title: Hawaii

text: Independent schools can select their students, while most public schools of HIDOE are open to all students in their attendance zones. The Kamehameha Schools are the only schools in the U.S. that openly grant admission to students based on ancestry; collectively, they are one of the wealthiest schools in the United States, if not the world, having over eleven billion US dollars in estate assets. In 2005, Kamehameha enrolled 5,398 students, 8.4% of the Native Hawaiian children in the state.


title: Hawaii

text: The largest institution of higher learning in Hawaii is the University of Hawaii System, which consists of the research university at Mānoa, two comprehensive campuses at Hilo and West Oahu, and seven community colleges. Private universities include Brigham Young University–Hawaii, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Hawaii Pacific University, and Wayland Baptist University. Saint Stephen Diocesan Center is a seminary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu. Kona hosts the University of the Nations, which is not an accredited university.


title: Hawaii

text: A system of state highways encircles each main island. Only Oahu has federal highways, and is the only area outside the contiguous 48 states to have signed Interstate highways. Narrow, winding roads and congestion in populated places can slow traffic. Each major island has a public bus system.


title: Hawaii

text: Honolulu International Airport (IATA:HNL), which shares runways with the adjacent Hickam Field (IATA:HIK), is the major commercial aviation hub of Hawaii. The commercial aviation airport offers intercontinental service to North America, Asia, Australia and Oceania. Hawaiian Airlines and Mokulele Airlines use jets to provide services between the large airports in Honolulu, Līhue, Kahului, Kona and Hilo. These airlines also provide air freight services between the islands. On May 30, 2017, the airport was officially renamed as the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), after U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye.


title: Hawaii

text: Until air passenger services began in the 1920s, private boats were the sole means of traveling between the islands. Seaflite operated hydrofoils between the major islands in the mid-1970s.


title: Hawaii

text: The Hawaii Superferry operated between Oahu and Maui between December 2007 and March 2009, with additional routes planned for other islands. Protests and legal problems over environmental impact statements ended the service, though the company operating Superferry has expressed a wish to recommence ferry services in the future. Currently there is a passenger ferry service in Maui County between Lanai and Maui, which does not take vehicles; a passenger ferry to Molokai ended in 2016. Currently Norwegian Cruise Lines and Princess Cruises provide passenger cruise ship services between the larger islands.


title: Hawaii

text: At one time Hawaii had a network of railroads on each of the larger islands that transported farm commodities and passengers. Most were narrow gauge systems but there were some gauge on some of the smaller islands. The standard gauge in the U.S. is . By far the largest railroad was the Oahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L) that ran lines from Honolulu across the western and northern part of Oahu.


title: Hawaii

text: The OR&L was important for moving troops and goods during World War II. Traffic on this line was busy enough for signals to be used to facilitate movement of trains and to require wigwag signals at some railroad crossings for the protection of motorists. The main line was officially abandoned in 1947, although part of it was bought by the U.S. Navy and operated until 1970. of track remain; preservationists occasionally run trains over a portion of this line. The Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project aims to add elevated passenger rail on Oahu to relieve highway congestion.


title: Hawaii

text: The movement of the Hawaiian royal family from Hawaii Island to Maui, and subsequently to Oahu, explains the modern-day distribution of population centers. Kamehameha III chose the largest city, Honolulu, as his capital because of its natural harbor—the present-day Honolulu Harbor. Now the state capital, Honolulu is located along the southeast coast of Oahu. The previous capital was Lahaina, Maui, and before that Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Some major towns are Hilo; Kaneohe; Kailua; Pearl City; Waipahu; Kahului; Kailua-Kona. Kīhei; and Līhue.


title: Hawaii

text: Hawaii has five counties: the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii County, Maui County, Kauai County, and Kalawao County.


