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Kendrick Lamar has had no shortage of praise over the years. He’s had multiple albums end up on best of the year/decade/century lists, and even won a Pulitzer Prize — the first rapper to do so.
That love and acclaim has also extended to the Recording Academy, which has awarded Lamar a stunning 57 career GRAMMY nominations. He has taken home 22 golden gramophones thus far. The Compton rapper garnered another handful of noms at the 2025 GRAMMYs, most of them for his year-defining Drake diss “Not Like Us,” including Record and Song Of The Year.
Read more: 2025 GRAMMYs: See The OFFICIAL Full Winners & Nominations List
At Music’s Biggest Night on Feb. 2, Lamar swept all of his categories, including the coveted and highly competitive Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. Following his historic night, look back at Kendrick Lamar’s history with the GRAMMY Awards. Revisit the highs, the lows, the major awards never won — and, yes, even the apologies.
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2014 — 56th GRAMMY Awards
Nominations: Best New Artist, Best Rap Album (good kid, m.A.A.d city), Album Of The Year (good kid, m.A.A.d city), Best Rap Performance (“Swimming Pools (Drank)”), Best Rap Song (“F—kin’ Problems” with A$AP Rocky, Drake, and 2 Chainz), Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (“Now or Never” with Mary J. Blige), Best R&B Performance (“How Many Drinks?” with Miguel).
Radioactive”/”m.A.A.D. city” with Imagine Dragons
Kendrick Lamar had been bubbling in the rap underground for years, but it wasn’t until the release of good kid, m.A.A.d city in October 2012 that he exploded into mainstream consciousness.
The album was hailed near-universally as the best of the year and established Lamar as a top-tier star, so his seven nominations didn’t come as any surprise. He was a big enough deal that he merited nearly six minutes of stage time alongside Imagine Dragons on the GRAMMY stage. While their duet was an intense performance, it proved nowhere near as arresting or intense as what was to come in later years.
But today, almost none of that is remembered. What is remembered isn’t something that happened during the ceremony, but what happened afterwards.
Lamar lost every award for which he was nominated, even Best Rap Album. The winner of that award, Macklemore, was as shocked as anyone. The day after the ceremony, he made public a text he sent to Kendrick after the show. It began, “You got robbed. I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you.”
Making the message public sparked endless stories and debate. Drake, interestingly, was against Macklemore’s move at the time.
2015 — 57th GRAMMY Awards
Wins: Best Rap Song (“i“), Best Rap Performance (“i“)
Kendrick won two golden gramophones in his second time out, but he wasn’t around to accept them. Neither he nor any other members of his Top Dawg Entertainment crew (which included another GRAMMY nominee, ScHoolboy Q) showed up. No one involved ever called it a boycott, but their absence was certainly noticed by the press.
That said, at least one big star was happy to see Lamar’s victories — Taylor Swift wrote on Twitter that seeing the wins brought her to tears.
2016 — 58th GRAMMY Awards
Wins: Best Rap Performance (“Alright”), Best Rap Song (“Alright”), Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (“These Walls” with Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat), Best Music Video (“Bad Blood” with Taylor Swift), Best Rap Album (To Pimp a Butterfly)
Nominations: Song Of The Year (“Alright”), Best Music Video (“Alright”), Best Rap Song (“All Day” by Kanye West [as songwriter]), Best Dance Recording (“Never Catch Me” with Flying Lotus), Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“Bad Blood” with Taylor Swift), Album Of The Year (To Pimp a Butterfly)
“The Blacker the Berry”/”Alright”/”Untitled 5”
If good kid, m.A.A.d city was a storm, To Pimp a Butterfly was a tsunami. Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album was a critical and cultural phenomenon, and a political one as well, as Black Lives Matter protests across the country began using the record’s “Alright” as an anthem.
Read more: ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’: Kendrick Lamar shares history
GRAMMY voters, and the Academy, were certainly aware of all of this. In many ways, “Alright” ruled the night. Lamar teamed with the Academy to make a short film shown at the ceremony that celebrated the rapper’s hometown of Compton. And Kendrick had an absolutely show stopping performance that included “Alright” alongside album cut “The Blacker the Berry” and an at-the-time unreleased song from the TPAB sessions that would later see life as “Untitled 5” on 2016’s untitled unmastered.
Read more: The Making Of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly
This time, Kendrick won Best Rap Album. However, he lost Album Of The Year to his pal Taylor’s 1989.
2017 — 59th GRAMMY Awards
Nominations: Album Of The Year (Lemonade by Beyoncé [as featured artist]), Best Rap/Sung Performance (“Freedom” with Beyoncé)
It appears Kendrick didn’t show up to this year’s edition either, as no photos of him exist that we could find. However, he did send a congratulatory text message to Chance the Rapper after the Chicago rapper won three golden gramophones.
2018 — 60th GRAMMY Awards
Wins: Best Rap Album (Damn), Best Rap Performance (“Humble”), Best Rap Song (“Humble”), Best Music Video (“Humble”), Best Rap/Sung Performance (“Loyalty” with Rihanna)
Nominations: Album Of The Year (Damn), Record Of The Year (“Humble”)
“XXX”/”DNA”/”New Freezer”/”King’s Dead” with U2 and Dave Chappelle
Drake’s now-infamous “Kendrick just opened his mouth, someone go hand him a GRAMMY right now” line may have had its genesis in 2018. This year, it became clear that Lamar’s third album would be met, just like his first two, with an onslaught of GRAMMY nominations.
