Kendrick Lamar has already won big in 2016, since the Compton rapper has just been given the key to his city. The special ceremony took place this past Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Monument at Civic Center Plaza.
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“Kendrick Lamar is a phenomenal artist whose work has served as a catalyst to raise a new level of consciousness for this generation,” said Compton Mayor Aja Brown in a statement via The Los Angeles Times . “His message challenges the status quo and motivates listeners to rethink our society’s institutions.”
“Kendrick Lamar is one of Compton’s greatest ambassadors,” said City Councilwoman Janna Zurita. “We in Compton are proud of him because he is a symbol of what our city really is — a place where dreams can come true.”
Kendrick Lamar is also expected to deliver a pretty controversial and memorable performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards, taking place tonight.
“I know how to maneuver through the bleeps by now,” Kendrick said in an interview with Vanity Fair .
Kendrick sweeping tonight @TheGRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/xoCBd5mIJE
— maine (@Mvinestream) February 15, 2016
Tonight.. Kendrick Lamar @ The Grammys pic.twitter.com/7yMLSpgcqX
— maine (@Mvinestream) February 15, 2016
The rapper has also been nominated for a slew of awards this year and has stated that he hopes to win every single one of them.
“I want all of them,” Lamar said . “Because it’s not only a statement for myself, but it’s a statement for the culture. They’re all important, because of the foundation the forefathers laid before me. Nas didn’t get a chance to be in that position. Pac. So to be acknowledged and to actually win, it’s for all of them.”
Kendrick Lamar has been nominated for Album of the Year and if he were to win, he would be the second artist in hip-hop to receive the award, with Outkast being the only hip-hop group/artist to win Album of the Year. Lamar is nominated the following Grammy Awards:
Album Of The Year
- Sound & Color Alabama Shakes Alabama Shakes & Blake Mills, producers; Shawn Everett, engineer/mixer; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer
- To Pimp A Butterfly Kendrick Lamar Bilal, George Clinton, James Fauntleroy, Ronald Isley, Rapsody, Snoop Dogg, Thundercat & Anna Wise, featured artists; Taz Arnold, Boi-1Da, Ronald Colson, Larrance Dopson, Flying Lotus, Fredrik “Tommy Black” Halldin, Knxwledge, Koz, Lovedragon, Terrace Martin, Rahki, Sounwave, Tae Beast, Thundercat, Whoarei & Pharrell Williams, producers; Derek “Mixedbyali” Ali, Thomas Burns, James “The White Black Man” Hunt, 9th Wonder & Matt Schaeffer, engineers/mixers; Mike Bozzi, mastering engineer
- Traveller Chris Stapleton Dave Cobb & Chris Stapleton, producers; Vance Powell, engineer/mixer; Pete Lyman, mastering engineer [Mercury Nashville]
- 1989 Taylor Swift Jack Antonoff, Nathan Chapman, Imogen Heap, Max Martin, Mattman & Robin, Ali Payami, Shellback, Taylor Swift, Ryan Tedder & Noel Zancanella, producers; Jack Antonoff, Mattias Bylund, Smith Carlson, Nathan Chapman, Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, Imogen Heap, Sam Holland, Michael Ilbert, Brendan Morawski, Laura Sisk & Ryan Tedder, engineers/mixers; Tom Coyne, mastering engineer [Big Machine Records]
- Beauty Behind The Madness The Weeknd Lana Del Rey, Labrinth & Ed Sheeran, featured artists; Dannyboystyles, Ben Diehl, Labrinth, Mano, Max Martin, Stephan Moccio, Carlo Montagnese, Ali Payami, The Pope, Jason Quenneville, Peter Svensson, Abel Tesfaye & Kanye West, producers; Jay Paul Bicknell, Mattias Bylund, Serban Ghenea, Noah Goldstein, John Hanes, Sam Holland, Jean Marie Horvat, Carlo Montagnese, Jason Quenneville & Dave Reitzas, engineers/mixers; Tom Coyne & Dave Kutch, mastering engineers [Republic]
Song Of The Year
- Alright Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar) Track from: To Pimp A Butterfly [TDE/Aftermath/Interscope; Publisher(s): WB Music Corp., TDE Music, Hard Working Black Folks Publishing, EMI Music Inc., More Water From Nazareth, Sounwave TDE Productions, SonyATV]
- Blank Space Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift) Track from: 1989 [Big Machine Records; Publisher(s): Sony/ATV Tree Publishing/Taylor Swift Music/MXM admin. by Kobalt Songs Music Publishing, Inc.]
