Kendrick Lamar

K-Dot from Compton

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born in Compton in 1987 and started out as a teenager rapping under the name K-Dot. His early mixtapes got him signed to Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith's independent Top Dawg Entertainment in Carson, where he joined Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and ScHoolboy Q, who later formed the crew Black Hippy.

Compton State of Mind

In 2009, as Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' “Empire State of Mind” ruled the radio, Kendrick flipped it into “Compton State of Mind,” a hometown anthem with its own video. The same year he dropped the K-Dot name and released his self-titled EP under his real name.

The video Dr. Dre saw

His 2010 mixtape Overly Dedicated included “Ignorance Is Bliss.” Dr. Dre, Compton's most famous producer, watched the song's music video on YouTube, and it was that song specifically that made him want to work with Kendrick. Dre reached out, the two began working together, and in 2012 Kendrick signed a joint deal with Top Dawg, Dre's Aftermath and Interscope.

A generation's voice

Section.80 (2011) came out independently on Top Dawg. Then good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), “a short film by Kendrick Lamar,” told the story of one day in teenage Kendrick's Compton, with Dr. Dre appearing on “Compton.” To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) brought jazz and funk musicians like Thundercat and Kamasi Washington into the room, and “Alright” became a protest anthem. DAMN. (2017) made him the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018.

He followed with Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022) and GNX (2024), and headlined the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in 2025. From a YouTube video to the biggest stage in America, he remains Compton's standard-bearer.