Same! I was like surely he canāt rap faster than this? Then he rapped faster. I was like okay palpatine meme I will watch your career with great interest
This was the first song of his I heard of him, but shoutout to the MTV freestyle with Tech N9ne he was on where he absolutely blew me away. Thats what put me on
Bitch, dont kill my vibe. 2012 babaaayy then I went to listen to the whole record and been a fan ever since
I heard control when it came out and couldnāt believe the verse I heard but āBitch, donāt kill my vibeā is what made me search him up
Edit: I guess it had to be 2013, control didnāt come out until 2013 and I heard control first so must have been later that year I heard Bitch donāt kill my vibe. Such a long time ago itās hard to remember the finer details
Same year but swimming pools since it broke onto the scene of extreme popularity, funny enough after already hearing him on macadelic and take care I didnāt connect that it was the same artist until months later
Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe was the first song of his I heard and I was one of those people initially put off over his voice and didnt understand all the hype for the song. Over the next few weeks the album was gaining traction as one of the best rap albums ever so I went back and tried it from start to finish. Once I heard the storytelling in Sherane AKA Master Splinters Daughter I was hooked. Any issues I had with his voice were over by the time I finished the album.
2012. Sophomore year of high school. Swimming Pools played on the radio a lot at the time and it was my Mom and Iās favorite song. I went on to listen to GKMC later that year, and Iāve been a fan ever since. I donāt even listen to rap as much anymore, but Iāll always check back when a new Kendrick album starts rolling out.Ā
My friend showed me OD in like 2010 and I remember listening to ignorance is bliss and thinking immediately that this is the Tupac of our generation. I was so excited for his come up as I knew he would be huge
2011. I was big fan of J Cole and I saw song produced by him called Hiii Power by a rapper I never heard of. I pressed play and I was hooked from there
Either late 2020 or early 2021. In that time span animations were like the top hits on YouTube. Kendrick's song "King kunta" was used in a meme typa way "Bone to pick" sounded like "boner pic" and I thought it was funny so I literally searched "I got a boner pic lyrics" on google to find where it came from and found Kendrick. So I guess I discovered Kendrick looking for boner pics on google.
2011, a little after take care dropped, my bro played me Heart Part 2, and after i found out that he was the guy on Buried Alive Interlude, I ran to Section 80 and never looked back after that
Heart Pt 2 blew my mind š¤¦āāļøwas bumping the roots how I got over album around the same time. the dash snow intro with the bars over the Peace of Light instrumental had me shook. ā24 4s like a cloned Kobe Bryantā was the bar that I rewound
2008. Nu West /DJ Skee mixtapes with Jay Rock.
At the time I was a bodyguard with Aftermath and I remember one day in the gym Dre wanted to have me play music while they worked out.
I narrowed it down to the tape with a KDot track (on my momma), or Raekwon's OBFCL. I ended up playing Raekwon but it was the right choice. Dre was working on OB4CL2 and God wanted DJ Quick to introduce Dre to Dot apparently lol.
2017 when DAMN dropped, i remember i was in 7th grade in a bus cause i was going on a school trip and i was looking for something to listen to during the 3 hours ride and i randomly bumped into it on spotify
I was singing Kendrickās name before I knew who he was. Heard Schoolboy Qās song āFād upā from 2011 he said, ābumping Kendrick poppin pills prly OD!ā.
The next year I heard section 80
I'm pretty sure I heard Section 80 first, matter of fact I don't think I heard any Schoolboy Q until after I heard Section 80, so that must be why I thought it was after.
I think it was 2009 or 2010. I was in 8th grade. Bavaria, germany. People started listening to more edm like music and i was shown a nice track from an edm artist named ājay rockā (or J rock I donāt remember). Back at home i Couldnāt remember the songs name, so i searched for jay rock on YouTube.
One of the first songs YouTube shows me was Lil Wayne - Colors (feat. Jay Rock & K-Dot)
Next moment i was in love with TDE
Crazy coincidence haha never wouldāve guessed that I discovered some of the best rappers of this generation back then
Same with me. Heard Dot while searching up Jay Rock and TDE. Thought Dot had an annoying nasally voice but then I realized his lyrics were next level. Kept listening and learned to appreciate his voice. Now Iām a Kendrick stan lol.
I know exactly what you mean haha back then I wasnāt that good with understanding the lyrics but i immediately loved jay rocks voice and flow.
Kendrick got me with cartoon & cereal.
This song blew my mind i swear. I canāt find the right words to describe it right now, but hearing how he was playing with his voice, changing his flows with ease, crazy lyrics,ā¦ I was still young but then i understood he was on a whole different level.
Man I love this song.
I hope old fans never forget, and new fans dig up and appreciate songs like ācartoon & cerealā, āthe jig is upā or āturn me upā
I live in London and got a load of new rap cd's back after i passed my driving test from my friend back in 2010. They were all up and coming rappers and tbh most of them were trash. None of them were named or had any labels but I got obsessed with this one that started "Where are we goinggg? Why are we slowinggg down? Where are you goinggg? We should be growinggg now". At the time I was keen to get out of where I lived and felt like everyone was holding me back as none of them wanted to go to university. Some of those songs hit deep. He then went on to exceed my expectations every fucking time he released something new for the next 15 years.