- Girl Crush Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna & Liz Rose, songwriters (Little Big Town) Track from: Pain Killer [Capitol Records Nashville; Publisher(s): Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Songs Of Crazy Girl Music, Songs of Universal, Inc., Hoodie Songs, HillarodyRathbone Music admin. by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC]
- See You Again Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth & Cameron Thomaz, songwriters (Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth) Track from: Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Atlantic; Publisher(s): Artist Publishing Group West/J Franks Publishing/Andrew Cedar Publishing admin. by WB Music Corp./Wiz Khalifa Publishing admin. by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Charlie Puth Music Publishing/Artist 101 Publishing Group admin. by Warner Chappell Music, Universal Pictures Music, UPG Music Publishing]
- Thinking Out Loud Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge, songwriters (Ed Sheeran) Track from: X [Atlantic; Publisher(s): Sony/ATV Music Publishing/BDi Music Limited]
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
- Ship To Wreck Florence + The Machine Track from: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful [Republic]
- Sugar Maroon 5 Track from: V [222 Records/Interscope]
- Uptown Funk Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars Track from: Uptown Special [RCA Records]
- Bad Blood Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar [Big Machine Records]
- See You Again Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth Track from: Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Atlantic]
Best Dance Recording
- We’re All We Need Above & Beyond Featuring Zoë Johnston Andrew Bayer, Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness & Paavo Siljamäki, producers; Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness & Paavo Siljamäki, mixers [Ultra/Anjunabeats]
- Go The Chemical Brothers Tom Rowlands & Ed Simons, producers; Steve Dub Jones & Tom Rowlands, mixers [Astralwerks]
- Never Catch Me Flying Lotus Featuring Kendrick Lamar Steven Ellison, producer; Kevin Marques Moo, mixer Track from: You’re Dead! [Warp Records]
- Runaway (U & I) Galantis Linus Eklöw, Christian Karlsson & Svidden, producers; Linus Eklöw, Niklas Flyckt & Christian Karlsson, mixers Track from: Pharmacy [Big Beat/Atlantic]
- Where Are Ü Now Skrillex And Diplo With Justin Bieber Sonny Moore & Thomas Pentz, producers; Sonny Moore & Thomas Pentz, mixers Track from: Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü [Owsla/Mad Decent/Atlantic]
Best Rap Performance
- Apparently J. Cole Track from: 2014 Forest Hills Drive [Roc Nation/Columbia Records]
- Back To Back Drake [Cash Money Records]
- Trap Queen Fetty Wap Track from: Fetty Wap [300 Entertainment/RGF Productions]
- Alright Kendrick Lamar Track from: To Pimp A Butterfly [Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath Records/Interscope Records]
- Truffle Butter Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake & Lil Wayne Track from: The Pinkprint [Young Money/Cash Money]
- All Day Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney [Def Jam Recordings]
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
- One Man Can Change The World Big Sean Featuring Kanye West & John Legend Track from: Dark Sky Paradise [Universal/Def Jam]
- Glory Common & John Legend [Def Jam Recordings]
- Classic Man Jidenna Featuring Roman GianArthur [Epic Records]
- These Walls Kendrick Lamar Featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat Track from: To Pimp A Butterfly [Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath Records/Interscope Records]