Not only that, but his performance with U2 and Dave Chappelle opened the show. The songs, a mix of material from Damn and the just-about-to-be-released Black Panther soundtrack, kicked things off in an incredibly powerful way.
“It looks like he’s singing and dancing,” Chappelle said, rightfully, mid-performance. “But this brother’s taking enormous chances.”
Read more: GRAMMY Rewind: Watch Kendrick Lamar Accept Best Rap Album For ‘DAMN.’ At The 2018 GRAMMY Awards
The chances were rewarded. Kendrick won multiple GRAMMY Awards for the project, though he did lose Album and Record Of The Year to Bruno Mars. Just a few months after the GRAMMYs, Damn won a Pulitzer Prize.
2019 — 61st GRAMMY Awards
Wins: Best Rap Performance (“King’s Dead” with Jay Rock, Future, and James Blake)
Nominations: Album Of The Year (Black Panther: The Album), Record of the Year (“All of the Stars” with SZA), Song Of The Year (“All of the Stars” with SZA), Best Rap/Sung Performance (“All of the Stars” with SZA), Best Song Written for Visual Media (“All of the Stars” with SZA), Best Rap Song (“King’s Dead” with Jay Rock, Future, and James Blake), Best Rap Song (“Win” with Jay Rock)
Kendrick was the most-nominated artist at the 2021 GRAMMYs, with eight nods (including two in one category). Yet he ended the night with a single win for his contribution to the Black Panther soundtrack.
Lamar, along with Drake and Childish Gambino, turned down the chance to perform at the ceremony. Although none of the artists commented publicly about their decisions, some observers tied it to the lack of wins for hip-hop in major categories like Album Of The Year.
2022 — 64th GRAMMY Awards
Wins: Best Rap Performance (“Family Ties” with Baby Keem)
Nominations: Best Rap Song (“Family Ties” with Baby Keem)
After a few years without new music — and thus without GRAMMY nominations — Lamar returned to Music’s Biggest Night in 2022. He brought someone with him this time: his cousin, rapper Baby Keem.
Their duet “Family Ties” was Lamar’s first new release in several years, and was duly rewarded with two GRAMMY nominations and one win.
Watch: Baby Keem Wins Best Rap Performance | 2022 GRAMMYs
2023 — 65th GRAMMY Awards
Wins: Best Rap Album (Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers), Best Rap Performance (“The Heart Part 5”), Best Rap Song (“The Heart Part 5”)
Nominations: Album Of The Year (Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers), Record of the Year (“The Heart Part 5”), Song Of The Year (“The Heart Part 5”), Best Music Video (“The Heart Part 5”), Best Melodic Rap Performance (“Die Hard” with Blxst and Amanda Reifer)
With a long-awaited new album eligible, Kendrick again garnered eight nominations — the second-most of the night behind Beyoncé. Winning Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers seemed to mean a great deal to him, as he spoke of the “courage and vulnerability” it took to “share my truth” in his acceptance speech.
Read more: How Kendrick Lamar’s 2023 GRAMMYs Wins Bolstered His GRAMMYs Legacy
“We say things to provoke thoughts and feelings and emotions,” he continued on the GRAMMY stage. “This was one of my toughest records to make… I finally found imperfection with this album.”
2024 — 66th GRAMMY Awards
Nominations: Best Rap Performance (“The Hillbillies” with Baby Keem), Best Music Video (“Count Me Out”), Best Music Film (Live from Paris, The Big Steppers Tour)
In a year spent largely touring Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, Kendrick still managed three nominations, though no wins. Appropriately, one of the noms was for a concert film of the aforementioned tour, and another was for a music video for a track from the album. The third was for the fun loosie “The Hillbillies,” a duet with Baby Keem — who, it should be noted, was an opening act on the Big Steppers Tour.
2025 — 67th GRAMMY Awards
Nominations: Record of the Year (“Not Like Us”), Song Of The Year (“Not Like Us”), Best Rap Performance (“Not Like Us”), Best Rap Performance (“Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin), Best Rap Song (“Not Like Us”), Best Rap Song (“Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin), Best Music Video (“Not Like Us”)
Wins: Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Music Video, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year
This year, rap beef led to awards season success. “Like That,” which turned the Kendrick Lamar/Drake war from cold to hot, merited two nominations, while the beef-ending cultural behemoth “Not Like Us” ended up with five, including both Record and Song Of The Year — a measure of the song’s absolutely meteoric impact. After winning Best Rap Song and Performance and Best Music Video earlier in the night, Lamar triumphed on the GRAMMY stage. During his acceptance speech for Record Of The Year, Lamar dedicated his win to Los Angeles.
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“We gon’ dedicate this one to the city,” he said, shouting out his hometown of Compton, along with Watts, Long Beach, Inglewood, and several other locales. “I can’t give enough thanks to these places that I rolled around since high school, and most importantly the people and the families out in Palisades and Altadena. This is a true testament that we will continue to restore this city.”
Lamar and producer Mustard quickly returned to stage to nab a golden gramophone for Song Of The Year. “This is what it’s about man, because at the end of the day, nothing is more powerful than rap music,” Lamar said. “We are the culture, it’s gonna always stay here and live forever.”
Kendrick Lamar again went into Music’s Biggest Night with the second-most nominations of anyone (once again, behind Beyoncé). At the 67th GRAMMY Awards, he’s tied for second-most nominations with Billie Eilish, Post Malone, and Charli XCX.
Learn more: Who Discovered Kendrick Lamar? 9 Questions About The ‘GNX’ Rapper Answered
