Kendrick Lamar

The hip-hop visionary and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper is back. Updated May 13, 2022 at 6:06 AM ET. For the five years since the release of ...

"From the birth of the Old Negro Spiritual, Black America has crafted hymns to get over the confounding hardships of this world," NPR's Rodney Carmichael wrote in his review of the groundbreaking album. "As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years. Lamar's last solo album, DAMN., earned him five Grammy awards and seven nominations overall after debuting at the top of the Billboard 200 chart in 2017. The song, built around an interpolation of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You,"is accompanied by a video consisting of a single shot of Lamar, using deepfake technology to morph him into Black male celebrities who have faced public scrutiny — from O.J. Simpson and Kanye West to Will Smith and Jussie Smollett. The album was indeed delivered as a double LP, clocking in at nine songs per disc and roughly 75 minutes in length. With the release of Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers today, a new era in Lamar's career is upon us.

Kendrick Lamar is back with an absolute shoe-in for album of the year 2022 with 18 tracks that are like nothing we've ever heard before.

On opener “United In Grief”, Lamar goes deep on his post-fame spending habits. Which might explain why Kendrick seems to be confused that Kanye deigned to make up with Drake, rather than the other way round… Just when you thought King Kendrick wasn’t paying any attention to the wider rap game, he goes and namechecks the most contentious beef of the past few years.

On his new album release, Kendrick Lamar explores therapy, grief and masculinity.

If he did step away, this would be the perfect time; he has his money, he has his awards, but most of all he has his family. Kendrick has helped countless people to heal during his passage through fame and into legend, but most importantly, he sounds as if he has gone no small way to healing himself. Broadly speaking, good kid, m.A.A.d city was Kendrick’s feature film; To Pimp a Butterfly was his manifesto; Untitled Unmastered was his jazz album; Damn was his pop album; and Mr Morale and the Big Steppers is his one-man stage play. Kendrick has given us a journey — his journey — through therapy, through grief and through some of the most damaging aspects of traditional masculinity. Mr Morale and the Big Steppers sounds like it could easily be the final record in Kendrick Lamar’s discography: not because he has no more to say, but because it has the sense of completion, of being the last type of album he had not yet made. After releasing this, his first record after five years of near-silence, he promptly went off to Ghana, a good way to avoid the avalanche of media attention heaped on the record in the US. On the album, he tells us he was so uninspired that he had writers’ block for two years.

After a long five-year absence, Kendrick Lamar has finally returned. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers is the kind of dense, complex, contradictory and ...

“Auntie Diaries” is the highlight of an album that finds him fitfully evolving beyond the fears, misogyny, and wanderlusts of his past in favor of a richer, positive “morale” life. Mr. Morale finds him learning to let go of his youthful biases, an evolution not only prompted by his years-long absence from the rap scene (save for a handful of guest shots like Baby Keem’s “Family Ties”) and a global pandemic, but also his desire to be a better father, romantic partner, and citizen of the Black community, all while learning to accept a level of fame that makes fans swarm him whenever he’s seen in public. Mr. Morale listeners are already parsing several Lamar lyrics that seem to embrace “cancel culture,” a concept many would argue doesn’t exist. He reveals that his aunt “is a man” now and his cousin is “Mary Anne now,” but he can’t help but deadname both by calling out their identity before they transitioned. “Guess I’m not as mature as I think/Got some healing to do,” he adds. He admits that he frequently used the word “faggot” when he was younger. It’s Gibbons’s most high-profile musical contribution since Portishead’s final album to date, 2008’s brilliant Third. Until now, she’s only made modest appearances with Jneiro Jarel and MF Doom’s JJ Doom project and British metallers Gonga (the latter an evocative cover of Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath”). Coupled with Portishead’s reunion gig during a May 2 Ukraine benefit concert, this month has brought a surprising groundswell of activity from the famously publicity shy singer. However, it’s worth listening to Lamar’s lyrics within the context of the entire album. Some will ask why Lamar is platforming a talented but wayward rapper who has been convicted for sexual assault and has generated numerous controversies since former president Donald Trump pardoned him in January 2021. In the meantime, here are five observations from a long night of deep listening. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers is the kind of dense, complex, contradictory and thrilling journey into the mind of Pulitzer Kenny we’ve been waiting for. With over 70 minutes of music, there’s plenty here to process, enjoy and debate.