title: Hawaii

text: Hawaii has the fewest local governments among U.S. states. Unique to this state is the lack of municipal governments. All local governments are generally administered at the county level. The only incorporated area in the state is Honolulu County, a consolidated city–county that governs the entire island of Oahu. County executives are referred to as mayors; these are the Mayor of Hawaii County, Mayor of Honolulu, Mayor of Kauai, and the Mayor of Maui. The mayors are all elected in nonpartisan elections. Kalawao County has no elected government, and as mentioned above there are no local school districts; instead, all local public education is administered at the state level by the Hawaii Department of Education. The remaining local governments are special districts.


title: Hawaii

text: The state government of Hawaii is modeled after the federal government with adaptations originating from the kingdom era of Hawaiian history. As codified in the Constitution of Hawaii, there are three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch is led by the Governor of Hawaii, who is assisted by the Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, both of whom are elected on the same ticket. The governor is the only state public official elected statewide; all others are appointed by the governor. The lieutenant governor acts as the Secretary of State. The governor and lieutenant governor oversee twenty agencies and departments from offices in the State Capitol. The official residence of the governor is Washington Place.


title: Hawaii

text: The legislative branch consists of the bicameral Hawaii State Legislature, which is composed of the 51-member Hawaii House of Representatives led by the Speaker of the House, and the 25-member Hawaii Senate led by the President of the Senate. The Legislature meets at the State Capitol. The unified judicial branch of Hawaii is the Hawaii State Judiciary. The state's highest court is the Supreme Court of Hawaii, which uses Aliiōlani Hale as its chambers.


title: Hawaii

text: Hawaii is represented in the United States Congress by two senators and two representatives. , all four seats are held by Democrats. Former representative Ed Case was elected in 2018 to the 1st congressional district. Kai Kahele represents the 2nd congressional district, representing the rest of the state, which is largely rural and semi-rural.


title: Hawaii

text: Brian Schatz is the senior United States senator from Hawaii. He was appointed to the office on December 26, 2012, by Governor Neil Abercrombie, following the death of former senator Daniel Inouye. The state's junior senator is Mazie Hirono, the former representative from the second congressional district. Hirono is the first female Asian American senator and the first Buddhist senator. Hawaii incurred the biggest seniority shift between the 112th and 113th Congresses. The state went from a delegation consisting of senators who were first and twenty-first in seniority to their respective replacements, relative newcomers Schatz and Hirono.


title: Hawaii

text: Federal officials in Hawaii are based at the Prince Kūhiō Federal Building near the Aloha Tower and Honolulu Harbor. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service and the Secret Service maintain their offices there; the building is also the site of the federal District Court for the District of Hawaii and the United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii.


title: Hawaii

text: Since gaining statehood and participating in its first election in 1960, Hawaii has supported Democrats in all but two presidential elections: 1972 and 1984, both of which were landslide reelection victories for Republicans Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan respectively. In Hawaii's statehood tenure, only Minnesota has supported Republican candidates fewer times in presidential elections. The 2016 Cook Partisan Voting Index ranks Hawaii as the most heavily Democratic state in the nation.


title: Hawaii

text: Hawaii has not elected a Republican to represent the state in the U.S. Senate since Hiram Fong in 1970; since 1977, both of the state's U.S. Senators have been Democrats.


title: Hawaii

text: In 2004, John Kerry won the state's four electoral votes by a margin of nine percentage points with 54% of the vote. Every county supported the Democratic candidate. In 1964, favorite son candidate senator Hiram Fong of Hawaii sought the Republican presidential nomination, while Patsy Mink ran in the Oregon primary in 1972.


title: Hawaii

text: Honolulu-born Barack Obama, then serving as a United States senator from Illinois, was elected the 44th president of the United States on November 4, 2008, and was re-elected for a second term on November 6, 2012. Obama had won the Hawaii Democratic caucus on February 19, 2008, with 76% of the vote. He was the third Hawaii-born candidate to seek the nomination of a major party, the first presidential nominee and first president from Hawaii.


title: Hawaii

text: Hawaii has a statewide sheriff department under its Department of Public Safety that provides law enforcement protection to government buildings and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport as well as correction services to all correctional facilities owned by the state.


