Understanding Kendrick Lamar‘s 2024 boils down to one passage. In a year when Lamar’s name held a vise grip on American pop culture, this made his intentions blindingly clear.
“Flip a coin, want the shameless me or the famous me?/ How annoying does it anger me that lames can speak on the origins of the game I breathe/That’s insane to me,” he rapped on “man at the garden” on the recently released album, GNX. “It’s important, I deserve it all ’cause it’s mine/ Tell me why you think you deserve THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME, motherf—er!”
Lamar positions himself as one of the last gatekeepers in a culture seemingly devoid of them. Dating back to his earliest mixtapes — projects such as Training Day in 2005 or Overly Dedicated in 2010 — Lamar has taken his role in rap seriously, almost as a divine purpose. The evidence lies in the curation of each body of work, the subject matter and the emotional depths he’d force himself to navigate. Then, and now, Lamar’s survivor’s remorse from growing up in Compton, California, left him with no shortage of emotional and moral flaws that left him hell-bent on confronting his demons head-on.
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In 2011, West Coast royalty Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and The Game proverbially “passed the torch” to a then-24-year-old Lamar, a flagship moment in a career that would come to have countless moments. But it was also one that came with speculation — not necessarily about Lamar’s talent but the appetite for it.
“The only question is, can a smart, uncompromised rapper earn national radio play and go gold without having to change the style that got him there in the first place,” the Los Angeles Times pondered in 2011, “particularly in a commercial climate that favors the pop crossover?”
Thirteen years and a slew of platinum albums; a Pulitzer Prize, rap’s longest charting non-greatest hits hip-hop album, good kid, m.A.A.d city in 2012; an Oscar nomination; 17 Grammys and record-breaking tours later, consider the question answered. Somewhat.
“[Kendrick] was always viewed as more of a critically acclaimed artist as opposed to the commercial juggernaut because Drake was always the person seen as being in that position,” Dan Runcie, founder of Trapital, said. “Drake was always the one that was breaking these records. Even though I think there are certain parts of Drake’s music, maybe some of the earlier stuff, that did get more critical acclaim than some of the newer stuff, it was always Drake who got more of that love. So for Kendrick to be in this kind of position to be getting not just critical acclaim, but also now the huge commercial [success]and some of the things that Drake himself hasn’t even attained or done himself, the turn of events is fascinating.”
Everything about this year goes back to that line on “man at the garden.” In 2024, Lamar chose lyrical violence because of love, not because he was desperate for relevancy or chasing a hit record. Hip-hop is a rib for Lamar. The West Coast is, too — “What I learned is n—as don’t like the West Coast, and I’m fine with it/I’ll push the line with it,” he pledged this year. So, for him and people like him, a perceived front to the art form that saved his life and altered his family’s trajectory is paramount. Every move he made this year was with those two ideas in mind. Or, as Lamar confessed in “Watch the Party Die,” going full scorched-earth was the only option if survival and evolution were to be obtained.
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant once made Lamar laugh. This wasn’t one of those manufactured laughs that celebrities often have around each other when cameras are rolling. Instead, it was one of those, we’re-wired-the-same sort of laughs.
“When you step out there on the court, [it’s about] taking heads off. I don’t wanna hear Michael [Jordan’s] the best player in the world. I don’t wanna hear they call him ‘Black Jesus.’ I don’t wanna hear that,” Bryant said in 2017 as Lamar sat laughing beside him during an interview with journalist Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins. “You got to show me!”
Being “one of the best” wasn’t good enough for two hypercompetitive marksmen of their craft. The company, and competition, wasn’t worthy of their company. They had to be the best, and everyone had to know they were the one. The only one. That same energy effectively shifted the course of hip-hop on March 22. Lamar’s feature on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” instantly sent shock waves through the culture. Though he didn’t say names, everyone knew who he was taking aim at: J. Cole and Drake. The two had collaborated on “First Person Shooter,” a monster hit record of the previous year that also contained lyrical darts aimed directly at Lamar.
“Motherf—er the Big 3, n—a! It’s just Big Me, n—a!” Lamar’s battle cry roared.
It’s not hyperbolic to say that one line changed the course of the entire year, and really the music industry.
