Kendrick Lamar's compelling lyricism, virtuosic microphone command, and sharp conceptual vision have translated to a rare combination of continuous chart feats and critical acclaim, plus respect and support from the artists who paved the way for the rapper's advancement. The Compton MC started as a teen in the early 2000s and hit his creative and commercial stride the next decade. The proper albums Lamar released by the end of the 2010s, namely the breakthrough good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), Grammy-winning To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), and Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN. (2017), displayed an unmatched mix of inventive wordplay and riveting narratives with assertion of artistic dominance, examination of internal conflict, and upliftment of community all centered. Remarkably, those qualities were exemplified in their Top 40 singles, including "Swimming Pools (Drank)," "i," and the number one hit "HUMBLE." among a total of seven the albums produced. Lamar's screenplay-level detail of writing on those recordings was enriched by a shifting collective of producers, instrumentalists, singers, and rappers, many of whom -- from inspirations Dr. Dre and MC Eiht to peers such as Sounwave, Terrace Martin, and Thundercat -- likewise represent Los Angeles. The rapper's cinematic and collaborative inclinations inevitably attracted the mainstream film industry, leading to an executive production role on Black Panther: The Album (2018), the source of three additional Top 40 singles. Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (2022), fueled by intense self-analysis, became Lamar's sixth consecutive chart-topping project despite containing his most challenging and confrontational work.

Compton, California native Kendrick Lamar Duckworth grew up immersed in hip-hop culture and surrounded by gang activity. As a youngster, he gradually discovered an aptitude for writing stories, poems, and lyrics, which naturally led to rapping. He made a name for himself as K. Dot. At the age of 16 in 2003, he issued his debut mixtape, The Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year. While it merely hinted at the potential of the then-teenager, it was impressive enough to catch the attention of Top Dawg Entertainment and led to a long-term association with the label that steadily propelled his career. Training Day, the Jay Rock collaboration No Sleep 'til NYC, and C4, issued from 2005 through 2009, likewise preceded Lamar's decision to go by his first and middle names. The last of the three was issued the same year he became part of Black Hippy, a group whose members -- including fellow TDE artists Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and ScHoolboy Q -- frequently appeared on one another's mixtapes and albums.

The first tape credited to Kendrick Lamar was Overly Dedicated, released in September 2010. Also the rapper's first commercial release, it reached enough listeners to enter Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. After XXL magazine selected him for the 2011 Freshman Class feature, Lamar released his first official album, Section.80, that July, and crossed into the Billboard 200, reaching number 113. With deeper conceptual narratives and sharpened melodic hooks, as well as comparative multidimensional development from primary producer Sounwave, the set acted as a kind of warning flare for Lamar's mainstream rap dominance. In addition to the dozens of tracks he had appeared on by then, Lamar had the support of veteran West Coast stars as well. During a concert later in 2011, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Game dubbed him "The New King of the West Coast," a notion Dre endorsed more significantly by signing Lamar to his Interscope-affiliated Aftermath label.

Lamar's major-label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city, was released in October 2012 and entered the Billboard 200 at number two. Three of its singles -- "Swimming Pools (Drank)," "Poetic Justice," and "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" -- reached the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and went Top 40 pop. More significantly, the album showcased Lamar as an exceptional storyteller capable of making compelling concept albums. It led to Grammy nominations in four categories: Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (for "Now or Never," a deluxe edition bonus cut featuring Mary J. Blige). Miguel's "How Many Drinks?" and A$AP Rocky's "Fuckin' Problems," two tracks on which Lamar made guest appearances, were nominated as well.

