Kendrick Lamar sets Billboard records with three albums in the top 10
Kendrick Lamar made history as the first rapper to chart three albums in the Billboard 200 Top 10 at the same time.
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Kendrick Lamar cleaned up this year’s Grammy Awards with a “Not Like Us” stab wound.
The Compton rapper said, “The guy I represent… he has morality, he is valuable, he believes in something.”
It also definitively determines his outlier status in music, an artist who can earn the respect of industry elites – he won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2018 – retains credibility with hip-hop fans.
Lamar was the first rapper to place three albums simultaneously in the top ten of the Billboard 200. He is a major nominee for the 2025 American Music Awards and has won more nods than Taylor Swift and Beyoncé on his fan voice show.
He is also with his friends and collaborator SZA in one of the most profitable tours of the year, a career-defining spectacle (an unusual venue for hip-hop artists) announced at the stadium.
As Lamar returns to his hometown for the first of three concerts at Sophie Stadium near LA, we see how he is different from anyone else in music now.
Kendrick Lamar is at the “commerce pinnacle of his career.”
Calling Lamar’s recent eruption in the mainstream a breakout sounds almost ridiculous. He was a barrier-breaking pop culture acquisition.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a calendar year for a rapper like Kendrick Lamar had,” said Justin Tinsley, a Lamar fan since the rapper dropped a “overly devoted” mixtape in 2010.
Tinsley, a senior sports and culture reporter with ESPN andscape, has delved into the cultural significance of other marquee hip hop stars, delving into recent infamous biography of Big (2022’s “It Was Everything a Dream: The World That Made Him”) and ESPN podcasts about Nipsey Hussle (2021’s “The King of Crenshaw”).
Lamar’s illuminated music output – illustrated in the current “GNX” album – five 2025 Grammy Awards, the most viewed Super Bowl halftime show ever, bundled with his coolly confident Grand National Tour, providing information to fans such as Tinsley to decide Lamar.
However, Lamar’s embrace is not limited to the expansion of his mainstream appeal. The praise was praised not only by the music industry’s recognition, but also by an array of familiar names such as former President Barack Obama, Eminem, Misty Copeland, Taylor Swift, and U2.
Need more evidence of Lamar’s stratospheric status? Check out ticket receipts and music charts.
According to the tour data site, the $11.8 million gross at AT&T Stadium on April 26th is the biggest distance by the rapper as a headlining or co-headlining artist in a single concert. The show – SZA’s Real Timeshare – presents both Lamar’s artistic tendencies and his intentional flow in dim lighting and socially provocative videos, highlighted in hits such as “DNA” and “humble.”
On the charts, Lamar’s current collaboration with SZA ballad “Luther,” named after Soul Great Luther Vandros, samples a duet with Sheryl Lynn. Standing surpasses nine-week records with a song featuring only Soloman and Woman since 1981: The iconic duet of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, “Endless Love.”
Lamar’s “commitment to storytelling” sets him apart
Hours before Lamar and SZA began their tour at the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in April, the dedicated apprentice, identified Mo B and themselves, sat at a nearby hotel bar before meeting with the same five college friends that Lamar plays on all tours.
The Minneapolis native who now lives in Chicago, the MO was flying especially to witness him performing his first stadium show.
“Many artists get confused about who they are when they’re in fame, but he doubled it and attracted new and younger fans,” Mo said. “I always tell my friends, who would have thought he would grow up, what would have been better?
Despite critical acclaim, including Pulitzer for his “damn” album, the award was awarded to a first-time jazz or classical artist with 22 Grammy Awards (later behind the three of Leader Jay-Z) trobes with 57 nominations, but Lamar is skillfully neat between mainstream worship and unreliable credibility with his fans.
The reason is simple on its surface: his storytelling.
After hearing the intertwining of “ROTC”, Lamar’s anti-mission in the music industry, and his personal struggles from his “overly devoted” album, Mo became obsessed with the music of Rap Luminary.
“His storytelling stuck with me and solidified my fandom (Lamar’s 2011 debut album) ‘section.80’,” Mo said. “He’s like making a documentary of his life with his music.”
Tinsley, who considers Lamar’s 2012 major label breakthrough “Good Kid, Maad City” to be one of the top 10 rap albums in history, believes the storytellers are holding back to affirm Lamar’s music admiration.
“He was one of the most successful rap artists, but he hasn’t sacrificed the soul of his music. He hears him and you can hear him pulling from what he lived in,” he said. “His music has a commitment to storytelling, but he is very theatrical and visceral.”
The boldness of Lamar’s music is important
Storytelling is just part of Lamar’s genius.
Marcus J. Moore, author of the University of Maryland at College Park and a teacher in music journalism, began working on his book, The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar ignited the soul of Black America.
Five years after its release in October 2020, Moore saw Lamar Blossom from “a crude upstart where he was unsure about his abilities,” and felt that Lamar “realizes the music he makes and the message he has is essential.
In addition to that perspective, we dive deep into the audacity of music.
Lamar will turn 38 on June 17th, but he has already proven his skills in multiple genres, mixing with elements of pop (“all stars”) and rocks (“humble”) and harsh rap with jazz (“rigamortis”).
As demonstrated by over 50,000 fans at the Minneapolis Tour Kick-off, this pledge to artistic integrity is another reason why Lamar continues to generate a diverse, multi-generational fan base.
“Kendrick always marched towards the beats of his own drums and set the records he wanted to make,” Moore said. “‘Good Girl, Murdo City’ was incredible and could have come out easily in Part 2. But he said he said he said this strange jazz record “to make butterflies.” And he said, “I’m going to make this loud record and call it ‘shit’. That’s what he did.
Did Drake’s feud burn Kendrick Lamar’s popularity?
Part of Lamar’s marathon year returned in March 2024.
Forgetting “Big Three…it’s just a big me,” Lamar rhymes. This is Drake, J.Crown of theatre. Cole, this is a clear reference to Lamar as the top three rapper in Drake’s 2023 song, “First Person Shooting Game.”
Then it was a few months of mean and controversial lyrical slaps between Lamar and Drake. In January, Drake filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group alleging that he slandered Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” which allegedly hinted at the Canadian rapper as a “certified pedophile.” UMG, which represents both Drake and Lamar, calls the lyrics of Diss Track “rhetorical exaggeration” and moves to dismiss the case.
“That drake beef has been brewed for over a decade,” Tinsley said. “I don’t think Kendrick did that with the intention of ‘Maybe I’ll get some Grammys for this.’ By chance, he and Drake are two of the biggest names in the genre.
Moore agrees to the promotion from Lamar, a height of feuds at mainstream outlets, where Drake is in television background (acted in the teenage drama “degrassi” from 2001 to 2008) and for his pop crossover appeal.
But he said, “The real raphead knew Drake couldn’t stand the chance. He’s not a rapper, but Kendrick is an old-fashioned hip-hop student who performs at Halftime after Kendrick wiped out the name and became a huge hit.
