on Top Dawg exclusively through iTunes in 2011. “Section.80” would spawn the underground hit single “HiiiPoWeR”. After some more collaborative efforts with Tech N9ne, The Game and 9th Wonder, Lamar released his sophomore set “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” in a joint venture with Top Dawg, Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label and Interscope. The album would go platinum and earn Lamar seven Grammy Award nominations. “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” would produce several hit singles including “Poetic Justice”, featuring Drake, “Don’t Kill My Vibe”, “Backstreet Freestyle”, “The Recipe”, featuring Dr. Dre and “Swimming Pools (Drank)”. Other guests on the chart-topping album included MC Eiht, Anna Wise and Black Hippy cohort Jay Rock. Lamar is currently working on a new album to be possibly released in 2014. Black Hippy are expected to possibly release an album this year as well.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:05:25 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015