Products of the well-documented, incredibly influential “blog era” of the late 2000s and early 2010s, Lamar, J. Cole and Drake had long been grouped as the three definitive artists of their generation. What we came to learn this year was that Lamar resented that label. More than that, he resented Drake. Their history, which wasn’t always competitive, goes back well over a decade, with a fruitful working relationship that included hit records and Lamar being part of Drake’s famed Club Paradise Tour. Everything changed in 2013 when Lamar released his feature verse on Big Sean’s “Control.” He made it clear that he had respect for his peers, Drake included, but he wanted to lyrically murder them. Many in hip-hop took exception to the genre-shifting verse. Drake was no exception, even seemingly predicting the events of 2024.
“I almost wish he had come in there on that s— because I kinda lost a little respect for the sentiment of the verse,” Drake told journalist Elliott Wilson in 2013. “If it’s really f— everybody, then it needs to be f— everybody. It can’t be halfway for the sake of the people.”
The two would trade veiled, yet direct shots at one another throughout the next decade. Over that same time, the two became megastars of their own with tensions coming to a head in 2024. Lamar never discounted Drake’s success or his ability to make hit records at historic clips. In Drake, though, Lamar despised what he deemed inauthenticity, musically and culturally. Those in the know in hip-hop understood the two biggest forces weren’t fond of each other and that it was only a matter of time before rap’s next great lyrical war erupted. Now, it has. This was a battle of two contrasting ideologies on the world’s stage.
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Drake and Lamar’s verbal waltz stands alone in a genre with no shortage of battles. Never before had rap’s two biggest names delivered a heavyweight fight like this. Their records moved needles and bottom lines, and for two weeks during the spring — during the heart of the NBA playoffs — there was no bigger story in American pop culture. Five records cracked the top 20 of the Hot 100 charts on Billboard during the beef’s apex.
“This feud has also opened new ground in terms of hit potential. Diss tracks have been around for decades, [but]they previously lived in a realm of cultural currency. Nobody really expected any commercial success from them,” Trevor Anderson, Billboard’s senior charts and data analyst for R&B and hip-hop, said. “But this time, the huge streaming numbers these tracks generated and their chart peaks became another element in people’s analysis of who won.”
The battle showcased a master class in strategic communications. Who understood their opponent, and who didn’t. Who valued what was at stake, and who didn’t. In hindsight, Drake’s belief that his fame and the gaudiness of his catalog would save him was his downfall. At least not to the level of Lamar, who seemed to approach the battle like an act of war.
For much of his career, Drake wore his cleverness as a badge of honor. He was a planner who understood the scent of victory and how overwhelming success could be repeated ad nauseam.
Musically speaking, Drake goading Lamar to stand on what he said on “Like That” was the most erroneous public gaffe of 2024. No close second exists. “Since ‘Like That,’ your tone changed a little, you not as enthused/ How are you not in the booth?/ You kinda removed,” he chided on “Taylor Made Freestyle.” “You tryna let this sh– die down, nah nah nah/ Not this time, n—, you following through/ I guess you need another week to figure out how to improve/ What the f— is taking so long? We waiting on you.”
From illogical uses of artificial intelligence that included Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg’s voices (Shakur’s estate threatened to sue), mentioning Lamar’s family on record (a la his one-sided 2018 battle with Pusha T, a battle Drake conceded he lost) and leveraging social media, Drake’s plan proved shallow at best. The wrath of diss records from Lamar that followed marked a historical display of unparalleled destruction. “Euphoria,” arguably the battle’s creative zenith, emasculated Drake’s character from moral and artistic standpoints. “6:16 in LA” questioned the loyalty of Drake’s inner circle and how Lamar used the infiltration to his advantage. “meet the grahams,” was dark and personal, rendering Drake’s rebuttal in “Family Matters” useless. A hauntingly somber Lamar addressed Drake’s parents and their role in his character flaws. He also spoke directly to Drake’s son, Adonis, telling him his father wasn’t a man to admire. Lamar also rapped to an 11-year-old daughter Lamar claimed Drake kept in secret. And, lastly, he spoke directly to Drake himself. “Dear Aubrey, I know you probably thinking I wanted to crash your party/ But truthfully, I don’t have a hating bone in my body,“ Lamar’s open letter brooded. “This was supposed to be a good exhibition within the game/ But you f— up the moment you mentioned my family’s name.“
Then, of course, came the kill shot.
