Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born on June 17, 1987, in Compton, California.^[1] He is the first child of Kenneth "Kenny" Duckworth, a former gang hustler who previously worked at KFC,^[2] and Paula Oliver, a hairdresser who previously worked at McDonald's.^[2] Both of his parents are African Americans from the South Side of Chicago.^[2]When they were teenagers, they relocated to Compton in 1984, due to his father's affiliation with the Gangster Disciples.^[3] Lamar was named after singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations.^[4] He was an only child until the age of seven and was described as a loner by his mother.^[2][5] Eventually, his parents had his two younger brothers and younger sister, businesswoman Kayla Sawyer (née Duckworth).^[6]His cousins include basketball player Nick Youngand rapper Baby Keem.^[7][8]

Lamar and his family lived in Section 8 housing, were reliant on welfare and food stamps, and experienced homelessness.^[9][10] Although he is not a member of a particular gang, he grew up with close affiliates of the Westside Pirus.^[3]Despite suffering hardships, Lamar remembered having "good memories" of his childhood that sparked his interest in hip hop music, such as sneaking into his parents' house parties.^[2][11] He was raised secular, although he occasionally attended church services and was taught the Bible by his grandmother.^[12] He felt "spiritually unsatisfied" as a child due to the "empty" and "one-sided" nature of the sermons.^[13]

After hearing a recording of his voice for the first time, Lamar became interested in rapping.^[14] He was introduced to police brutality after experiencing the first day of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.^[2] When he was five years old, he witnessed a murder for the first time while sitting outside of his apartment unit, as a teenage drug dealer was killed in a drive-by shooting.^[2] "It done [sic] something to me right then and there," Lamar later admitted to NPR Music. "It let me know that this is not only something that I'm looking at, but it's something that maybe I have to get used to."^[15] His parents nicknamed him "Man-Man" due to his precocious behavior, although he confessed it "put a stigma on the idea of me reacting as a kid sometimes—I would hurt myself and they would expect me not to cry."^[16]

In school, Lamar was a quiet and observant student who excelled academically and had a noticeable stutter.^[17] His first grade teacher at Robert E. McNair Elementary School encouraged him to become a writer after she heard him correctly use the word “audacity".^[18] As a seventh grade student at Vanguard Learning Center, Lamar was introduced to poetry by his English teacher, Regis Inge.^[19] Inge integrated the literary form into his curriculum as a response to the growing racial tensions amongst his students.^[19] Through its connection to hip hop, Lamar studied rhymes, metaphors and double entendres, which made him fall in love with songwriting: "You can put all your feelings down on a sheet of paper, and they'd make sense to you. I liked that."^[2][19] Instead of completing assignments for other classes, Lamar would scribe lyrics in his notebooks.^[19] His initial writing was entirely profane, but it helped him manage his psychological trauma and depression, which he struggled with during his adolescence.^[19][20] Inge played a vital role in his intellectual growth, often critiquing his lexicon and suggesting prompts to strengthen his prose.^[19]

Lamar later attended Centennial High School.^[21]He was enrolled in summer school during the tenth grade, which he dreaded because it forced him to be embroiled in a gang war.^[21] Despite his efforts to avoid them, Lamar soon became heavily involved with Compton's hedonistic gang culture, which led to numerous health scares and encounters with the police.^[2] He distanced himself from the lifestyle following an intervention staged by his father.^[5] When he was 16, he was baptized and converted to Christianity following the death of a friend.^[22][23] Lamar entered a lasting romantic relationship with his high school sweetheart, Whitney Alford.^[24] His sexual addiction and repeated infidelity caused numerous difficulties within their on-and-off relationship.^[25] Lamar graduated from Centennial High School in 2005 as a straight-Astudent.^[26][27] He flirted with the idea of studying psychology and astronomy in college, but suspended his academic pursuits to focus on his music career.^[2][28]