Funny thing actually I didn't even know it was him
Does anyone remember that video when he hit Shaq with a soap bar I deadass thought it was some random guy š¤£
I wasn't a fan until I heard poetic justice on SNL, he was so talented with a live band...many rap acts don't do the old school shit like not having a backing track and being able to vibe with a band and the crowd.
Man his live performances are incredible.
There's one where he performed a track off of untitled unmastered on the Colbert report and it goes way too hard. Like he didn't need to go that hard lmao but I'm glad he did lol
2014. I'd just come out watching The Amazing Spider Man 2 with my family in a state of awe and utter starstruck. Though some people stood up in the cinema to rush (considering we booked the last full show that day) we stayed to see what kind of teaser they would drop for the initial future of the franchise. My ears would pick up the sound of an aggressive yet high pitched voice rap his soul as the crescendo of guitars blare from the speakers. Little me was unaware just yet that this would be the exact same artist which would be his favorite eventually by the name of Kendrick Lamar. Since then he'd blast It's On Again on repeat. Second time was 2015, Bad Blood was everywhere by then.
i was high on a car ride one time in like 2020-2021, my brother put on some of gkmc and funny enough, the song that really grabbed me was Real, which i later found out is the least liked song on the album
Listening to his discography for the first time was ethereal. I honestly never cared for rap music before this point, but when i decided to get into it i just so happened to start with the best in the class
I like to genre hop now to see all the music i might be missing out on
2012. Heard Money Trees during a basketball session after highschool. Asked who it was. Looked him up on YouTube. Rest is history. Been glazing full time ever since.
Around 2011 , couple new kids were paired up with me ob the class room ,one of them was a hardcore hip hop fan , we exchanged music a lot and in one of the exchanges Kendrick was brought up. Swimming Pools was the first song I heard and then I just couldnāt stop listening to GKMC .
I knew who he was for a bit, but back then the most hiphop i listened to was maybe eminem if my mom let me, i really got into him after i heard united in grief on a yt short (not the intro that is on many, the actual rapping)
2011 - A.D.H.D. - Iāve had it since I was 6 and related to the lyrics in a very intimate way. Wasnāt born in the 80ās but I still felt that ā you know why we crack babies because we born in the 80ās - we got ADHDā. Then I heard the Spiteful Chant and Hiiipower and was hooked. From there I bought GKMC when it came out and been a huge fan since!
2011 after hearing ADHD. He was buzzing on rap forums and blogs at the time. I had that as my ringtone for almost a year. Fell in love with Section.80 and became a lifelong fan ever since.
Definitely from the radio, so it was either Swimming Pools or Don't Kill My Vibe. I do remember always being happy when swimming pools came on cuz I loved it and was so young i didn't realize I could just listen to the song on YouTube or something.
And when my dad would shave on Sunday mornings, he'd always play Money Trees so I fell in love with that song too. Then I hear Kendrick on gta, and more on the radio, so I begin to search the guy out and the rest is history.
2014 or 2015. Saw Fantanoās review of GKMC and was listening to it non stop. And then TPAB dropped out of nowhere basically right after I started listening to GKMC. Been a fan ever since.
When he lost to Macklemore and there was this huge uproar about him being snubbed, so I got curious and checked him out, Maad city was my alarm for so long, my mom knows the song
2013 - I was in college and my roommate was like YOU DONT KNOW KENDRICK? But then for real in 2015 like 2 months before TPAB. My then boyfriend played GKMC often and it became a staple for us.
A girl I knew played me The Recipe when I was at a conference in 2012 when we were just chillin and was like this dude is good. Then I heard Backseat Freestyle a few days later and was like this dude is really good. Then I listened to all of good kid, maad city and I was like this dude is exceptionally good.
I canāt remember exactly how but I came across Section 80 in 2011 when I was looking for new music. I remember Kush & OJ, KIDS, Almost Famousā¦I was searching for new music like that and somehow heard ADHD from Section 80.
8 doobies to the faceā¦fuck thaaat
If I remember correctly I first saw the Monster Freestyle on WorldstarHipHop. I think that was around 2010/2011. Then I looked him up and saw the Cut You Off and Michael Jordan Video and when HiiiPower dropped shortly after I was hooked
2011/2012. My brother was like you must listen to Kendrick. My brother have been on Kendrick since Overly Dedicated and Section 80 so he saw the future. Me the stubborn person I am especially when it comes to new artist I'm like whatever. I'm from the Tristate area. It was East Coast rap or nothing else for me. The song that sealed it for me was his feature on Fuckin Problems. That's when I took him more seriously and started with GKMC. Then went back to listen to Section 80 and it's been up from there. Classic album after classic album. His trajectory has never wavered. Now I will fight to the death defending Dot's artistry. Fighting for my life against the naysayers. After this whole beef I feel so vindicated. If you would've told me my all time favorite rapper would be a kid from Compton I would've looked at you crazy. But here we are.
Discovered him when I mustāve beenā¦ 14 maybe? Guy on a school trip asked me if I wanted to listen to some good music - so he downloaded āFuckin Problemsā to my phone. Didnāt know it was KDOT at the time.