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Of every song that was released in 2024, no matter the genre or artist, “Not Like Us” holds a singular distinction. Not just because it would later inspire a lawsuit from Drake alleging defamation and inflated numbers. Not just because the diss record was the No. 1 song in the country for multiple weeks — and No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart for 21 weeks, surpassing Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” Not even just because the last verse directly called Drake an artistic leech. “Not Like Us” became part of the cultural fabric of an entire year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers used the record as its official playoff anthem en route to a World Series victory. The song became a point of debate on Team USA’s men’s basketball team. Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James’ wife Savannah used the song on social media posts throughout the year, prompting speculation about if she and her husband had issues with Drake. The Democratic National Convention featured “Not Like Us” during its delegate roll call. At historically Black universities, Lamar’s devotion to Black culture and shunning those without a proper understanding of the power, pain and pride that comes with it spoke volumes.
“It’s exciting because of all the texts and emails, especially from alumni and students. They’re like, we got to play this one, so go ahead and put it on paper. The students know this is one of those tracks we can use in a [band]battle,” said Byron Chatman, assistant band director at Alcorn State University. “We had a pep rally, and they were asking for [‘Not Like Us’]. We weren’t gonna play it, but they kept asking for it. So we played it. It’s exciting that people when they see the band, they request that song.”
Anonymity is a longtime weapon of choice for an introvert like Lamar. He rarely uses social media. When he did this year, it was to release new music or announce his upcoming, highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime performance in February 2025. He says what he has to say and falls back until it’s time to pop out once again, pun intended.
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In an era where the lines between quantity and quality are as blurred as ever, Lamar’s less-is-more approach has paid dividends. Every new release, whether it be a diss record or a new album like GNX, becomes its own moment. Apple Music revealed that “Not Like Us” was its most streamed song globally in 2024. Amazon confirmed that Lamar’s Juneteenth concert/victory lap, “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends,” logged the most minutes watched of any Amazon Music program on Prime Video and Twitch. Every project of Lamar’s in 2024 — features, diss records or albums — has gone No. 1. He’s the first and only artist to have three No. 1 records in 2024. He became just the fourth artist in history — joining an exclusive club of The Beatles, Taylor Swift, and, yes, Drake — to simultaneously have the top five records in the country. Nonetheless, his releases remain public mysteries because they rarely come with much warning.
“He hasn’t saturated the marketplace with a lot of tracks or features, and we don’t get many glimpses into his celebrity or personal life,” Anderson said. “He has little fatigue factor that might exhaust consumers. Plus, given how rare his drops are, other segments of the industry — radio programmers and streaming curators, for example — may be that much more eager to jump onto new releases, given the high demand for fewer opportunities to engage with new Kendrick music.”
“For someone as elusive as Kendrick, who isn’t as prolific as his counterparts, his 2024 output surpasses any other point in his career,” Carl Lamarre, Billboard deputy director of R&B and hip-hop, said. “His lyrical fury paid dividends, yielding him more wins, including a Super Bowl invitation and an upcoming stadium tour. The proverbial cherry on top came when he doled out a new solo album that clinched his banner year and had incredible replay value.”
Lamar’s crash out, one he warned the entire genre would soon feel the effects of, became his cash out. Amid all the success is the realization it was only a byproduct of his sheer disgust. Bryant’s words about showing and proving stayed with Lamar in a spiritual sense. 2024 — when broken down into the number of years Bryant played (20) and one of his jersey numbers (24) — was the launchpad. The one decision to take a direct aim would change the trajectory of both careers and how they’re remembered and anticipated.
Both face questions. Both must answer where their careers go from here, though Lamar sits in the far more advantageous seat. One place he won’t be going is seeking the land of remorse for how far things went and the unforgivable bars both sides levied on the other.
I’ll never peace it up / That s— don’t sit well with me / Before I take a truce, I’ll take ’em to hell with me, Lamar confirmed on “wacced out murals.” “N—as mad because I decided not to pretend/ Y’all stay politically correct, I’m a do what I did/Ain’t no sympathy here.“
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Operating from a me-versus-the-world mentality is a familiar theme of Lamar’s existence. Now, that world just sits in the palms of his ink-stained hands.