During high school, Lamar adopted the stage name K.Dot and began freestyling and battle rapping at school.^[1] His performances caught the attention of fellow student Dave Free, who traveled from Inglewood to watch him rap.^[1] They quickly formed a friendship over their love of hip hop and the television sitcom Martin.^[1] They recorded music together at Free's makeshift garage studio and at his older brother's Hyde Parkapartment.^[1] Lamar's earliest performances were held at a "super hood" comedy club and behind a tattoo parlor.^[1] Free was his hype man during that time, while his older brother was his manager and disc jockey.^[1] Lamar recorded five mixtapesthroughout the 2000s; his first, Youngest Head Nigga in Charge (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year), was released on April 15, 2003, through Konkrete Jungle Musik.^[29] The mixtapes primarily consisted of freestyles over the production of popular hip hop songs.^[29]

In a series of retrospective reviews for Rolling Stone, Mosi Reeves complimented Lamar's "unerring" sense of rhythm and timing found in Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year, but criticized his "clumsy" lyricism and that his flow was "overly beholden to ... Jay-Z and Lil Wayne".^[29] Free, who was working as a computer technician, introduced the mixtape to record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith while attempting to repair his computer.^[30] Tiffith was impressed with Lamar's burgeoning abilities and invited him to partake in an audition process for entry into his newly established independent record label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE).^[30] During his audition, Lamar freestyled for Tiffith and record executive Terrence "Punch" Henderson for two hours, a strategy that impressed Henderson but bewildered Tiffith.^[5][31] He was offered a recording contract by TDE in 2005, joining Jay Rock as the label's first signings.^[5] Upon signing, he purchased a minority stake in the label for an undisclosed amount.^[31]

Lamar had a brief stint as a security guard when he started working on music with Jay Rock at TDE's in-house recording studio.^[32][27] The bond he formed with him, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q led to the formation of the hip hop supergroup, Black Hippy.^[33] Lamar released his second mixtape, Training Day, on December 30, 2005.^[29] Reeves complimented its varied production and "well-executed" concept, which was based on the 2001 film of the same name.^[29] In 2006, Lamar signed an artist development deal with Def Jam Recordings and was featured on two singles by the Game. He also heavily contributed to Jay Rock's first two mixtapes, Watts Finest Vol. 1 and Watts Finest Vol. 2: The Nickerson Files.^[16][34]Lamar was ultimately let go from Def Jam after an encounter with its president and chief executive officer, Jay-Z; he later described it as "one of those situations where I wasn’t ready."^[35][36]Lamar and Jay Rock released a collaborative mixtape, title No Sleep 'til NYC, on December 24, 2007.^[29] Reeves declared the project as a "fun cypher session, nothing more, nothing less."^[29]

Lamar's third mixtape C4, released on January 30, 2009, is a tribute project to Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III (2008) and was supported by his co-sign.^[37] Reeves felt that the mixtape was a "wrongheaded homage to a year-old, well-worn album."^[29] From February to July, he toured with the Game on his LAX Tour as a hype man for Jay Rock.^[38][39] Lamar disliked how his stage name diverted attention away from his true identity, and decided to retire it.^[40] He opted to use his first and middle names professionally and regards the name change as part of his career growth."^[41] For his eponymous debut extended play (2009),^[42]Lamar eschewed the creative process of his mixtapes in favor of a project heavily focused on his songwriting over "lovely yet doleful" production.^[29] Reeves described the EP as the "first standout project" of his career, praising its melancholic tone.^[29] He felt that the project restored his reputation following the sting of criticism he received over C4.^[29]

After striking a music publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music,^[43] Lamar released his fourth mixtape, Overly Dedicated, on September 14, 2010. It was his first project to be purchased through digital retailers.^[44] Reeves described Overly Dedicated as a partial "victory lap" that marked a shift in his songwriting.^[29] The mixtape peaked at number 72 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.^[45] Lamar served as Jay Rock's hype man for a second time during Tech N9ne's Independent Grind Tour, where Overly Dedicated was introduced to Dr. Dre.^[46][47] After watching the music video for the song "Ignorance Is Bliss" on YouTube, he reached out to Lamar with hopes of working with him and Snoop Doggon his unfinished album, Detox.^[46][48] He also considered signing him to his record label, Aftermath Entertainment, and was encouraged to by artists such as J. Cole.^[49][50]