Rather than rest, Lamar remained active during 2013-2014, touring as well as appearing on tracks by the likes of Tame Impala, YG, and fellow Top Dawg affiliate SZA. The proud single "i" was released in September of the latter year, became Lamar's fourth Top 40 single, and won Grammys for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. Still rolling, he announced in early 2015 that his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly, would be out in March with tracks featuring Snoop Dogg, Bilal, Thundercat, and George Clinton. A technical error caused the digital version to be released eight days early, but the LP nonetheless topped the Billboard 200 with sales of 325,000 copies within its first week. It made numerous best-of lists at the end of the year and won the Grammy for Best Rap Album. The defiant and life-affirming "Alright," which was quickly adopted by the Black Lives Matter activist movement, along with another single, "These Walls," took awards for Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Riding high on his wins and a striking Grammy ceremony performance, Lamar followed up in March 2016 with untitled unmastered., consisting of demos recorded during the previous three years. Like the preceding release, it debuted at number one, and seamlessly synthesized beatmaking and traditional musicianship from the likes of Sounwave, Terrace Martin, and Thundercat. Within a month, Lamar added to his ever-lengthening discography of featured appearances with his contribution to Beyoncé's "Freedom."

Led by "HUMBLE.," his first number one pop hit, DAMN. arrived in April 2017 and likewise entered the Billboard 200 at the top. Remarkably, all 14 of the album's songs entered the Hot 100, and it was certified multi-platinum within three months. Among the contributors were Rihanna and U2, but at this point, the supporting roles were beneficial more for the guest artists than they were for Lamar, whose artistic clout was unrivaled. He snagged five more Grammys: DAMN. won Best Rap Album; "HUMBLE." took Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Video; and Best Rap/Sung Performance went to "LOYALTY," the Rihanna collaboration. Another number one hit followed in February 2018. The soundtrack Black Panther: The Album featured Lamar on every track. Its three singles -- "All the Stars" (with SZA), "King's Dead" (with Jay Rock and Future), and "Pray for Me" (with the Weeknd) -- eventually hit the Top 40. That April, DAMN. won the Pulitzer Prize for Music. It was the first time the judges recognized a work outside the genres of classical and jazz. Months later, "King's Dead" made Lamar a 13-time Grammy winner when it took the award for Best Rap Performance. "All the Stars" alone was nominated in four categories, while Black Panther was up for Album of the Year. The film itself was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

After some time away from music that included an acting role in the fifth season of the Starz network series Power, Lamar resurfaced in August 2021 on cousin Baby Keem's "Family Ties." The single, a highlight of The Melodic Blue, Keem's album debut for Lamar's new pgLang label, won Best Rap Performance at the following Grammys. Lamar then performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside hip-hop royalty that included Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Mary J. Blige. In May 2022, Lamar issued "The Heart, Pt. 5" as a ruminative prelude to his fifth full-length. An emotionally complex and raw double album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers landed later that month and went straight to the top of the Billboard 200. In addition to Keem, the likes of Sampha, Kodak Black, and Portishead's Beth Gibbons made featured appearances. It was named Best Rap Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, where "The Heart, Pt. 5" took the awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. ~ Andy Kellman

A distinct force in contemporary R&B, SZA has set herself apart with a vulnerable and casually poetic songwriting style and a voice conveying a multitude of emotions with subtle twists and turns. She established herself with a trio of spaced-out EPs and collaborations with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, and Rihanna, and continued her ascent with Ctrl (2017), a Top Ten album that resulted in five Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist. These accolades proved to be no fluke, as SZA earned almost as many Grammy nominations the next year by assisting Kendrick Lamar with "All the Stars," a Top Ten hit, only one in a slew of platinum singles she has scored as a headliner or featured artist. Her rich and complex second album, SOS (2022), went straight to number one on the Billboard 200, produced four Top Ten pop singles -- including the chart-topping revenge fantasy "Kill Bill" -- and earned the artist three Grammy awards.