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With the launch of his Oklama website, Lamar noted that Mr. Morale would be his final release with his longtime label associates Top Dawg Entertainment. Lamar revealed the cover art, an image shot by Renell Medrano, two days ahead of the record’s release. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services.

Rapper's first album in five years is a haunting and surprising meditation on fatherhood and family.

It is anchored in Lamar’s own life, right down to a cover that features the first confirmation of the birth of his second child, Enoch. He has earned this moment of reflection. “Purple Hearts” has a Ghostface Killah guest verse and a typically lush, languid appearance from R&B singer Summer Walker. “Shut the f*** up when you hear love talking,” sings Lamar. It’s a prelude to follow-up “Count Me Out”, which rejects fame: “Done every magazine, what’s fame to me?/ It’s a game to me, where the bedroom at?/ Sleep, I ain’t had to flex with that.” The return to what’s real – family, love, friendship – is the thread that ties the album together. Those same themes are refracted through the eyes of a parent in “Worldwide Steppers”, an exploration of fatherhood that is one of Mr Morale’s most interesting and haunting songs. It’s true that he namechecks Kanye and Drake here, but it’s only to say that he was “slightly confused” by their reconciliation, concluding that all of them are “grown men with daddy issues”. Mr Morale calls to mind 2013’s “Cartoons and Cereal” – a leaked cut that never made it onto any of Lamar’s albums because of sample clearance issues, yet remains one of his most touching (and loved) songs. Because of this, Mr Morale and The Big Steppers is most redolent of Lamar’s second album good kid, m.A.A.d city, which remains one of his most personal records.

Since his 2017 album, “DAMN.,” the California rapper has won seven Grammys and the Pulitzer Prize for music. “Mr. Morale,” his fifth LP, is expected to make ...

To some extent, those may also serve as clues for the next stage of Lamar’s career. Even after Lamar’s extended absence, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” is expected to make a sizable opening-week splash on the Billboard albums chart. “DAMN.” was cited in 2018 as “a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.” Lamar embraced the accolade, appearing in concert with a “Pulitzer Kenny” banner behind him. “Mr. Morale,” his fifth LP, is expected to make a big splash on the charts. The visual artist Lina Iris Viktor sued, saying her work was used without permission in the track’s video; the lawsuit was settled in late 2018. His 2017 album, “DAMN.,” won five Grammy Awards, though it lost album of the year to Bruno Mars’s “24K Magic.” (The rapper has 14 total Grammy wins.) Lamar, who grew up in Compton, Calif., and has made that area’s culture and struggles a central part of his music, also became the first rapper to receive the Pulitzer Prize for music.

Lamar's long-awaited follow-up to Damn., and his final album for TDE, has arrived at last.