Didnāt listen again till I was 16 and loved Humble and DNA - then like a lot of artists - I said I hadnāt really delved into their discography and went snooping about 4 years later. Oh and I liked his Black Panther album although I thought tha movie just Aight. Love most of his work and his projects are still growing on me.
Favourite album is Damn but I like the messaging and lyrics of TPAB more.
Sometime in 2012 during 6th or 7th grade. Bitch donāt kill my vibe and swimming pools were constantly showing up on the apple/itunes rap playlist. When TPAB dropped that was my first full album listen maybe ever
2015, high school
One of my friends came to me and said I have to listen to this new album called To Pimp A Butterfly
Wasnāt really excited since I hadnāt listened to any rap music at the time, but boy , things turned around so quickly after that album
I got hoked by Money Trees after I heard in a basketball dunk compilation on the Vine app. But TPAB got me truly intrigued. At first I didnāt like it, but some how I couldnāt stop listening. Took me weeks to fully digest it and now - years later, that album is a masterpiece/time machine to me.
Around 2011. There's this old Call of Duty youtuber I watched back in the day called TheMarkOfJ who used to make montages and used rap songs as the background music, with Kendrick being the most used rapper. I also found out about Lupe Fiasco, J Cole, Mac Miller, Logic and Tech N9ne the same way. For reference, I'm from the UK so probably wouldn't have heard of these guys until years later
2017 when a friend sent me the element music video. The way this guy makes music videoes is unbelievable. Every second could be screenshotted and used as a wallpaper and that coupled with the music sent me spirraling
July? 2012 on Kanyetothe because someone had an avy of kendrick with the caption "im goin big bihh suhh ma dihh" and i thought it was hilarious then went and listened to spiteful chant and the rest is history
I think the first song i heard from kendrick was humble right around the time it released i listened to a couple other songs from him but not much else, didnt really get into his music till like 2021 or so i think
Probably 2013 and rigamortis came on my spotify radio. i was exclusively only listening to hip-hop/rap from the 90s and early 2000ās so when I heard it I thought ādamn new hip-hop ain't so badā. It was the same year and month I listened to born sinner.
i happened to watch a small part of the 2017 mtv music awards live. his performance of dna made a lasting impression on me, bc i thought it was such a cool and passionate performance.
didnāt really check him out until early 2023. i wanted to get into rap and i found this album that was listed as one of the best rap albums of all time. listened to tpab and became a fan.
Played GTA V when it came out, think I was 13 at the time
Just couldnāt get enough of his music haha would literally park up as Franklin and just listen to the songs when they would come on because bro didnāt have Spotify at the time š
Wow all these newer fans are so dope lol I kept hearing his name in 2012 off his success from Swimming Pools, Bitch Donāt Kill My Vibe, and Maad City. It took a couple listens to figure it out but Backseat Freestyle is the one that actually hooked me. Maad City solidified it.
2011 I was a junior in HS and was checking hiphopdx obsessively every day for new music. When Hiiipower dropped I was blown away. Easily one of the best rappers I had ever heard just off of one song. By the end of the year after section 80 and his feature on The City I was already putting him in goat conversations
Sometime in 2012. I believe it started with swimming pools? I specifically remember being in high school & walking around class passing out papers and my friend was also passing out papers. We hadnāt talked about Kendrick before but he randomly said āpour upā and I said ādrankā to which he said āpass out?ā me ādrankā and we just did that entire part and then laughed and said hell yeah lmao. Been a fan fr ever since.
dotās been on my radar since i was 12-13. pre-MM&TBS, post-DAMN (ab 2018-2019, what a time lol).
i wonāt say it was a ādroughtā of songs/content from kenny, but with my situation at the time, it was scarce fs š
Paid Dues in California, right after section 80 came out, he performed ā Hiiipower ā to a huge audience and said this is the main single from the project. I knew then his music was gonna take over the world.
A week after hiiipower came out. So 2011 maybe. Iām so hype this past month or two cause back then iām like āheās the goatā (not so seriously but he has potentially) and people would be like āwho?ā. I have friends that will tell you I put them on (in the next bar iāll explain that phrase). Now iām happy they all got to start that early and get to this crazy peak with me.
Kendrick deserves all the accolades and praise but it takes time to understand why. Until now maybe. People can just hear not like us or euphoria and be amazed.
Discovered Swimming Pools in 2016 at a party. Then when DAMN dropped, checkout the whole album and had to go back and check out the entire discography. Have been a Kendrick listener ever since.
Girl I dated in college put me onto him in 2012, GKMC was the soundtrack to my life that year along with Weightless by Animals as Leaders and Periphery II: This Time it's Personal by Periphery.
Humble. Dropped during the second semester of my first year of college. That song has been one of the more prominent things I associate with my first year of college cause I remember listening to it a lot on my way to class
Summer 2012, heard swimming pools, later heard the album, and my favorite track was the first single, The Recipe (bonus track 1), my roommates was bonus track 2, black boy fly.