Solána Imani Rowe was born in St. Louis and raised in New Jersey, where she excelled in high school gymnastics and cheerleading. After leaving college, Rowe shuffled around different jobs and recorded on the side, influenced by the diverse and maverick likes of Billie Holiday and Björk, as well as Wu-Tang Clan, whose RZA inspired her performing name. She self-released a pair of dreamy and alluring EPs, 2012's See.SZA.Run and 2013's S, and shortly thereafter signed with Top Dawg Entertainment. SZA had been on TDE's radar since 2011, when label co-founder Terrence "Punch" Henderson was handed material at the CMJ Music Marathon.

Once their agreement was in place, Top Dawg and SZA didn't waste any time. In April 2014, SZA made her label debut with Z, a trippy third EP that entered the Billboard 200 at number 39 with featured appearances from fellow TDE artists Kendrick Lamar and Isaiah Rashad, as well as one from Chance the Rapper. By the end of 2016, SZA was a highly valued collaborator herself. She appeared on high-profile TDE releases from Lamar, Rashad, ScHoolboy Q, and Jay Rock, co-wrote Nicki Minaj's "Feeling Myself" and Travis Scott's "OK Alright," and co-wrote and appeared on Rihanna's "Consideration."

Primed for the spotlight in 2017, SZA followed through that June with her first album. Released through TDE's arrangement with major-label RCA, the sharply defined Ctrl debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, and on its way to platinum status yielded a pair of multi-platinum singles in "Love Galore" and "The Weekend," both of which went Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. SZA also broadened her audience that year with contributions to Maroon 5's Top Ten "What Lovers Do" and a remix of Lorde's "Homemade Dynamite." Up for five Grammys, SZA was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Urban Contemporary Album, plus Best R&B Song ("Supermodel"), Best R&B Performance ("The Weekend"), and Best Rap/Sung Performance ("Love Galore").

SZA didn't win in any of the categories, but at the time of the ceremony in January 2019, she was already scaling back up the Hot 100 with "All the Stars," recorded with Kendrick Lamar for Black Panther: The Album. Another multi-platinum hit, the single peaked at number seven and was nominated in four categories -- including Record of the Year and Song of the Year, two of "the big four" -- at the next Grammy ceremony. During the rest of 2019, SZA added to her between-albums output, which already included Cardi B's "I Do," with the Game of Thrones commission "Power Is Power" and co-starring roles on DJ Khaled's "Just Us" and Post Malone's "Staring at the Sun." In 2020, she paired with Justin Timberlake on the song "The Other Side" for the Trolls World Tour soundtrack. She also released the Neptunes-produced track "Hit Different" -- a number 29 pop hit featuring Ty Dolla $ign -- and "Good Days," which reached number nine.

A comparatively quiet year for SZA, 2021 was highlighted by a featured appearance on Doja Cat's uptempo single "Kiss Me More," a number three pop hit. SZA also contributed "The Anonymous Ones" to the soundtrack for the coming-of-age film Dear Evan Hansen. "No Love" (headlined by Summer Walker) and "I Hate U" appeared at the end of the year; the latter reached number seven on the pop chart. At the 64th Annual Grammy Awards the following February, "Good Days" was up for Best R&B Song, and "Kiss Me More" won for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. A deluxe edition of Ctrl, including seven previously unreleased songs, appeared that June, five years after the album was originally released.

In December 2022, SZA delivered her second LP, SOS, on which she teamed with a deep roster of production and songwriting associates tied together by extensive input from Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, and ThankGod4Cody. The album topped both the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, with "Nobody Gets Me," "Kill Bill," and the Babyface collaboration "Snooze" following "I Hate U" and "Good Days" into the Top Ten. "Kill Bill" became SZA's first number one pop hit, and "Snooze" received another boost with an acoustic version assisted by Justin Bieber. After SZA topped the Hot 100 a second time, featured on Drake's "Slime You Out," she received a leading nine nominations at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, including nods for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year -- all of the "the big four" categories for which she was eligible. SOS won Best Progressive R&B Album, "Snooze" took Best R&B Song, and the Phoebe Bridgers collaboration "Ghost in the Machine" earned Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. ~ Andy Kellman