Producer: Beach Noise, DJ Khalil, J.LBS, Sounwave Composer/Lyricist: Anthony Dixon, Dennis COles, J. Pounds, Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar, Khalil Abdul-Rahman, M. Spears, Matthew Schaeffer, Sam Dew, Summer Walker Additional Producer: Beach Noise, J.LBS A&R: Brock Korsan, Kevin Rodriguex for pgLang A&R Coordinator: Juanita “Niya” morton for pgLang Assistant Mixer: Anthony Vilchis, Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Associated Performer: Ghostface Killah, Kendrick Lamar, Summer Walker Asst. Recording Engineer: Andrew Boyd, Evan Fulcher Engineer: David “Dos Dias” Bishop, Johnny Kosich Mastering Engineer: Michelle Mancini Mixer: Manny Marroquin Rap Vocalist: Ghostface Killah, Kendrick Lamar Recording Engineer: Jonathan Turner, Matt Schaeffer, Ray Charles Brown Jr., Raymond J Scavo III Studio Personnel: Andrew Boyd, Anthony Vilchis, David “Dos Dias” Bishop, Evan Fulcher, Jonathan Turner, Johnny Kosich, Manny Marroquin, Matt Schaeffer, Michelle Mancini, Ray Charles Brown Jr., Raymond J Scavo III, Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Producer: Beach Noise, Bekon, Dahi, Duval Timothy, Sounwave, Victor Ekpo Composer: D. Natche, Daniel Tannenbaum, Duval Timothy, Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, K. Jones, Kendrick Lamar, M. Spears, Matthew Schaeffer, Sampha Sisay, Victor Ekpo Lyricist: D. Natche, Daniel Tannenbaum, Duval Timothy, Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, K. Jones, Kendrick Lamar, M. Spears, Matthew Schaeffer, Sampha Sisay, Victor Ekpo Additional Producer: Duval Timothy, Victor Ekpo A&R: Brock Korsan, Kevin Rodriguez for pgLang A&R Coordinator: Juanita “Niya” Morton for pgLang Assistant Mixer: Anthony Vilchis, Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Associated Performer: Bekon, Dahi, Kendrick Lamar, Sampha, Sounwave Assistant Recording Engineer: Andrew Boyd, Brandon Wood, Kaushlesh “Gary” Purohit, Rob Bisel, Sedrick Moore II, Tristan Bott Bass: Bekon Drums: Sounwave Engineer: Charles Brown Jr., James Hunt, Johnathan Turner, Johnny Kosich, Matt Schaeffer Featured Artist: Sampha Keyboards: Bekon Mastering Engineer: Michelle Mancini Mixer: Manny Marroquin Narrator: Whitney Alford Programming: Dahi Rap Vocalist: Kendrick Lamar Studio Personnel: Andrew Boyd, Anthony Vilchis, Brandon Wood, Charles Ray Brown Jr., James Hunt, Johnathan Turner, Johnny Kosich, Kauslesh “Gary” Purohit, Manny Marroquin, Matt Schaeffer, Michelle Mancini, Rob Bisel, Sedrick Moore II, Trey Station, Tristan Bott, Zach Pereyra Vocalist: Sampha Producer: Dahi, Sounwave, franO Composer: A. Thomas, D Dennis, D. Natche, Frano Huette, G. Jackson, Kendrick Lamar, M. Hall, M. Spears, Sam Dew A&R: Brock Korsan, Kevin Rodriguex for pgLang A&R Coordinator: Juanita “Niya” morton for pgLang Assistant Mixer: Anthony Vilchis, Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Associated Performer: Dahi, Kendrick Lamar, Sam Dew, Sounwave, franO Assistant Recording Engineer: Andrew Boyd Background Vocalist: Sam Dew Bass: Dahi Drums: Sounwave Engineer: Johnathan Turner, Ray Charles Brown Jr. Keyboards: franO Mastering Engineer: Michelle Mancini Mixer: Manny Marroquin Percussion: Dahi Programming: Dahi, franO Rap Vocalist: Kendrick Lamar Studio Personnel: Andrew Boyd, Anthony Vilchis, Johnathan Turner, Manny Marroquin, Michelle Mancini, Ray Charles Brown Jr., Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Producer: J.LBS, Sounwave, Tae Beast Composer: Donte Lamar Perkins, J. Pounds, Kendrick Lamar, M. Spears, P. Darnell, Sam Dw, V. Crane Lyricist: Donte Lamar Perkins, J. Pounds, Kendrick Lamar, M. Spears, P. Darnell, Sam Dw, V. Crane Additional Producer: J.LBS A&R: Brock Korsan, Kevin Rodriguez for pgLang A&R Coordinator: Juanita “Niya” Morton for pgLang Assistant Mixer: Anthony Vilchis, Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Associated Performer: Kendrick Lamar Assistant Recording Engineer: Andrew Boyd Mastering Engineer: Michelle Mancini Mixer: Manny Marroquin Narrator: Bill K. Kapri Rap Vocalist: Kendrick Lamar Recording Engineer: Johnathan Turner, Matt Schaeffer, Ray Charles Brown Jr. Studio Personnel: Andrew Boyd, Andrew Vilchis, Johnathan Turner, Manny Marroquin, Matt Schaeffer, Michelle Mancini, Ray Charles Brown Jr., Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Producer: Beach Noise, Duval Timothy, J.LBS, OKLAMA, Sounwave, Tim Maxey Composer: Duval Timothy, J. Pounds, Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar, M. Spears, Matt Schaeffer, Sam Drew, Tim Maxey Lyricist: Duval Timothy, J. Pounds, Jake Kosich, Johnny Kosich, Kendrick Lamar, M. Spears, Matt Schaeffer, Sam Drew, Tim Maxey Additional Producer: Beach Noise, Tim Maxey A&R: Brock Korsan, Kevin Rodriguez for pgLang A&R Coordinator: Juanita “Niya” Morton for pgLang Assistant Mixer: Anthony Vilchis, Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Associated Performer: Kendrick Lamar Assistant Recording Engineer: Andrew Boyd, Sedrick Moore II Engineer: Jonathan Turner, Johnny Kosich, Matt Schaeffer, Ray Charles Brown Jr. Mastering Engineer: Michelle Mancini Mixer: Manny Marroquin Narrator: Whitney Alford Rap Vocalist: Kendrick Lamar Studio Personnel: Andrew Boyd, Anthony Vilchis, Johnathan Turner, Johnny Kosich, Manny Marroquin, Matt Schaeffer, Michelle Mancini, Ray Charles Brown Jr., SEdrick Moore II, Trey Station, Zach Pereyra In the background, a woman sits on an unmade bed holding a baby. Historically, Lamar has shared these tracks as a prelude to a bigger project. Producer: Boi-1da, Hykeem Carter, Jahaan Sweet, Sounwave Composer: Hykeem Carter, Jahaan Akil Sweet, Kendrick Lamar, M. Spears, Matthew Samuels, Sam Drew Lyricist: Hykeem Carter, Jahaan Akil Sweet, Kendrick Lamar, M. Spears, Matthew Samuels, Sam Drew Additional Producer: Hykeem Carter A&R: Brock Korsan, Kevin Rodriguez for pgLang A&R Coordinator: Juanita “Niya” Morton for pgLang Assistant Mixer: Anthony Vilchis, Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Associated Performer: Kendrick Lamar Assistant Recording Engineer: Andrew Boyd, Sedrick Moore II Engineer: Matt Schaeffer Mixer: Manny Marroquin Rap Vocalist: Kendrick Lamar Studio Personnel: Andrew Boyd, Anthony Vilchis, Manny Marroquin, Matt Schaeffer, Sedrick Moore II, Trey Station, Zach Pereyra Two CDs were held on top of the book—one with “Morale” and the other with “Steppers,” each marked as a master copy. “I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years,” he wrote of Top Dawg Entertainment. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers follows his Pulitzer Prize–winning 2017 full-length Damn. At long last, Kendrick Lamar has released his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, his final album for Top Dawg Entertainment. Lamar officially announced the record last month with a link to his Oklama website, which revealed the LP title and release date. Listen to Kendrick Lamar’s new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers below.

Kendrick Lamar has released his fifth solo album, "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers."

5. Savior ft. 7. Mr. Morale ft. 3. Silent Hill ft. 5. Father Time ft. 9. Purple Hearts ft. 4. Die Hard ft.

After a five-year hiatus, the Pulitzer winner returns with an exhilarating hip-hop feast that ties personal pain to collective trauma – and lets no one off ...

Tellingly, the next track begins with Tolle: “Let’s say bad things were done to you when you were a child, and you develop a sense of self that is based on the bad things that happened to you…” Mother I Sober offers a devastating series of verses that draw together slavery and sexual abuse, and deal unflinchingly with a sexual assault experienced by his mother and an episode in which a young Lamar, being questioned by his family, denied that a cousin had abused him. Elsewhere, the track turns its ire not merely on white people glomming on to the Black Lives Matter movement (“one protest for you, 365 for me”), but the black community and indeed himself. One interlude features a string quartet and 74-year-old German self-help author Eckhart Tolle discussing the perils of a victim mentality alongside Lamar’s cousin, rapper Baby Keem, whose concerns are more earthy: “White panties and minimal condoms”. On Worldwide Steppers, Lamar’s words rattle out at such a pace that they threaten to race ahead of the backing track, a muffled, dense, relentless loop of Nigerian afro-rock band the Funkees that suddenly switches to a burst of laidback 70s soul and back again. Its opening tracks don’t so much play as teem, cutting frantically from one style to another – staccato piano chords and backwards drums; a frantic, jazzy loop with a bass drum that recalls a racing heartbeat; a mass of sampled voices; thick 80s-film-soundtrack synth and trap beats.