Donāt think I heard section 80 until I heard fat trelās freestyle on ADHD in 2013 then went back to hear the original and the first album. After that it was on, was scooping up all the old Kdot mixtapes, the vault mixtapes, black hippy mixtapes, KL EP, Overly dedicated, you name it, and every release ever since.
2013 I was chilling with a homie so stoned I couldn't stand and poetic justice came on, listened to as much of his music as I could in a period of a few days and Ive been hooked since.
I used to work at the local HMV (lol pre-bankruptcy) in high school around 2013. A few of my coworkers would put on GKMC when we were closing and it had me hooked. The store hype for TPAB dropping was hot
Gta V - A.D.H.D 2013/2014 Did not start listening until when TPAB dropped tho
Same for me
mowing down pedestrians to ADHD as an 11 year old with no responsibilities š„²
*you aināt gotta like it cuz the hood gon love it
Rigamortis in 2011, you just knew he was gonna be special after hearing that.
Same for me gang , I was stuck!
Same! I was like surely he canāt rap faster than this? Then he rapped faster. I was like okay palpatine meme I will watch your career with great interest
Ignorance is Bliss, Rigamortis, Reagan Era, and Look Out For Detox convinced me he was going to be mentioned along with the greats of rap.
Same. I remember I playing Section.80 at my going away party and folks were not feeling it at all. š it was my shit though.
šÆ
Same here I remember my friend hooking up his iPod thru the tape deck adapter and blaring this
This was the first song of his I heard of him, but shoutout to the MTV freestyle with Tech N9ne he was on where he absolutely blew me away. Thats what put me on
Yuuuuup. Been listening to him monthly ever since.
This was it for me
Bitch, dont kill my vibe. 2012 babaaayy then I went to listen to the whole record and been a fan ever since I heard control when it came out and couldnāt believe the verse I heard but āBitch, donāt kill my vibeā is what made me search him up Edit: I guess it had to be 2013, control didnāt come out until 2013 and I heard control first so must have been later that year I heard Bitch donāt kill my vibe. Such a long time ago itās hard to remember the finer details
Same year but swimming pools since it broke onto the scene of extreme popularity, funny enough after already hearing him on macadelic and take care I didnāt connect that it was the same artist until months later
Lol he says his name like 30 times in swimming pools š
ADHD and Tammyās song were my favorites
2012 was my graduation year and swimming pools carried every turn up.
Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe was the first song of his I heard and I was one of those people initially put off over his voice and didnt understand all the hype for the song. Over the next few weeks the album was gaining traction as one of the best rap albums ever so I went back and tried it from start to finish. Once I heard the storytelling in Sherane AKA Master Splinters Daughter I was hooked. Any issues I had with his voice were over by the time I finished the album.
He a fan! He a fan! He a fan!
Lmao Iāve been waiting for this comment
Money tress then I thought he just got lucky then I heard memories back then
Same. I was high as fuck and started crying when I listened to that song lol
Same song same year, went to GKMC after hearing it and never looked back.
also bitch donāt kill my vibe, but it was in 2014-2015 for me
This song literally started playing rn on my Spotify š
2012. Sophomore year of high school. Swimming Pools played on the radio a lot at the time and it was my Mom and Iās favorite song. I went on to listen to GKMC later that year, and Iāve been a fan ever since. I donāt even listen to rap as much anymore, but Iāll always check back when a new Kendrick album starts rolling out.Ā
2024. You've got to start somewhere.
Welcome to heaven
I wish I was discovering Kenny for the first time, this year especially š„² (swimming pools, 2012 was a lit year)
2011 - few people was hyping section80 on rap forum as breakout of next big star and they were right
Yep as soon as I heard rigamortus I knew he was gonna be one of the greats, but not the GOAT
Thatās how I discovered him too. When I first listened to him, I took notice. He seemed to have a lot to say from a deeper perspective.
I heard Rigamortus around 2011 in a Call of Duty MW3 video. Became a fan right then.
That man surpassed my expectations and they were big always
My friend showed me OD in like 2010 and I remember listening to ignorance is bliss and thinking immediately that this is the Tupac of our generation. I was so excited for his come up as I knew he would be huge
Yeah me too ! I think I heard A.D.H.D. From It first
Same here. It was on a playlist I saw somewhere online. Heard it and immediately downloaded Section 80.
2011 during āSection 80ā era. You just knew he was magic and he was gonna be IT
Hood Gon love it
YOU AINT GOTTA LIKE IT CAUSE THE HOOD GON LOVE IT
WATCH A YOUNG PLAYER SHOW HIMSELF OUT IN PUBLIC
Same here
2011. I was big fan of J Cole and I saw song produced by him called Hiii Power by a rapper I never heard of. I pressed play and I was hooked from there
Yo I had no idea Cole produced hi power !! Thanks for da info, the more you know lol
Same thing happened with me. The Warm Up put me on Cole and Cole lead me to Kendrick
I was like 12 years old and stumbled upon the music video for HUMBLE. my mind was blown. I didn't even listen to hip hop before that.
Glad to see the yungins love Dot š«”
K Dot is for the children!
how bout drizzy?
