Black History Month
Black history month is a month dedicated to celebrating and remembering the history and achievements of African Americans. Kendrick Lamar is an American rapper from Compton California. He was born on June 17, 1987 with his full name being Kendrick Lamar Duckworth. During his decade-long career in Hip-Hop, Lamar has won 14 Grammys and has received 39 Grammy nominations for categories such as: best rap album, best rap song, and best rap performance. He has released five commercial albums with three of them being critically acclaimed including: good kid, m.A.A.d city, To Pimp a Butterfly, and DAMN. In 2018, Kendrick Lamar became the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize in history for his fourth studio album. Lamar has even collaborated with big named artists including: Drake, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift. Throughout his early life, Kendrick Lamar was raised by his mother, Paula Oliver, in a section 8 housing complex in Compton. During this time, he was surrounded by gang activity and was often around several gang members as well. To avoid the influences of his harsh environment, Lamar began to take an interest in music. At age 16, he released his very first mixtape, which earned him a record contract with TDE (Top Dawg Entertainment) in 2004. He would later go on to receive a co-sign from Lil Wayne and would eventually appear as I’ll an opening act for Drake in 2011. From this point forward, Kendrick would begin to take rap seriously as he adopted his stage name, K.Dot. As the years went by and his music became more personal, Kendrick would eventually drop his original rap name and go by Kendrick Lamar instead. There are many things that Kendrick Lamar has done to help African Americans in their time of need. His socially conscious wordplay and lyricism has helped African Americans feel hope as well as closure to acts of racism and discrimination in modern society. In 2015, Kendrick released the lead single to his To Pimp a Butterfly Album with the hit record, Alright. In this record he quotes “And we hate po-po, wanna kill us dead in the street for sure. N**** I’m at the preacher’s door. My knees getting weak and my gun might blow, but we gon be alright!” These lyrics highlight the recent acts of racism involving police shootings of unarmed black men and women. However, they encourage African Americans to have hope in their struggles and to believe that no matter how low we may be, we will always be alright. When asked in an interview about the artwork cover for his second commercial album, Kendrick Lamar explains the reasoning and purpose of the cover. He quotes “it's me and my homeboys in front of the White House…you look at these individuals and you know you look at them as bad people or menaces to society, but they are actually good people. They’re just a product of the environment. And the one person that always represents that knock life negatively is the judge.” With these comments, Lamar explains the harsh judgment and prejudice that black individuals who live in lower-class environments face and how they are unfairly deemed as bad people because of where they come from. In 2014, Kendrick Lamar went on a five-stop world tour. The earnings from this tour went to Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization created to help families in poverty improve the functioning and safety of their home. In 2016, he would headline the Global Citizen Festival, an event dedicated to fighting gender inequality and extreme poverty. Additionally, Lamar attended a Black Lives Matter protest to support African Americans during the tragic death of George Floyd. The event was held in his birthplace of Compton, California as thousands of people gathered around and marched the streets. Lamar has also donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to after-school music and sports programs. When asked about this during an interview in 2015, California State senator Isadore Hall quotes “to keep Compton students off the streets and in the classroom.” The senator would later go on to anoint Kendrick as the 35th Generational Icon Award winner. The award symbolizes Lamar as a prominent and noteworthy figure for his charitable contributions to Compton school districts. Another way in which Kendrick Lamar gives back to the community is through his foundation. One of the more popular foundations created by Lamar includes his very own stuttering foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit organization created to help people who stutter just as Kendrick Lamar did. Lamar quotes “As a kid I used to stutter…I think that’s why I put my energy into making music. That’s how I get my thoughts out.” By doing this, Kendrick Lamar would use his power and influence to help people overcome the problems that he himself experienced in his life. Black History Month is a month dedicated to celebrating and remembering the history of African Americans. Kendrick Lamar is an American Grammy award winning rapper, songwriter, and philanthropist. He has helped African Americans through his music as well as his charitable contributions to the black community. Kendrick Lamar has been represented as a voice for those who don’t have the same reach to get their messages heard. His constant work of lyricism and conscious wordplay has solidified him as a leader for the new generation of hip-hop. This concludes my essay. This is who Kendrick Lamar is and this is how he is solidified as a noteworthy figure for black history. |
A. TylerHello, I am a senior and liberal arts major from Morgan State University. Archives |