While much of 2024 will be highlighted by the war of words that made rap stand still, it’s the progressiveness that Lamar ultimately would choose to highlight. It’s why “The Pop Out” concert was far more than a means of driving the proverbial knife farther in Drake’s heart. “Not Like Us” was a worldwide hit, but in Los Angeles, it was a spiritual vehicle that united Black and Latino communities through song and dance. In a world as complicated and diverse as Los Angeles street culture, that unification — however brief — was just as much a part of Lamar’s 2024 mission statement as anything else. “Cohesion” is the word of the year for Lamar. The collaborations on his most recent project, GNX, serve as a testament. Top Dawg Entertainment’s recent Christmas concert in the Watts neighborhood of LA did too as Lamar performed with kids on stage. Notorious for his poker face, not even Lamar could contain his joy as boys and girls from Watts feverishly enjoyed his presence. Ask Lamar, which is difficult to do because his public statements are calculated, and he’d likely say that moment meant more to him in 2024 than most. He shuns the title of “savior,” but in 2024, he cherished the title of “soldier.”
2025 figures to be one new heights even for an artist like Lamar. The Grand National Tour with close friend, fellow supernova and frequent collaborator SZA is historic and mysterious. The rumors of new music continue to percolate throughout the industry and social media, but Lamar’s first major milestones will occur in February. Within a week’s time, he will be a major character at the 2025 Grammys, on Feb. 1, and the lead protagonist at the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans on Feb. 9. Lamar is one of rap’s most celebrated performers in the genre’s 51-year history and it’s the meticulousness that plays into the anticipation of moment. No one knows exactly what Lamar will do — outside of delivering a show that may produce nearly as many headlines as the game itself.
Runcie agrees.
“Kendrick has given memorable big stage performances. There’s the Grammys after DAMN. came out. ‘The Pop Out’ [was proof]of stage command at the Kia Forum. He’s someone that clearly has stage presence,” Runcie said. “I remember seeing him open the ‘Yeezus’ tour almost 12 years ago. He’s always been able to do that stuff. That shows a tremendous amount of trust [in Kendrick]. Because if you would’ve asked me three, four years ago who would’ve been the first hip-hop artist to solo headline the Super Bowl stage, I probably would’ve guessed Drake.”
Where Lamar’s 2024 ranks among the all-time great years in hip-hop is a compelling case study. Snoop Dogg’s 1994, Biggie’s 1995, Tupac’s 1996, DMX’s 1998, 50 Cent’s 2003, T.I.’s 2006 when he had the No. 1 album and movie in the same week, Lil Wayne’s relentless 2007 or Future’s 2015 all stand out as objectively dominant campaigns.
“2024 is the year Kendrick Lamar undoubtedly solidified himself as the pre-eminent rapper of the modern-day era,” Lamarre said. “He axed all doubts by taking out the biggest rapper in the game and then enjoyed a victory lap when he released his No. 1 album that netted seven songs in the top 10 of the Hot 100.”
What makes Lamar’s year distinct is that he’s a decade and a half into his career. He’s seen the peaks of artistic expression and commercial supremacy. Before he called Drake to the middle of the ring on “Like That,” Lamar was a rap savant. Before this year, the title of boogeyman felt deserved based on the poignancy of his music and how critical he was of the world around him — including himself on records such as “u” in 2015 or agonizingly painful “We Cry Together” in 2022.
Now 2024 is etched in rap lore as deserving of a nickname that ever existed in rap. The victory lap Lamarre speaks of is showing no signs of slowing down. There are the Grammys, where Lamar is up for seven awards, including record and song of the year for “Not Like Us.” A week later is the Super Bowl. In April, the nationwide Grand National stadium tour (and its two June tour dates in Toronto) kicks off and the rumored new album on the way many industry insiders say is all but guaranteed.
Exactly what he does for an encore in 2025 and how he’ll go about it, much like everything Lamar does, is anyone’s guess.
Justin Tinsley is a senior culture writer for Andscape. He firmly believes “Cash Money Records takin’ ova for da ’99 and da 2000” is the single most impactful statement of his generation.