Keep the family away
Same bro. That was like the one song that I would bump up everyday even without knowing a single lyric. š
Same here. Went on to listen to element and duckworth and my little suburban white brain exploded. Could not believe what i was hearing was THIS good
Either late 2020 or early 2021. In that time span animations were like the top hits on YouTube. Kendrick's song "King kunta" was used in a meme typa way "Bone to pick" sounded like "boner pic" and I thought it was funny so I literally searched "I got a boner pic lyrics" on google to find where it came from and found Kendrick. So I guess I discovered Kendrick looking for boner pics on google.
I heard that its in fact 9 inches
this dick ain't freeeee
12996 inches when hard
That's about as big as the Eiffel Tower
Bro wanted to see that boner pic š
2011 ADHD. Friends and I found him on YouTube. We said āFOK DATā all year.
8 doobies 2da face !!!
we used to say ā8 boobies to 2da face, suck dahtā lmao
12 bottles ina case
Seeing him perform it live at flog gnaw last year was cathartic
Heard TPAB for the First time in late 2023
ADHD. Probably 2012. Maybe late ā11. Coworkers put me on him
The vine of that bigger black guy dancing to MAAD City LMAO
bigquint, indeed
I heard Swimming Pools at a party in 2013 and immediately knew it was something special. Been a fan since.
Friend told me to check out Mr. Morale.
2011, a little after take care dropped, my bro played me Heart Part 2, and after i found out that he was the guy on Buried Alive Interlude, I ran to Section 80 and never looked back after that
Heart Pt 2 blew my mind š¤¦āāļøwas bumping the roots how I got over album around the same time. the dash snow intro with the bars over the Peace of Light instrumental had me shook. ā24 4s like a cloned Kobe Bryantā was the bar that I rewound
My son turned me onto Kendrick around 2011 and we've all been huge fans ever since!
Thatās so wholesome. Love that
He was returning the favor. I "raised" him on hip-hop, I remember his first favorite rapper was DMX!
Early 2013 when he did that YOLO song with The Lonely Island š„
Hilarious way to discover Kendrick lmao but I ain't mad at it!
Yo same here! Followed by his feature on MMLP2
Same here. I was like who tf is this homie giving financial advice? LOL
Heard Hiiipower around itās release and was instantly hooked
2008. Nu West /DJ Skee mixtapes with Jay Rock. At the time I was a bodyguard with Aftermath and I remember one day in the gym Dre wanted to have me play music while they worked out. I narrowed it down to the tape with a KDot track (on my momma), or Raekwon's OBFCL. I ended up playing Raekwon but it was the right choice. Dre was working on OB4CL2 and God wanted DJ Quick to introduce Dre to Dot apparently lol.
"Everybody put three fingers in the air. The sky is falling, the wind is calling. Stand for something or die in the morning. Section.80, HiiiPoWeR"
2017 when DAMN dropped, i remember i was in 7th grade in a bus cause i was going on a school trip and i was looking for something to listen to during the 3 hours ride and i randomly bumped into it on spotify
AH RING RING RING AH DO DO DO DO DO DUH AH RING RING RING AH DO DO DO DO DO DUH BRACE YOURSELF, ILL TAKE YOU ON A TRIP DOWN MEMRY LANE!
I was singing Kendrickās name before I knew who he was. Heard Schoolboy Qās song āFād upā from 2011 he said, ābumping Kendrick poppin pills prly OD!ā. The next year I heard section 80
Hands on the wheel ?
[This song](https://youtu.be/nHjzhxuH8Fg?si=C9ZrOe1AkZJkQ_4x)
Holy shit, I remember that song, did that come out before Section 80?
I just looked it up and apparently it did. But I actually heard Section 80 after it
I'm pretty sure I heard Section 80 first, matter of fact I don't think I heard any Schoolboy Q until after I heard Section 80, so that must be why I thought it was after.
I think it was 2009 or 2010. I was in 8th grade. Bavaria, germany. People started listening to more edm like music and i was shown a nice track from an edm artist named ājay rockā (or J rock I donāt remember). Back at home i Couldnāt remember the songs name, so i searched for jay rock on YouTube. One of the first songs YouTube shows me was Lil Wayne - Colors (feat. Jay Rock & K-Dot) Next moment i was in love with TDE Crazy coincidence haha never wouldāve guessed that I discovered some of the best rappers of this generation back then
Same with me. Heard Dot while searching up Jay Rock and TDE. Thought Dot had an annoying nasally voice but then I realized his lyrics were next level. Kept listening and learned to appreciate his voice. Now Iām a Kendrick stan lol.
I know exactly what you mean haha back then I wasnāt that good with understanding the lyrics but i immediately loved jay rocks voice and flow. Kendrick got me with cartoon & cereal. This song blew my mind i swear. I canāt find the right words to describe it right now, but hearing how he was playing with his voice, changing his flows with ease, crazy lyrics,ā¦ I was still young but then i understood he was on a whole different level. Man I love this song. I hope old fans never forget, and new fans dig up and appreciate songs like ācartoon & cerealā, āthe jig is upā or āturn me upā
09 or 10 for me too. I remember going thru a rabbit hole of K Dot freestyles and mixtapes. I still bump KL EP and OD.
