7 Things You Didn’t Know About Kendrick Lamar

1) Eminem “Tested” Kendrick Lamar To See If He Had A Ghostwriter

Eminem was so convinced that Kendrick Lamar could be using a ghostwriter that he made the rapper write his verse for "Love Game," a track from the 2013 album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, without anyone else in the room. That's according to Ed Sheeran, who heard the story from Rick Rubin, executive producer of MMLPII, and relayed the tale on The Zach Sang Show. Hear the story above at the 8-minute mark, which was spotted by HotNewHipHop.

"Eminem heard that Kendrick Lamar was the best rapper and he invited him to the studio to get him on a song," Sheeran says in the interview. "He arrived and Kendrick came with all his mates and Eminem said, 'I just want you in the studio, just you on your own and then my engineer is gonna come in and then record you doing it, but your mates aren’t allowed in.

"Kendrick did it, wrote a sick verse, and then everyone came in to listen to it. Eminem said that he did it to test Kendrick because he thought he had a ghostwriter. He then realized that he didn't then claimed [Kendrick] was the best."

To his credit, Kendrick suspected what was going on. In 2014, he discussed the song's recording process during a radio interview. "He brought me out to Detroit, I had a show, and he brought me to the studio to do a hook... I go in, do the hook, and he's like 'I like the hook.' Then I'm like, 'Alright, cool, I'm finna dip,' then he says 'Think you could do a verse?'... The thing with Em which was crazy to me is he kicks everybody out of the studio... I took it as him kicking everybody out to see if it's really you writing those raps that you're writing."

Last year, Eminem released "Campaign Speech," a new nearly-8 minute track that garnered a bunch of strong opinions. The rapper is currently working on a new album.

2) Kendrick Lamar’s parents moved to Compton from Chicago to escape the city’s gang culture

Kendrick Lamar is an award-winning rapper and songwriter best known for his innovative take on life in Southern California as well as for his affiliation with rap star and super-producer Dr. Dr

Synopsis

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, who performs as Kendrick Lamar, was born in Compton, California, on June 17, 1987. After writing stories as a child, he put to music some lyrics about the rough Compton streets he grew up on. He rapped under the name K-Dot, releasing a series of increasingly popular mix tapes, which brought him to the attention of hip-hop super-

producer Dr. Dre. Lamar's debut major-label recording, good kid, m.A.A.d City, was released to great acclaim and impressive sales for an up-and-coming recording artist. He continued to receive an array of accolades for his 2015 Grammy-winning album To Pimp a Butterfly.

Background and Early Life

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (who dropped his last name to perform as Kendrick Lamar) was born in Compton, California, on June 17, 1987. His parents had moved to Compton from Chicago to escape the city's gang culture, although Lamar's father had been associated with the notorious Gangster Disciples gang. As the 1980s crack trade and West Coast gang presence increased, Lamar grew up around precarious street activity, but he seemed more influenced than harmed by it. He was a good student who enjoyed writing, first stories and poems, and then lyrics.

Lamar's family was directly touched by the violence of the streets, yet he remained thoughtful and soft-spoken, ever the keen observer, even as a child. He adopted the moniker K-Dot and began performing his lyrics as a

rapper. At age 16, in 2003, he circulated a mix tape called Youngest Head Nigga in Charge, which drew a lot of interest in his native Southern California and beyond.

The project was enough to get Lamar a record deal with Top Dawg Entertainment, a respected California independent label and feeder to major labels. He went on to release two other acclaimed mix tapes, Training Day (2005) and C4 (2009), steadily working with other up-and-coming West Coast rappers like Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q. Lamar and these other performers eventually formed their own rap collective

3)Kendrick Lamar’s album To Pimp a Butterflywas originally titled “To Pimp a Caterpillar”, but was changed since it abbreviated to 2Pac

To Pimp a Butterfly is the third studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.[1][2] The album was recorded in studios throughout the United States, with production from Sounwave, Terrace Martin, Taz "Tisa" Arnold, Thundercat, Rahki, LoveDragon, Flying Lotus, Pharrell Williams, Boi-1da, and several other high-profile hip hop producers, as well as executive production from Dr. Dre and Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. The album incorporates elements of free jazz, funk, soul, spoken word, and the avant-garde and explores a variety of political and personal themes concerning African-American culture, racial inequality, depression, and institutional discrimination.

To Pimp a Butterfly debuted atop the Billboard 200 and received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised its musical scope and the social relevance of Lamar's lyrics. It was ranked as the best album of 2015 by many publications, including Rolling Stone, Billboard and Pitchfork. It was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Rap Album at the 58th Grammy Awards. Its singles "i" (in 2015) and "Alright" (in 2016) each won a Grammy for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance, with the latter also nominated for Song of the Year. Additionally, "These Walls" won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). By June 2017, the album had sold one million copies in the United States.

The album's release was supported by five singles—"i", "The Blacker the Berry", "King Kunta", "Alright" and "These Walls" featuring Bilal and Anna Wise. All five singles entered the US Billboard Hot 100. Lamar also went on the Kunta's Groove Sessions Tour, which included eight shows in eight cities, in late 2015 to early 2016.

4)Kendrick Lamar’s real name is Kendrick Duckworth

5)Kendrick Lamar was a straight A student in high school

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987)[2] is an American rapper and songwriter. Born and raised in Compton, California, he 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 (TDE). He began to gain recognition in 2010, after his first retail release, Overly Dedicated. The following year, Lamar independently released his first studio album, Section.80, which included his debut single, "HiiiPoWeR". By that time, he had amassed a large Internet following and collaborated with several prominent artists in the hip hop industry, including The Game, Busta Rhymes and Snoop Dogg.

His major label debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was released in 2012 by TDE, Aftermath and Interscope Records to critical success. It debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200 chart and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The record contained the top 40 hit singles "Swimming Pools (Drank)", "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" and "Poetic Justice". Lamar won his first Grammy Award for "i", the lead single from his critically acclaimed third album To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). The album drew on free jazz, funk, soul, and spoken word, debuted atop the charts in the US and the UK, and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 58th ceremony. In 2016, Lamar released Untitled Unmastered, a collection of unreleased demos that originated during the recording sessions for Butterfly. He released his fourth album Damn in 2017; its lead single "Humble" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Lamar has received a number of accolades over the course of his career, including seven Grammy Awards. In early 2013, MTV named Lamar the number one "Hottest MC in the Game", on their annual list.[3] Time named Lamar one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.[4] Aside from his solo career, Lamar is also known as a member of the West Coast hip hop supergroupBlack Hippy, alongside his TDE label-mates and fellow South Los Angeles-based rappers Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and Schoolboy Q

6)A college professor built an English course around Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City album

Several reviewers compared Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city to James Joyce’s modernist novel Ulysses, in that both of them chronicled the twists and turns of a day in the life of a young urbanite. The comparison wasn’t lost on Adam Diehl, a professor at Georgia Regents University, who built an entire English course using Lamar’s album as a prism to explore other similar stories in film and literature. As USA Today reports, “Good Kids, Mad Cities” will touch on works by Joyce, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Spike Lee among others. Here’s how the course is described at the university’s website:

Taking its name from Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 album, this course will examine the role of urban living on the development of young people. In Kendrick’s case, “the streets sure to release the worst side of my best” (Lamar 58). By studying and analyzing various literature, films, and K. Dot’s album, we will consider what effects our characters’ surroundings have on who they become as adults. The cities we will be visiting, in our imaginations, are Dublin, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Assignments will include a substantial research paper, stemming from the topics inherent in our texts; students should also expect other writing assignments, such as short papers and online discussion posts

7)While 2Pac was shooting for his “California Love” video on top of the Compton Swap Meet, a young Kendrick Lamar was watching from the crowd that gathered below. To pay homage to that memory, Lamar shot part of his “King Kunta” music video on top of the same building

There was no shortage of rap inspiration for Kendrick Lamar when he was growing up in Compton, California, like the time he stood on the street watching 2Pac film the "California Love" remix video.

You know the opening scene where 'Pac goes to the Compton Swap Meet to buy some new clothes to wear for Dr. Dre's party? Well, little Kendrick was in the crowd watching back in 1996, soaking up all that influence and now he's following in his idol's footsteps with his new "King Kunta" video.

"I just went back to that same Compton Swap Meet, jumped on the roof of the Compton Swap Meet and shot 'King Kunta' there," Lamar told MTV News when we sat with him on Tuesday at the W New York – Downtown. "And all them kids was out looking and a good friend of mine said, 'You was one of them kids looking at 'Pac when he was up here doing that; now they're looking at you.'"

In the "Kunta" video, which Kendrick released on Wednesday, the self-proclaimed good kid stomps around, perched up high at the Swap Meet, while fans wave their hands below him. You could bet that in that moment, K. Dot influenced a youngster to try and follow in his footsteps. "It blew me away, tripped me out that 15 years later I'm doing that same thing 'Pac was doing right in Compton," he said. "It's just a beautiful thing."

That's not Lamar's only connection to 2Pac; he also included an interview with the hip-hop icon on the last track of his critically acclaimed To Pimp a Butterfly LP. In fact, Kendrick revealed to MTV News that originally he wanted to title his album Tu Pimp a Caterpillar or Tu.P.A.C. for short.

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