- Only Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown Track from: The Pinkprint [Young Money/Cash Money]
Best Rap Song
- All Day Ernest Brown, Tyler Bryant, Sean Combs, Mike Dean, Rennard East, Noah Goldstein, Malik Yusef Jones, Karim Kharbouch, Allan Kyariga, Kendrick Lamar, Paul McCartney, Victor Mensah, Charles Njapa, Che Pope, Patrick Reynolds, Allen Ritter, Kanye West, Mario Winans & Cydel Young, songwriters (Kanye West Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom & Paul McCartney) [Def Jam Recordings; Publisher(s): Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc./MPL Communications Inc./TYLER BRANT PUBLISHING/WB Music Corp./ Hard Working Black Folks Inc./Top Dawg Music/Excuse My French Music/EMI Blackwood Music Inc./Monarch Music/Abou Thiam Publishing/Victor Kwesi Mensah Publishing Designee/ALLEN KYARIGA/EMI Blackwood Music o/b/o Papa George Publishing/Kaya and Ethan Music/Primary Wave Brian/Noah Goldstein admin. by Reach Music Publishing/Ritter Boy LLC/Mario Winans Publishing Designee/Broken Locks/Songs of Universal Inc./Jabriel Iz Myne /Universal Music/Patrick Reynolds Publishing Designee/Smooth Thug Music/Noel Ellis Publishing Designee/Justin Combs Music Publishing administered by EMI April Music]
- Alright Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Anthony Spears & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar) Track from: To Pimp A Butterfly [TDE/Aftermath/Interscope; Publisher(s): WB Music Corp., TDE Music, Hard Working Black Folks Publishing, EMI Music Inc., More Water From Nazareth, Sounwave TDE Productions, SonyATV]
- Energy Richard Dorfmeister, A. Graham, Markus Kienzl, M. O’Brien, M. Samuels & Phillip Thomas, songwriters (Drake) Track from: If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late [Young Money/Cash Money; Publisher(s): Sandra Gale/EMI Music Publishing, 1damentional publishing LLC/Sony/ATV Tunes, LLC, Matthew O’Brien/otek north/WB Music Corp./Jack Russell Music Ltd./Notting Hill Music Ltd.]
- Glory Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith & John Stephens, songwriters (Common & John Legend) Track from: Selma (Music From The Motion Picture) [Universal/Def Jam; Publisher(s): Paramount Pictures/Pathe Productions Limited]
- Trap Queen Tony Fadd & Willie J. Maxwell, songwriters (Fetty Wap) Track from: Fetty Wap [300 Entertainment/RGF Productions; Publisher(s): RGF Publishing, Zoovier, BMG Gold Songs, Tony Fadd Beats]
Best Rap Album
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive J. Cole [Roc Nation/Columbia Records]
- Compton Dr. Dre [Aftermath/Interscope]
- If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late Drake [Cash Money/Young Money]
- To Pimp A Butterfly Kendrick Lamar [Aftermath/Interscope]
- The Pinkprint Nicki Minaj [Young Money/Cash Money]
Best Music Video
- LSD ASAP Rocky Dexter Navy, video director; Shin Nishigaki, video producer [RCA Records/A$AP Worldwide/Polo Grounds Music]
- I Feel Love (Every Million Miles) The Dead Weather Cooper Roberts & Ian Schwartz, video directors; Candice Dragonas & Nathan Scherrer, video producers [Third Man Records]
- Alright Kendrick Lamar The Little Homies & Colin Tilley, video directors; Brandon Bonfiglio, Dave Free, Andrew Lerios & Luga Podesta, video producers [Aftermath Records/Interscope Records]
- Bad Blood Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar Joseph Kahn, video director; Ron Morhoff, video producer [Big Machine Records]
- Freedom Pharrell Williams Paul Hunter, video director; Candice Dragonas & Nathan Scherrer, video producers [Columbia]
[Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for Power 105.1’s Powerhouse 2015]