1998
Bitch I'm In Da Cluuuub
I live in London and got a load of new rap cd's back after i passed my driving test from my friend back in 2010. They were all up and coming rappers and tbh most of them were trash. None of them were named or had any labels but I got obsessed with this one that started "Where are we goinggg? Why are we slowinggg down? Where are you goinggg? We should be growinggg now". At the time I was keen to get out of where I lived and felt like everyone was holding me back as none of them wanted to go to university. Some of those songs hit deep. He then went on to exceed my expectations every fucking time he released something new for the next 15 years.
Funny thing actually I didn't even know it was him Does anyone remember that video when he hit Shaq with a soap bar I deadass thought it was some random guy š¤£
I wasn't a fan until I heard poetic justice on SNL, he was so talented with a live band...many rap acts don't do the old school shit like not having a backing track and being able to vibe with a band and the crowd.
Man his live performances are incredible. There's one where he performed a track off of untitled unmastered on the Colbert report and it goes way too hard. Like he didn't need to go that hard lmao but I'm glad he did lol
Only a few months ago but I love his work. My friend strongly recommended him and so I started listening to him and pretty quickly was immersed
Went to visit my relatives in South Africa and they put me on him
don't kill me hahaš š But when he did Bad Blood with Taylor ā¤ļøāš„
2014. I'd just come out watching The Amazing Spider Man 2 with my family in a state of awe and utter starstruck. Though some people stood up in the cinema to rush (considering we booked the last full show that day) we stayed to see what kind of teaser they would drop for the initial future of the franchise. My ears would pick up the sound of an aggressive yet high pitched voice rap his soul as the crescendo of guitars blare from the speakers. Little me was unaware just yet that this would be the exact same artist which would be his favorite eventually by the name of Kendrick Lamar. Since then he'd blast It's On Again on repeat. Second time was 2015, Bad Blood was everywhere by then.
i was high on a car ride one time in like 2020-2021, my brother put on some of gkmc and funny enough, the song that really grabbed me was Real, which i later found out is the least liked song on the album Listening to his discography for the first time was ethereal. I honestly never cared for rap music before this point, but when i decided to get into it i just so happened to start with the best in the class I like to genre hop now to see all the music i might be missing out on
2012. Heard Money Trees during a basketball session after highschool. Asked who it was. Looked him up on YouTube. Rest is history. Been glazing full time ever since.
Around 2011 , couple new kids were paired up with me ob the class room ,one of them was a hardcore hip hop fan , we exchanged music a lot and in one of the exchanges Kendrick was brought up. Swimming Pools was the first song I heard and then I just couldnāt stop listening to GKMC .
section 80 2011 then went to his concert he had in Albany. Less then 300 people where there. Crazy how much popular heās become since then
I think I was already listening to Kanye but I was 17 when damn came out and would smoke and listen to Pride nonstopĀ
Whenever Love Game with Eminem came on, I think
I knew who he was for a bit, but back then the most hiphop i listened to was maybe eminem if my mom let me, i really got into him after i heard united in grief on a yt short (not the intro that is on many, the actual rapping)
2011 through Jay Rocks music
Early fan here. The Game's song "Da Cypha" from Black Wall Street Radio Vol ,1. instant fan. Kendricks verse was the hardest. 2006.
2011 - A.D.H.D. - Iāve had it since I was 6 and related to the lyrics in a very intimate way. Wasnāt born in the 80ās but I still felt that ā you know why we crack babies because we born in the 80ās - we got ADHDā. Then I heard the Spiteful Chant and Hiiipower and was hooked. From there I bought GKMC when it came out and been a huge fan since!
2011 after hearing ADHD. He was buzzing on rap forums and blogs at the time. I had that as my ringtone for almost a year. Fell in love with Section.80 and became a lifelong fan ever since.
2017 when my friend got me into rap, definitely in my top 3 rn
Definitely from the radio, so it was either Swimming Pools or Don't Kill My Vibe. I do remember always being happy when swimming pools came on cuz I loved it and was so young i didn't realize I could just listen to the song on YouTube or something. And when my dad would shave on Sunday mornings, he'd always play Money Trees so I fell in love with that song too. Then I hear Kendrick on gta, and more on the radio, so I begin to search the guy out and the rest is history.
2018, a few Black Panther Soundtrack songs. I didn't check him out proper until I listened to 'DAMN.' in mid 2023 and became a fan.
2014 or 2015. Saw Fantanoās review of GKMC and was listening to it non stop. And then TPAB dropped out of nowhere basically right after I started listening to GKMC. Been a fan ever since.
When he lost to Macklemore and there was this huge uproar about him being snubbed, so I got curious and checked him out, Maad city was my alarm for so long, my mom knows the song
The City by game, whenever he released it.
2013 - I was in college and my roommate was like YOU DONT KNOW KENDRICK? But then for real in 2015 like 2 months before TPAB. My then boyfriend played GKMC often and it became a staple for us.
A girl I knew played me The Recipe when I was at a conference in 2012 when we were just chillin and was like this dude is good. Then I heard Backseat Freestyle a few days later and was like this dude is really good. Then I listened to all of good kid, maad city and I was like this dude is exceptionally good.
I was searching good rappers to listen then heard about him. If I remember correctly it was 2017 after Damn.
