Thursday 23 October 2014

Kendrick Lamar : The King of the Coast



        K-Dot who now wants to be known by his real name, Kendrick Lamar is a rapper/songwriter from Compton, California and his parents from Chicago, Illinois. Kendrick got his name by his mother in in honour of singer Eddie Kendricks. In 1995, back when Death Row was still in the scene, Kendrick at the age of 8, had witnessed his idols Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre, film the music video for their hit single "California Love", which would later prove to be a very significant moment in Kendrick's life. Kendrick had attended Centennial High School in Compton, where he was a straight A student.

         In 2003, Kendrick released his first mixtape titled "Youngest Head Nigga in Charge (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year) under the name of K-Dot. The mixtape was good enough to get Kendrick a recording contract with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), which was a new indie record label based in Carson, California. Two years later, Kendrick released another twenty-six track mixtape titled "Training Day". Kendrick alongside his label mate Jay Rock and Ya Boy had been going on tours and opening for other veteran rappers such as Game. Kendrick under the moniker of K-Dot was also featured on Game's song "The Cypha" and "Cali Niggaz"

         Kendrick made a brief appearance in Jay Rock's commercial debut single titled "All My Life(In the Ghetto)". More fans in the West Coast hip-hop scene was getting to know Kendrick after a video was posted up on Charles Hamilton show, as Kendrick didn't hesitate to take the mic and do a freestyle verse on an instrumental version of Miilkbone's "Keep It Real", that later appeared on Kendrick's song "West Coast Wu-Tang".

        Kendrick was then co-signed with American hip hop superstar Lil' Wayne, so he then released another mixtape in 2009 titled "C4" which was his third mixtape and he started being more professional and producing more mastered beats instead. Soon after, Kendrick decided to drop his pseudonym (K-Dot) and go on with his birth name "Kendrick Lamar". By 2009, Kendrick had formed the supergroup "Black Hippy" consisting rappers/songwriters from Top Dogg Entertainment, all of them being based from California, Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, and Ab-Soul.

        From 2010 till now Kendrick had started his proper rap career, September 4th 2010, Kendrick had released his album (O)verily (D)edicated mixtape cover art that was done by RedifineCreativity. He then released the visuals for "P&P 1.5", a song taken from from the OD mixtape, which featured Ab-Soul. By September 23rd, he had released the whole mixtape for free online, the project fared good enough to enter the United States Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album charts and peaked at number 72.

        After the legendary hip hop producer Dr. Dre had watched Kendrick's "Ignorance is Bliss" music video on Youtube, that was the movement for Kendrick. Dr. Dre immediately wanted to work with Kendrick, and so they did on Dr. Dre's Detox album with Snoop Dogg. Kendrick's OD mixtape was the last mixtape he put out as he was moving on to producing an album. By January 2011, Kendrick had stated that he was 90% finished with his upcoming project. In early 2011, Kendrick was included in XXL's annual Top 10 Freshmen Class, and was featured on the cover alongside fellow up-and-coming rappers such as CyHi the Prynce, Meek Mill, Mac Miller, Yelawolf and Big K.R.I.T. and others. On April 11th 2011 Kendrick announced the title of his first independent album "Section.80" and that he would release the last song on the album the next day, which he did and it was called "HiiiPoWeR". He also wanted to promote the "HiiiPoWeR" movement. In July 2nd 2011, Kendrick finally released the whole album "Section.80" which managed to sell 5,300 digital copies in its first abbreviated week, without any television or radio coverage and received mostly positive news. In August 2011, while at a West Los Angeles concert, Kendrick with fellow West Coast rappers Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Game had crowned Kendrick the "New King of the West Coast". During the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards, Kendrick appeared alongside fellow american rappers B.o.B, Tech N9ne, MGK, and Big K.R.I.T. , in a cypher.

         In March 2012, MTV announced that Top Dawg Entertainment closed a joint venture deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, marking the end of Kendrick's career as an independent artist. Kendrick premiered his commercial debut single "The Recipe", on Big Boy's Neighbourhood at "Power 106" on April 2, 2012. The first single was released for digital download the following day. Lady Gaga announced via twitter that she is going to do a song with Kendrick titled "PARTYNAUSEOUS", but it didn't happen due to timing and creative differences. The song was then re-titled "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe". Kendrick's major label debut studio album "good kid, m.A.A.d city" was released on October 22nd 2012, through Top Dawg Entertainment, Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment. The album met with critical acclaim and debuted at number two, selling 242,122 copies in its first week. Just nine months after its release "good kid, m.A.A.d city" was certified "Platinum" by the RIAA, with Kendrick receiving his first "Platinum" plaque for his album.

         From 2013 till now Kendrick has been with full of confidence, ready to take out whoever wanting to take the crown from him. He had been featured in Big Sean's "Control" track, and he made it clear on the track that he was the king of both the East and West and that he needed more competition as they were all not putting good tracks up, causing many rappers from both sides to be in rage. Several New York-based rappers such as Papoose, The Mad Rapper, Mickey Factz, JR Writer, Mysonne and Joell Ortiz, as well as fellow American rappers Meek Mill, Lupe Fiasco, Cassidy, Joe Budden, King L, Bizarre and B.o.B. among many others have all released a response/diss track within just a week. In November 2013, Kendrick was named GQ's "Rapper of the Year" and was featured on the cover of the magazine's "Men of the Year" issue. During the interview, Kendrick stated that he would start recording on his second major label studio album in January 2014. Following the issue's release TDE's CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" tiffith pulled Kendrick Lamar from performing at GQ's party that accompanies the issue, calling out writer Steve Marsh's profile, "Kendrick Lamar:  Rapper of the Year" for its "racial overtones".

         During the 56th Annual Grammy Awards (2014), Kendrick had been nominated for Best New Artist, Album of the Year and Best Rap Song. Kendrick failed to go home with a grammy and felt like The Recording Academy snubbed Kendrick Lamar. On September 23, 2014, Kendrick Lamar released a song titled "I" which was a short for (I Love Myself). The track was the first single from Kendrick's second studio album.

2 comments: