DUCKWORTH TDE (@DuckworthTDE)

Many memorable names debuted right out of Compton, California, so it’s nothing new to expect someone with mad skills to come out of this area.  For those of us who don’t get to travel much, Compton, California is known for the rough street life and the famous rap group, N.W.A., but there is another star showing mad love and respect for the city that shaped his lyricism.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar creates a whole new spectrum of respect after winning the Pulitzer Prize for the release of album “DAMN”, released in April of 2017. The prize is named after the extraordinary Joseph Pulitzer, “The power to mold the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations”. This product of his work couldn’t be more right. In the times of social media, it’s very hard to distinguish good journalists from the bad but all forms of entry isn’t just limited to pen and paper. Rapper Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize due to his album ‘DAMN’, ” virtuosic song collection unified by it’s vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”

Since the age of 16, Lamar has been engaged in the telling of his childhood and life outside the studio known as K-Dot.  The first mixtape, “Youngest Head Nigga in Charge”, surrounding cities of Compton, showed love to the young rapper’s stance. After releasing two other acclaimed mixtapes, Training Day (2005) and C4 (2009), with rappers like Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q, eventually formed their own rap called, Black Hippy. With the fourth mix tape “Overly Dedicated” Kendrick Lamar decided to start using his government name for his new look.

Over the years, Lamar grew with label Top Dawg Entertainment releasing his first full length album in 2010. The best was yet to come for this academically headstrong youth, signing with Aftermath Entertainment in 2012.  Bursting out the seems, releasing ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.d City’, Lamar rose to the top with songs “Swimming Pools“, and “Poetic Justice” which showed promising ways to the music industry and from there his production hasn’t slowed down. He has premiered on numerous night shows and has been nominated for 7 Grammys in so many categories, it’s hard to keep up.

To call yourself a rapper is one thing but when the world sees you as an artistic performer, that’s definitely worth some kind of recognition. Congratulations to the overachiever, I’m sure his reign isn’t nearly over.

Resources from: BBC, Pulitzer.org, biography.com, hypebeast.com