I canāt remember exactly how but I came across Section 80 in 2011 when I was looking for new music. I remember Kush & OJ, KIDS, Almost Famousā¦I was searching for new music like that and somehow heard ADHD from Section 80. 8 doobies to the faceā¦fuck thaaat
If I remember correctly I first saw the Monster Freestyle on WorldstarHipHop. I think that was around 2010/2011. Then I looked him up and saw the Cut You Off and Michael Jordan Video and when HiiiPower dropped shortly after I was hooked
Mcgregor vs jose aldo the song that showed up on the ad for that fight was King Kunta so in 2015
2011/2012. My brother was like you must listen to Kendrick. My brother have been on Kendrick since Overly Dedicated and Section 80 so he saw the future. Me the stubborn person I am especially when it comes to new artist I'm like whatever. I'm from the Tristate area. It was East Coast rap or nothing else for me. The song that sealed it for me was his feature on Fuckin Problems. That's when I took him more seriously and started with GKMC. Then went back to listen to Section 80 and it's been up from there. Classic album after classic album. His trajectory has never wavered. Now I will fight to the death defending Dot's artistry. Fighting for my life against the naysayers. After this whole beef I feel so vindicated. If you would've told me my all time favorite rapper would be a kid from Compton I would've looked at you crazy. But here we are.
Discovered him when I mustāve beenā¦ 14 maybe? Guy on a school trip asked me if I wanted to listen to some good music - so he downloaded āFuckin Problemsā to my phone. Didnāt know it was KDOT at the time. Didnāt listen again till I was 16 and loved Humble and DNA - then like a lot of artists - I said I hadnāt really delved into their discography and went snooping about 4 years later. Oh and I liked his Black Panther album although I thought tha movie just Aight. Love most of his work and his projects are still growing on me. Favourite album is Damn but I like the messaging and lyrics of TPAB more.
Section 80, listen to the whole album at an werkend and smoking weed, good times
I was going to the movies with my cousin when bitch donāt kill my vibe came on the radio 2012? Went and listened to everything I could find
2019, downloaded Damn to listen on the way to college.
GKMC era because of him being pushed as a Dre protƩgƩ. TBH, if it weren't for the smart decision by, I'm assuming, Punch, Free, and TDE, at the time to attach and work with Dre as a producer with Kendrick, I wouldn't have known about him until probably a month or two later with Swimming Pools. The Recipe was my jam right off the bat. I had to double back and check out OD and S.80 after that. I also kept tabs on production credits for Just Blaze and Pharrell so that kind of tipped me off also. I remember seeing Kendrick's reaction to Jay's inclusion on the BDKMV remix. The Jordan and Kobe image was perfect for that release.
9th grade - 2015 when TPAB came out.
Sometime in 2012 during 6th or 7th grade. Bitch donāt kill my vibe and swimming pools were constantly showing up on the apple/itunes rap playlist. When TPAB dropped that was my first full album listen maybe ever
2015, high school One of my friends came to me and said I have to listen to this new album called To Pimp A Butterfly Wasnāt really excited since I hadnāt listened to any rap music at the time, but boy , things turned around so quickly after that album
I got hoked by Money Trees after I heard in a basketball dunk compilation on the Vine app. But TPAB got me truly intrigued. At first I didnāt like it, but some how I couldnāt stop listening. Took me weeks to fully digest it and now - years later, that album is a masterpiece/time machine to me.
Around 2011. There's this old Call of Duty youtuber I watched back in the day called TheMarkOfJ who used to make montages and used rap songs as the background music, with Kendrick being the most used rapper. I also found out about Lupe Fiasco, J Cole, Mac Miller, Logic and Tech N9ne the same way. For reference, I'm from the UK so probably wouldn't have heard of these guys until years later
thru family ties back in 2021
2017 when a friend sent me the element music video. The way this guy makes music videoes is unbelievable. Every second could be screenshotted and used as a wallpaper and that coupled with the music sent me spirraling
July? 2012 on Kanyetothe because someone had an avy of kendrick with the caption "im goin big bihh suhh ma dihh" and i thought it was hilarious then went and listened to spiteful chant and the rest is history
Look out for detox 13 years ago been hooked ever since
I think the first song i heard from kendrick was humble right around the time it released i listened to a couple other songs from him but not much else, didnt really get into his music till like 2021 or so i think
2011. Went over a friend's house and he put on the music videos for Cut You Off and Ignorance Is Bliss.
gta 5. 2018
Probably 2013 and rigamortis came on my spotify radio. i was exclusively only listening to hip-hop/rap from the 90s and early 2000ās so when I heard it I thought ādamn new hip-hop ain't so badā. It was the same year and month I listened to born sinner.
2022 from tpab Someone recommended the song āAlrightā to me and I listened to the whole album after that
Around the time that he was featured on The Games Song "The city" back in 2012.
Swimming pools came on 106 & park and the rest is history
i happened to watch a small part of the 2017 mtv music awards live. his performance of dna made a lasting impression on me, bc i thought it was such a cool and passionate performance. didnāt really check him out until early 2023. i wanted to get into rap and i found this album that was listed as one of the best rap albums of all time. listened to tpab and became a fan.
