For his "Rich Spirit" / "N95" medley on SNL, Kendrick Lamar performed with minimal visual accompaniment, perfectly geared for the raw intimacy of his newest material. Will Heath/NBC hide caption
Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music
Kendrick Lamar
Pusha T's It's Almost Dry is one of NPR Music's top 20 hip-hop albums of 2022. Photo Illustration: Jackie Lay/NPR/Derek White/Getty Images for The Recording Academy hide caption
"New Beyoncé is literally good for everybody in the world," Maggie Rogers says of Renaissance, which shares a release date with her own Surrender. "I'm so excited for this record." Olivia Bee/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
NPR Music's best music of May includes (from top left, clockwise) Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Julia Reidy, Ravyn Lenae and Ethel Cain. Courtesy of the artists hide caption
Kendrick Lamar performs in March 2019 during the third day of Lollapalooza Buenos Airesat Hipodromo de San Isidro. Santiago Bluguermann/Getty Images hide caption
Kendrick Lamar's new song 'Auntie Diaries' divides the LGBTQ+ community
Kendrick Lamar returns with his latest album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is the first album from Kendrick Lamar since DAMN., the 2017 release that made him the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize. Renell Medrano/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Kendrick Lamar Renell Medrano/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers tops this week's shortlist for the best albums out on May 13. Renell Medrano/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The hip-hop visionary and Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper is back. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for American Express hide caption
Halftime show performers Eminem, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige and Snoop Dogg at the Super Bowl 56. Steph Chambers/Getty Images hide caption
Whether you're a tote bag or Telfie babe, the spirit of roséwave lives in us all. Kara Frame/NPR hide caption
Lil Baby performs during a Juneteenth voter registration rally on June 19, 2020 at Murphy Park Fairgrounds in Atlanta, Ga. One week earlier, he released "The Bigger Picture," a song protesting police brutality. Paras Griffin/Getty Images hide caption
Music speaks truth to anger and frustration, but also provides a sense of hope and beauty. Rashida Chavis for NPR hide caption
Kendrick Lamar in 2013. "Money Trees," from Lamar's 2012 album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, is a song "that consumes the oxygen and alters the ultra-violet," writes Jeff Weiss. Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images hide caption