Kendrick Lamar's new album “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” includes the song “Auntie Issues,” which addresses trans acceptance.

She was booed and Lamar gently but sternly lectured her onstage — and apparently has come to think twice about what he said at the time. She was booed and Lamar gently but sternly lectured her onstage — and apparently has come to think twice about what he said at the time. One of Kendrick Lamar’s great strengths as a rapper is his ability to acknowledge and criticize his own biases and prejudices and not place himself above the people he’s singling out.

On a bravura album, the Pulitzer-winner sheds egotism, incorporates many voices and opens his private world.

The rapper on Friday dropped his latest album, "Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers." It's his first studio album in five years since 2017's "Damn.".

Lamar dropped a new music video on Sunday for a song titled “The Heart Part 5." In a later verse, Lamar elaborates: "Demetrius is Mary-Ann now. Lamar is known as a virtuoso who constantly pushes musical and artistic boundaries with his projects. Lamar's new song “The Heart Part 5” is not on the album Variety called the song a "powerful, genre-shifting statement on transphobia." The rapper on Friday dropped his latest album, "Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers." It's his first studio album in five years since 2017's "Damn."

pgLang artists Baby Keem and Tanna Leone will join Lamar as he plays shows in support of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

The album’s artwork, photographed by Renell Medrano, features Lamar in a crown of thorns holding a child; in the background is a woman with a baby. Lamar is a co-producer with Parker and Stone on an upcoming live-action comedy film. Back in August, Lamar announced that his next record would be his “ Final TDE Album.” He shared the news in a statement posted to his website and signed as “Oklama.” Top Dawg Entertainment CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith has referred Lamar’s upcoming album as his victory lap. In 2021, Kendrick Lamar worked with Baby Keem on The Melodic Blue, rapping on “ Family Ties” and “ Range Brothers” and also contributing to “Vent.” The record came out via pgLang, which had issued “ Hooligans” and “ Sons & Critics Freestyle” in conjunction with Columbia Records. “Family Ties” went on to win the Best Rap Performance Award at the 2022 Grammys. Lamar also made a guest appearance on Drones, the most recent album by his frequent collaborator Terrace Martin. He joined Ty Dolla $ign, Snoop Dogg, and James Fauntleroy on the title track to the record. Lamar announced Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers in April by tweeting a link to his Oklama website. Baby Keem, who released The Melodic Blue last year, contributed to four Mr. Morale tracks: “N95,” “Die Hard,” “Savior (Interlude),” and “Savior.” Tanna Leone just released Sleepy Soldier via pgLang and Def Jam Recordings, and he is on Lamar’s “Mr. Morale.”

The response to Kendrick Lamar's new song "Auntie Diaries" is divisive: Though Lamar is being praised for acknowledging trans people, he's also being ...

Lamar just announced a world tour to support the album, beginning Still others said that, flawed as the song is, it was meaningful to hear a rapper of Lamar's caliber -- he's the only rapper "My auntie became a man and I took pride in it," Lamar says on the new track, saying he "grew accustomed" to his uncle's transition as a young person.

The rapper Kendrick Lamar released what some fans are calling a "barrier-breaking song" about accepting his transgender relatives.

He stopped her after a few verses, because the woman, who was white, sang the N-word along with him. But the fan added that there are "better ways" to convey that message. "In what universe is deadnaming and misgendering remotely acceptable?" He later raps that standing up for his cousin brought his family together. / The laws of the land or the heart, what’s greater?'" But he goes on to describe how when his relative picked him up from school, his friends "stare."

To wit, the second verse features a parable about a Christian who, after catching COVID, "started to question" Kyrie Irving and the NBA player's protest against ...

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On the heels of his fifth studio album, rapper Kendrick Lamar announced the Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers Tour, a 65-date world tour with Baby Keem.

