I chose Kendrick to do my composer report on because he has always been my favorite rapper since I was a kid. I also would listen to his songs before every basketball game because they really got my adrenalin going. Kendrick Lamar is an award-winning rapper and songwriter. He is known for innovative take on life in Southern California as for his affiliation with rap star and super-producer Dr. Dre. “Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, who performs as Kendrick Lamar, was born in Compton, California, on June 17, 1987” (Kendrick Lamar, p.1). He started writing stories as a little kid and then started writing some lyrics about the rough Compton streets he grew up on. This is very interesting because a lot of song writers write music based on the tough times they have been through or in Kendrick’s case grew up with. “He rapped under the name K-Dot, releasing a series of …show more content…
His family had moved to Compton from Chicago because they wanted to escape from the city’s gang culture. Although, Kendrick’s father had been associated with the Gangster Disciples gang and his family also had ties to the bloods gang. Kendrick grew up around dangerous street activity, but he seemed more influenced than harmed by it. He chose to be a good student who enjoyed writing, first stories then poems, and then lastly lyrics. One of Kendrick’s quotes is “At first, I was scared to show fear because you can never be sure how people will perceive you. But I dared myself to do that, to stand out” (Kendrick Lamar, p.1). He made this quote when he was on the rise of being a good kid rapper in a mad city. His family was directly touched by all of the violence on the streets, but Kendrick remained thoughtful and soft-spoken. This is very unexpected because when kids grow up in bad cities they usually are influenced to grow up to be a bad kid. I think it is awesome that writing stories, poems, and lyrics saved him to have a better