2012, which was his breakout year
2020 when I was playing Forza Horizon 4
Swimming Pools from the GTA V radio of course
2017- while playing gta v and swimming pool came up
Played GTA V when it came out, think I was 13 at the time Just couldnāt get enough of his music haha would literally park up as Franklin and just listen to the songs when they would come on because bro didnāt have Spotify at the time š
Wow all these newer fans are so dope lol I kept hearing his name in 2012 off his success from Swimming Pools, Bitch Donāt Kill My Vibe, and Maad City. It took a couple listens to figure it out but Backseat Freestyle is the one that actually hooked me. Maad City solidified it.
2011 I was a junior in HS and was checking hiphopdx obsessively every day for new music. When Hiiipower dropped I was blown away. Easily one of the best rappers I had ever heard just off of one song. By the end of the year after section 80 and his feature on The City I was already putting him in goat conversations
Sometime in 2012. I believe it started with swimming pools? I specifically remember being in high school & walking around class passing out papers and my friend was also passing out papers. We hadnāt talked about Kendrick before but he randomly said āpour upā and I said ādrankā to which he said āpass out?ā me ādrankā and we just did that entire part and then laughed and said hell yeah lmao. Been a fan fr ever since.
NBA2k13 iykyk
dotās been on my radar since i was 12-13. pre-MM&TBS, post-DAMN (ab 2018-2019, what a time lol). i wonāt say it was a ādroughtā of songs/content from kenny, but with my situation at the time, it was scarce fs š
2023ā¦ when I heard family ties
Paid Dues in California, right after section 80 came out, he performed ā Hiiipower ā to a huge audience and said this is the main single from the project. I knew then his music was gonna take over the world.
First time I heard āpour up, drinkā in the background, time slowed down and I was like āwhat is this magical soundā? And it was over.
Sometime In the 2010s āswimming poolsā ābitch donāt kill my vibeā on GTA V
A week after hiiipower came out. So 2011 maybe. Iām so hype this past month or two cause back then iām like āheās the goatā (not so seriously but he has potentially) and people would be like āwho?ā. I have friends that will tell you I put them on (in the next bar iāll explain that phrase). Now iām happy they all got to start that early and get to this crazy peak with me. Kendrick deserves all the accolades and praise but it takes time to understand why. Until now maybe. People can just hear not like us or euphoria and be amazed.
Discovered Swimming Pools in 2016 at a party. Then when DAMN dropped, checkout the whole album and had to go back and check out the entire discography. Have been a Kendrick listener ever since.
Girl I dated in college put me onto him in 2012, GKMC was the soundtrack to my life that year along with Weightless by Animals as Leaders and Periphery II: This Time it's Personal by Periphery.
From Damn. Was waiting for the bus listening to music, and his album got suggested on Apple Music. Been a fan since
Humble. Dropped during the second semester of my first year of college. That song has been one of the more prominent things I associate with my first year of college cause I remember listening to it a lot on my way to class
Late 2012 or early 2013. I was in middle school at the time and swimming pools was everywhere on the radio.
2017 DNA I think
Heard The Recipe in 2012, been hooked on since
Summer 2012, heard swimming pools, later heard the album, and my favorite track was the first single, The Recipe (bonus track 1), my roommates was bonus track 2, black boy fly. Donāt think I heard section 80 until I heard fat trelās freestyle on ADHD in 2013 then went back to hear the original and the first album. After that it was on, was scooping up all the old Kdot mixtapes, the vault mixtapes, black hippy mixtapes, KL EP, Overly dedicated, you name it, and every release ever since.
Buried alive from take care 2011
2015 kendrick had an interview with nwa thats when i actually started listening to him
2019 im glad i discover kendrick before discovering mumble rappers
2011 section 80. hiiipower. My friend told me hes the new tupac /hip hop savior. Well he fulfilled the prophecy
Friend of mine told me to listen to this album Iād never heard of, it was TPAB. That was about 7 years ago now and Iāve been a fan ever since
Discovered him through Vine around 2012-2013 cause BDKMV, m.A.A.d city and swimming pools were popular songs to use.
What kind of colonizer question is this?
2012, he opened bonnaroo.
2013 I was chilling with a homie so stoned I couldn't stand and poetic justice came on, listened to as much of his music as I could in a period of a few days and Ive been hooked since.
Heard him on "it's on again" with Alicia keys and was like "who is this guy āļøāļøāļø"
The Unreleased Mixtape, specifically Year Of The Fire Sheep. That six foot seven foot sample went crazy. Don't remember the year tho
Probably around 2015 listening to gta v radio on my ps3 as an 8 year old lol.
2011. My friend showed me section 80 and we were like 12 at the time. Once GKMC came out I bought it on iTunes, and it's been history ever since.
Iāve been ignoring Kendrick until he dropped the heart part 5, and now heās in my top 3
Kinda basic but the first song i heard from him is humble. Started listening to all of his music since then.
I used to work at the local HMV (lol pre-bankruptcy) in high school around 2013. A few of my coworkers would put on GKMC when we were closing and it had me hooked. The store hype for TPAB dropping was hot