Lamar has said he’s starting a new company, pgLang, with former TDE executive Dave Free. Tickets for his new tour go on sale to the general public May 20 on Lamar’s website, Oklama. The first tickets for the U.S. shows will be made available to Cash App customers through an exclusive ticket presale that begins May 19 for new and existing Cash App Cash Card holders. The Compton-bred artist will be joined by his cousin and “Family Ties” rapper Baby Keem at all the shows, while Tanna Leone, who is also featured on “Mr. Morale,” will be joining Lamar on select dates, according to promoter Live Nation. Lamar has scheduled seven shows in California in late August and early September. The “Humble” and “All the Stars” emcee will play the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Aug. 30, the Oakland Arena in Oakland on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, Viejas Arena in San Diego on Sept. 6, the Honda Center in Anaheim on Sept. 7 and the Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A. on Sept. 14 and 15. The 14-time Grammy winner announced the sprawling, global arena tour on Friday, which will extend from North America to Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The 65-date Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers Tour kicks off at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on July 19 and wraps at the Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, on Dec. 16. Kendrick Lamar will be taking his just-released and long-awaited fifth studio album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” on tour, including several stops in his native California.

Independent Spirt Award winner Taylour Paige partners with Kendrick Lamar on latest track "We Cry Together," released May 13.

“I really, really, really love the words ‘independent,’ ‘film’ and ‘spirit,'” Paige said at the 2022 Spirit Awards when accepting her trophy. Paige added, “It’s hard to be a human. Paige is featured in the song “ We Cry Together ft.

The new album by hip-hop superstar Kendrick Lamar is called Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers and is out Friday. It's been more than 5 years since his last ...

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The Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper avoids the pressure of expectation by looking deep, deep inwards.

Here, he avoids the pressure of worldwide expectation, and all those imminent eyes on him when he finally headlines Glastonbury next month, by turning his focus deep, deep inwards. The cover, revealed on Wednesday, offered more clues to the themes: Lamar with his family (the new baby is called Enoch, he says on Worldwide Steppers), a crown of thorns on his head and a gun tucked into his trousers. The 34-year-old has been a Christian since his teens and often seems serene, monk-like, next to the jostling egos of his peers.

Worldwide Steppers Lyrics: Kodak Black, Oklama / Eckhart Tolle / And this here the big stepper / I'm a killer, he's a killer, she's a killer, ...

Later in Part 2, he regretfully recalls the harm he has indirectly inflicted on his own communities, referencing a food drive TDE held which may have contributed to heart issues among those that attended. He also references various sexual encounters he has had with white women, believing his ancestors would shame him for these relationships; They likely blame these interracial relationships for disregarding the mass incarceration that White America has imposed over black communities. Where did I come from?

Rapper also addresses his own use of homophobic slurs in the track, which features on his new album 'Mr Morale & The Big Steppers'

“We are not about to ‘cancel’ Kendrick over ‘Auntie Diaries’,” another person wrote. “Kendrick isn’t being homophobic at all, he’s speaking on his ignorance and struggles with accepting his trans auntie. “So nice to hear kdot speak on these kind of issues like religion and transphobia/homophobia. Hes really using his platform in a great way.

Lamar raps candidly on "Auntie Diaries," from his recently released album "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers," as he discusses his journey with homophobia.

And I can't change that so do what you gotta do to be happy." "And people gonna be they own individuals and have they own worlds and I can't knock it. In a genre that has a history of homophobia, this moves the convo in the right direction." Lamar's previous album, DAMN.—featuring collaborations from Rihanna and U2—has won many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018. "The most powerful man in hip-hop wrote a whole song supporting trans rights and acknowledging the homophobia he participated in. kendrick isn't being homophobic at all, he's speaking on his ignorance and struggles with accepting his trans auntie.

Kendrick Lamar, the rapper whose poignant lyricism has soundtracked the Black Lives Matter movement and compelled many to call him the voice of a generation ...

The album's cover is a photo of Lamar wearing a crown of thorns and holding a young child, while a woman who appears to be his partner Whitney Alford is in the background, holding an infant. "(He is) telling stories of his own personal struggles through his music, as well as documenting and telling the story of what is occurring in Black America, or in Compton, or in the whole Black diaspora," she said. it's an entire experience," she told AFP. The album's first track "United In Grief" opens with a choir singing the line "I hope you find some peace of mind in this lifetime," before Lamar comes in: "I've been goin' through somethin'." Following that historic win, he curated and contributed a number of songs to the soundtrack for the film "Black Panther," including his Grammy- and Oscar-nominated collaboration with SZA, "All The Stars." In 2018 Lamar became the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize for music, with the award's board saying his album "DAMN." was "unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African American life."