title: Hawaii

text: In January 2022, state officials proposed legislation that would split the sheriff department from the Department of Public Safety and consolidate it with the criminal investigation division from the Department of the Attorney General to create a new Department of Law Enforcement that would create a statewide police agency with the ability to investigate crimes.


title: Hawaii

text: While Hawaii is internationally recognized as a state of the United States while also being broadly accepted as such in mainstream understanding, the legality of this status has been questioned in U.S. District Court, the U.N., and other international forums. Domestically, the debate is a topic covered in the Kamehameha Schools curriculum, and in classes at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.


title: Hawaii

text: Political organizations seeking some form of sovereignty for Hawaii have been active since the late 19th century. Generally, their focus is on self-determination and self-governance, either for Hawaii as an independent nation (in many proposals, for "Hawaiian nationals" descended from subjects of the Hawaiian Kingdom or declaring themselves as such by choice), or for people of whole or part native Hawaiian ancestry in an indigenous ""nation to nation"" relationship akin to tribal sovereignty with US federal recognition of Native Hawaiians. The pro-federal recognition Akaka Bill drew substantial opposition among Hawaiian residents in the 2000s. Opponents to the tribal approach argue it is not a legitimate path to Hawaiian nationhood; they also argue that the U.S. government should not be involved in re-establishing Hawaiian sovereignty.


title: Hawaii

text: The Hawaiian sovereignty movement views the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 as illegal, and views the subsequent annexation of Hawaii by the United States as illegal as well; the movement seeks some form of greater autonomy for Hawaii, such as free association or independence from the United States.


