Main content

Profile: Kendrick Lamar

Mark Coles profiles Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar, whose concepts and ideas are changing hip-hop culture.

Mark Coles profiles Pulitzer Prize winning rapper Kendrick Lamar, whose concepts and ideas are changing hip-hop culture.

Lamar won the award for his latest album Damn, which also collected five Grammy awards in January and is praised for lyrics which reveal the complexity of modern African-American life.

Growing up in the deprived city of Compton, California, Lamar credits his father with keeping him on the right path and providing the balance that some of his peers were missing. His album good kid, m.A.A.d city tells the stories of young black men trying to escape the negative influences surrounding them.

Lamar's lyrical journey explores violence, depression, religion and also the limits of fame and fortune, he's the rapper who says that helping the next generation find positivity and God is where it's at.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Diane Richardson
Editor: Emma Rippon.

Release date:

Available now

13 minutes

Beat this! It’s the fast music quiz!

Beat this! It’s the fast music quiz!

But how much do you know about tunes with a worrying BPM? Take the quiz and find out…

Five incredible musicians with heartbreaking stories

Five incredible musicians with heartbreaking stories

Remarkable artists who combated tragedy in their lives and in their work.

Seven of the most mysterious musicians

Seven of the most mysterious musicians

Enigmatic performers who shunned the spotlight.