title: Hawaii

text: Some groups also advocate some form of redress from the United States for the 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani, and for what is described as a prolonged military occupation beginning with the 1898 annexation. The Apology Resolution passed by US Congress in 1993 is cited as a major impetus by the movement for Hawaiian sovereignty. The sovereignty movement considers Hawaii to be an illegally occupied nation.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over five decades, including three Academy Awards.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: His most known and celebrated films include "Chinatown" (1974), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), "The Shining" (1980), and "The Departed" (2006). He has also directed three films, including "The Two Jakes" (1990), a sequel to "Chinatown".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: His twelve Academy Award nominations make Nicholson the most nominated male actor in the Academy's history. He has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice, once for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) and once for "As Good as It Gets" (1997); he also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Terms of Endearment" (1983). He is one of only three male actors to win three Academy Awards, and one of only two actors to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting in films made in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s. He has won six Golden Globe Awards and received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2001. In 1994, he became one of the youngest actors to receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: John Joseph Nicholson was born on April 22, 1937, in Neptune City, New Jersey, the son of a showgirl, June Frances Nicholson (stage name June Nilson; 1918–1963). Nicholson's mother was of Irish, English, German, and Welsh descent. Nicholson has identified as Irish, comparing himself to the playwright Eugene O'Neill, whom he played in the film "Reds": "I'm not saying I'm as dark as he was... but I am a writer, I am Irish, I have had problems with my family." His mother married Italian-American showman Donald Furcillo (stage name Donald Rose; 1909–1997) in 1936, before realizing that he was already married. Biographer Patrick McGilligan stated in his book "Jack's Life" that Latvian-born Eddie King (originally Edgar A. Kirschfeld), June's manager, may have been Nicholson's biological father, rather than Furcillo. Other sources suggest June Nicholson was unsure of the father's identity. As June was only 17 and unmarried, her parents agreed to raise Nicholson as their own child without revealing his true parentage, with June acting as his sister. In 1974, "Time" magazine researchers learned, and informed Nicholson, that his "sister", June, was actually his mother, and his other "sister", Lorraine, was really his aunt. By this time, both his mother and grandmother had died (in 1963 and 1970, respectively). On finding out, Nicholson said it was "a pretty dramatic event, but it wasn't what I'd call traumatizing ... I was pretty well psychologically formed".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson grew up in Neptune City. He was raised in his mother's Roman Catholic Church. Before starting high school, his family moved to an apartment in Spring Lake, New Jersey. "When Jack was ready for high school, the family moved once more—this time two miles farther south to old-money Spring Lake, New Jersey's so-called Irish Riviera, where his grandmother, Ethel May, set up her beauty parlor in a rambling duplex at 505 Mercer Avenue." "Nick", as he was known to his high school friends, attended nearby Manasquan High School, where he was voted "Class Clown" by the Class of 1954. He was in detention every day for a whole school year. A theatre and a drama award at the school are named in his honor. In 2004, Nicholson attended his 50-year high school reunion accompanied by his aunt Lorraine.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 1957, Nicholson joined the California Air National Guard, a move he sometimes characterized as an effort to "dodge the draft"; the Korean War–era's Military Selective Service Act was still in force, and draftees were required to perform up to two years of active duty. After completing the Air Force's basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Nicholson performed weekend drills and two-week annual training as a firefighter assigned to the unit based at the Van Nuys Airport. During the Berlin Crisis of 1961, Nicholson was called up for several months of extended active duty, and he was discharged at the end of his enlistment in 1962.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson first came to California in 1950, when he was 13, to visit his sister. He took a job as an office worker for animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera at the MGM cartoon studio. They offered him an entry-level job as an animator, but he declined, citing his desire to become an actor. While accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 56th Golden Globe Awards, he recalled that his first day as a working actor (on "Tales of Wells Fargo") was May 5, 1955, which he considered lucky, as 5 was the jersey number of his boyhood idol, Joe DiMaggio. He trained to be an actor with a group called the Players Ring Theater, after which he found small parts performing on the stage and in TV soap operas. He made his film debut in a low-budget teen drama "The Cry Baby Killer" (1958), playing the title role. For the next decade, Nicholson frequently collaborated with the film's producer, Roger Corman. Corman directed Nicholson on several occasions, such as in "The Little Shop of Horrors" as masochistic dental patient and undertaker Wilbur Force; in "The Raven"; "The Terror", where he plays a French officer seduced by an evil ghost; and "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre". Nicholson frequently worked with director Monte Hellman on low-budget westerns; two of them—"Ride in the Whirlwind" and "The Shooting"—initially failed to interest U.S. film distributors but gained cult success on the French art-house circuit and were later sold to television. Nicholson also appeared in two episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show", and starred as a rebellious dirt-track race driver in the 1960 film "The Wild Ride".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: With his acting career floundering, Nicholson seemed resigned to a career behind the camera as a writer/director. His first real taste of writing success was the screenplay for the 1967 counterculture film "The Trip" (directed by Corman), starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. After first reading the script, Fonda told Nicholson he was impressed by the writing and felt it could become a great film. But Fonda was disappointed with how the film turned out and blamed the editing for turning it into a "predictable" film and said so publicly. "I was livid", he recalls. Nicholson also co-wrote, with Bob Rafelson, the movie "Head", which starred The Monkees, and arranged the movie's soundtrack.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson's first big acting break came when a role opened up in Fonda and Hopper's "Easy Rider" (1969). He played alcoholic lawyer George Hanson, for which he received his first Oscar nomination. The film cost only $400,000 to make, and became a blockbuster, grossing $40 million. Biographer John Parker writes that Nicholson's interpretation of his role placed him in the company of earlier "antihero" actors, such as James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, while promoting him into an "overnight number-one hero of the counter-culture movement". The part was a lucky break for Nicholson. The role had been written for Rip Torn, who withdrew from the project after an argument with Hopper. Nicholson later acknowledged the importance of being cast in "Easy Rider": "All I could see in the early films, before "Easy Rider", was this desperate young actor trying to vault out of the screen and create a movie career." Stanley Kubrick, who was impressed by his performance in "Easy Rider", cast Nicholson as Napoleon in a film about his life, and although production on the film commenced, the project fizzled out, partly due to a change in ownership at MGM.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 1970, Nicholson starred in "Five Easy Pieces" alongside Karen Black in what became his persona-defining role. Nicholson and Black were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. Nicholson played Bobby Dupea, an oil rig worker, and Black played his waitress girlfriend. Black noted that Nicholson's character in the film was very subdued and very different from Nicholson's real personality. She said that the now-infamous restaurant scene was partly improvised by Nicholson, and was out of character for Bobby, who wouldn't have cared enough to argue with a waitress. "I think that Jack really has very little in common with Bobby. I think Bobby has given up looking for love. But Jack hasn't, he's very interested in love, in finding out things. Jack is a very curious, alive human being. Always ready for a new idea." Nicholson himself said as much, telling an interviewer, "I like listening to everybody. This to me is the elixir of life."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Black later admitted that she had a crush on Nicholson from the time they met, although they dated only briefly. "He was very beautiful. He just looked right at you ... I liked him a lot ... He really sort of wanted to date me but I didn't think of him that way because I was going with Peter Kastner ... Then I went to do "Easy Rider", but didn't see him because we didn't have any scenes together ... At the premiere, I saw him out in the lobby afterward and I started crying ... He didn't understand that, but what it was was that I really loved him a lot, and I didn't know it until I saw him again, because it all welled up."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Within a month after its release that September, "Five Easy Pieces" became a blockbuster, making Nicholson a leading man and the "new American anti-hero", according to McDougal. Critics began speculating as to whether he might become another Marlon Brando or James Dean. His career and income skyrocketed. He said, "I have [become] much sought after. Your name becomes a brand image like a product. You become Campbell's soup, with thirty-one different varieties of roles you can play." He told his new agent, Sandy Bresler, to find him unusual roles so he could stretch his acting skill: "I like to play people that haven't existed yet, a 'cusp character, he said:


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Also in 1970, Nicholson appeared in the film adaptation of "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever", although most of his performance was left on the cutting room floor. His agent turned down a starring role in "Deliverance" when the film's producer and director, John Boorman, refused to pay what Nicholson's agent wanted.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 1971, Nicholson starred in "Carnal Knowledge", a comedy-drama directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Art Garfunkel, Ann-Margret, and Candice Bergen. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Nichols felt few actors could handle the role, saying, "There is James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, and Henry Fonda. After that, who is there but Jack Nicholson?" During the filming, Nicholson struck up what became a lifelong friendship with Garfunkel. When he visited Los Angeles, Garfunkel stayed at Nicholson's home in a room Nicholson jokingly called "the Arthur Garfunkel Suite".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Other Nicholson roles included Hal Ashby's "The Last Detail" (1973), with Randy Quaid, for which Nicholson won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for his third Oscar and a Golden Globe. Television journalist David Gilmour writes that one of his favorite Nicholson scenes from all his films was the often censored one in this film, when Nicholson slaps his gun on the bar yelling he "was" the Shore Patrol. Critic Roger Ebert called it a very good movie, but credited Nicholson's acting as the main reason: "He creates a character so complete and so complex that we stop thinking about the movie and just watch to see what he'll do next."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 1974, Nicholson starred in Roman Polanski's noir thriller "Chinatown", and was again nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Jake Gittes, a private detective. The film co-starred Faye Dunaway and John Huston, and included a cameo role with Polanski. Ebert called Nicholson's portrayal sharp-edged, menacing, and aggressive, a character who knew "how to go over the top", as he did in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". That edge kept "Chinatown" from becoming a typical genre crime film. Ebert also notes the importance of the role for Nicholson's career, seeing it as a major transition from the exploitation films of the previous decade. "As Jake Gittes, he stepped into Bogart's shoes", says Ebert. "As a man attractive to audiences because he suggests both comfort and danger ... From Gittes forward, Nicholson created the persona of a man who had seen it all and was still capable of being wickedly amused."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson had been friends with Polanski long before the murder of Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson Family, and supported him in the days following her death. After Tate's death, Nicholson began sleeping with a hammer under his pillow and took breaks from work to attend Manson's trial.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 1977, three years after "Chinatown", Polanski was arrested at Nicholson's home for the sexual assault of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer, who was modeling for Polanski during a magazine photo shoot around the pool. At the time, Nicholson was out of town making a film, but his steady girlfriend, actress Anjelica Huston, had dropped by unannounced to pick up some items. She heard Polanski in the other room say, "We'll be right out." Polanski then came out with Geimer and introduced her to Huston, and they chatted about Nicholson's two large dogs, which were sitting nearby. Huston recalled Geimer was wearing platform heels and appeared quite tall. After a few minutes of talking, Polanski had packed up his camera gear and Huston saw them drive off in his car. Huston told police the next day, after Polanski was arrested, that she "had witnessed nothing untoward" and never saw them together in the other room.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Geimer learned afterward that Huston herself wasn't supposed to be at Nicholson's house that day, since they had recently broken up, but stopped over to pick up some belongings. Geimer described Nicholson's house as "definitely" a guy's house, with lots of wood and shelves crowded with photos and mementos.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: One of Nicholson's successes came in 1975, with his role as Randle P. McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". The movie was an adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel of the same name, and was directed by Miloš Forman and co-produced by Michael Douglas. Nicholson plays an anti-authoritarian patient at a mental hospital where he becomes an inspiring leader for the other patients. Playing one of the patients was Danny DeVito in an early role. Nicholson learned afterward that DeVito grew up in the same area of New Jersey, and they knew many of the same people. The film received nine nominations at the Academy Awards, and won five, including Nicholson's first for Best Actor.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: The role seemed perfect for Nicholson, with biographer Ken Burke noting that his "smartass demeanor balances his genuine concern for the treatment of his fellow patients with his independent spirit too free to exist in a repressive social structure". Forman allowed Nicholson to improvise throughout the film, including most of the group therapy sequences. Reviewer Marie Brenner notes that his bravura performance "transcends the screen" and continually inspires the other actors by lightening their mental illnesses with his comic dialogue. She describes his performance:


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Also in 1975, Nicholson starred in Michelangelo Antonioni's "The Passenger" (1975), which co-starred Maria Schneider. Nicholson plays a journalist, David Locke, who during an assignment in North Africa decides to quit journalism and disappear by taking on a new hidden identity. Unfortunately, the dead person whose identity he takes on turns out to have been a weapons smuggler on the run. Antonioni's unusual plot included convincing dialogue and fine acting, states film critic Seymour Chatman. It was shot in Algeria, Spain, Germany, and England.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: The film received good reviews and revived Antonioni's reputation as a great director. He said he wanted the film to have more of a "spy feeling [and] be more political". Nicholson began shooting the film from an unfinished script, notes Judith Crist, yet upon its completion he thought so highly of the film that he bought the world rights and recorded a reminiscence of working with Antonioni. Critic and screenwriter Penelope Gilliatt provides an overview of Nicholson's role:


title: Jack Nicholson

text: He continued to take more unusual roles. He took a small role in "The Last Tycoon" opposite Robert De Niro. He took a less sympathetic role in Arthur Penn's western "The Missouri Breaks" (1976), specifically to work with Marlon Brando. Nicholson was especially inspired by Brando's acting ability, recalling that in his youth, as an assistant manager at a theater, he watched "On the Waterfront" about 40 times. "I'm part of the first generation that idolized Marlon Brando", he said.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson has observed that while both De Niro and Brando were noted for their skill as method actors, he himself has seldom been described as one, a fact he sees as an accomplishment: "I'm still fooling them", he told Sean Penn. "I consider it an accomplishment because there's probably no one who understands Method acting better academically than I do—or actually uses it more in his work. But it's funny, nobody really sees that. It's perception versus reality, I guess."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Although he garnered no Academy Award for Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's "The Shining" (1980), his role in the film as writer Jack Torrance remains one of his more significant. He was Kubrick's first choice to play the role, although the book's author, Stephen King, wanted more of an "everyman". Kubrick won the argument and called Nicholson's acting "on a par with the greatest stars of the past, like Spencer Tracy and Jimmy Cagney". In preparation for the role, Nicholson drew upon his own experiences as a writer and slept short hours to help remain in an agitated state during the shoot. His co-star Shelley Duvall recalled that she and Nicholson spent many hours discussing their characters, with Nicholson maintaining that his character be cold to her from the start. On the set, Nicholson always appeared in character and if Kubrick felt confident that Nicholson knew his lines well enough, he encouraged him to improvise beyond the script. For example, Nicholson improvised his now-famous "Here's Johnny!" line, along with a scene in which he unleashes his anger on his wife when she interrupts his work. There were also extensive takes of scenes, due to Kubrick's perfectionism. Nicholson shot a scene with the ghostly bartender 36 times. He said, "Stanley's demanding. He'll do a scene fifty times, and you have to be good to do that."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 1982, he starred as an immigration enforcement agent in "The Border", directed by Tony Richardson. It co-starred Warren Oates, who played a corrupt border official. Richardson wanted Nicholson to play his role less expressively than he had in his earlier roles. "Less is more", he told him, and wanted him to wear reflecting sunglasses to portray what patrolmen wore. Richardson recalled that Nicholson worked hard on the set:


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson won his second Oscar, an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his role of retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove in "Terms of Endearment" (1983), directed by James L. Brooks. It starred Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger. McGilligan claims it was one of Nicholson's most complex and unforgettable characters. He and MacLaine played many of their scenes in different ways, constantly testing and making adjustments. Their scenes together gave the film its "buoyant edge", states McGilligan, and describes Nicholson's acting as "Jack floating like a butterfly".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson continued to work prolifically in the 1980s, starring in such films as: "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1981); "Reds" (1981), where Nicholson portrays the writer Eugene O'Neill with a quiet intensity; "Prizzi's Honor" (1985); "Heartburn" (1986); "The Witches of Eastwick" (1987); "Broadcast News" (1987); and "Ironweed" (1987). Three Oscar nominations also followed ("Reds", "Prizzi's Honor", and "Ironweed"). John Huston, who directed "Prizzi's Honor", said of Nicholson's acting, "He just illuminates the book. He impressed me in one scene after another; the movie is composed largely of first takes with him."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In the 1989 "Batman" movie, Nicholson played the psychotic villain, the Joker. The film was an international smash hit, and a lucrative deal earned him a percentage of the box office gross estimated at $60 million to $90 million. Nicholson said that he was "particularly proud" of his performance as the Joker: "I considered it a piece of pop art", he said.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: For his role as hot-headed Col. Nathan R. Jessup in "A Few Good Men" (1992), a movie about a murder in a U.S. Marine Corps unit, Nicholson received yet another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. One review describes his performance as "spellbinding", adding that he portrayed "the essence of the quintessential military mindset". Critic David Thomson notes that Nicholson's character "blazed and roared". The film's director, Rob Reiner, recalls how Nicholson's level of acting experience affected the other actors during rehearsals: "I had the luck of having Jack Nicholson there. He knows what he's doing, and he comes to play, every time out, full-out performance! And what it says to a lot of the other actors is, 'Oooooh, I better get on my game here because this guy's coming to play! So I can't hold back; I've got to come up to him.' He sets the tone."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 1996, Nicholson collaborated once more with "Batman" director Tim Burton on "Mars Attacks!", pulling double duty as two contrasting characters, President James Dale and Las Vegas property developer Art Land. At first, studio executives at Warner Bros. disliked the idea of killing off Nicholson's character, so Burton created two characters and killed them both off.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Not all of Nicholson's performances have been well received. He was nominated for Razzie Awards as worst actor for "Man Trouble" (1992) and "Hoffa" (1992). But his performance in "Hoffa" also earned him a Golden Globe nomination. David Thomson states that the film was terribly neglected, since Nicholson portrayed one of his best screen characters, someone who is "snarly, dumb, smart, noble, rascally—all the parts of 'Jack'".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson won his next Academy Award for Best Actor in the romantic comedy "As Good as It Gets" (1997), his third film directed by James L. Brooks. He played Melvin Udall, a "wickedly funny", mean-spirited novelist with obsessive-compulsive disorder. "I'm a studio Method actor", he said. "So I was prone to give some kind of clinical presentation of the disorder." His Oscar was matched by the Academy Award for Best Actress for Helen Hunt, who played a Manhattan single mother drawn into a love/hate friendship with Udall, a frequent diner in the restaurant where she works as a waitress. The film was a box-office success, grossing $314 million, making it Nicholson's second-best-grossing film, after "Batman".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson admits he initially disliked playing a middle-aged man alongside a much younger Hunt, seeing it as a movie cliché. "But Helen disarmed that at the first meeting", he says, "and I stopped thinking about it." They got along well during the filming, with Hunt saying that he "treated me like a queen", and they connected immediately: "It wasn't even what we said", she said. "It was just some frequency we both could tune into that was very, very compatible." Critic Jack Mathews of "Newsday" said Nicholson was "in rare form", adding, "it's one of those performances that make you aware how much fun the actor is having". Author and screenwriter Andrew Horton describes their on-screen relationship as being like "fire and ice, oil and water—seemingly complete opposites". In 2001, Nicholson was the first actor to receive the Stanislavsky Award at the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival for "conquering the heights of acting and faithfulness".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 2001, Nicholson starred in "The Pledge", a mystery drama where he portrays retired police detective Jerry Black, who vows to find a murderer of a young girl. Nicholson was praised for his performance; Bob Graham of the "San Francisco Chronicle" called it "deeply felt" compared to some of Nicholson's other films. In "About Schmidt" (2002), Nicholson portrayed a retired Omaha, Nebraska, actuary who questions his own life after his wife dies. His quietly restrained performance earned him an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. In "Anger Management" (2003), he played an aggressive therapist assigned to help an overly pacifist man (Adam Sandler). In 2003, Nicholson also starred in "Something's Gotta Give" as an aging playboy who falls for the mother (Diane Keaton) of his young girlfriend.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In late 2006, Nicholson marked his return to the dark side as Frank Costello, a nefarious Boston Irish Mob boss, based on Whitey Bulger, who was still on the run at the time, in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning film "The Departed", a remake of Andrew Lau's "Infernal Affairs". The role earned Nicholson worldwide critical praise, along with various awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 2007, Nicholson co-starred with Morgan Freeman in Rob Reiner's "The Bucket List". Nicholson and Freeman portrayed dying men who fulfill their list of goals. In researching the role, Nicholson visited a Los Angeles hospital to see how cancer patients coped with their illnesses.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson's next film role saw him reunite with James L. Brooks, director of "Terms of Endearment", "Broadcast News" and "As Good as It Gets", for a supporting role for the 2010 film "How Do You Know". In a September 2013 "Vanity Fair" article, Nicholson said that he did not consider himself retired, but that he was now less driven to "be out there anymore".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: On February 15, 2015, Nicholson made a special appearance as a presenter on "SNL 40", the 40th anniversary special of "Saturday Night Live". After the death of boxer Muhammad Ali on June 3, 2016, Nicholson appeared on HBO's "The Fight Game with Jim Lampley" for an exclusive interview about his friendship with Ali. He was reported to be starring in an English-language remake of "Toni Erdmann" in 2017 opposite Kristen Wiig, his first feature film role since "How Do You Know", but the project was later abandoned by everyone, including the director.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In October 2019, with the release of "The Shining" sequel "Doctor Sleep", director Mike Flanagan revealed he approached Nicholson for a cameo appearance, but Nicholson turned down the offer while wishing the cast, crew and film the best. Flanagan also disclosed that Nicholson had previously been approached to appear in the 2018 film "Ready Player One" but declined.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In his private life, Nicholson is notorious for his inability to "settle down"; he has fathered six children by five women but married only once. Nicholson's marriage was to "The Terror" co-star Sandra Knight from 1962 to 1968, though they separated in 1966. The couple had one daughter, Jennifer (born September 13, 1963).


title: Jack Nicholson

text: "Five Easy Pieces" co-star Susan Anspach contended that her son Caleb (born September 26, 1970), whose legal father is Mark Goddard, was actually Nicholson's biological son. In 1984, Nicholson said he was not convinced of this, but in 1996, Caleb said that Nicholson had acknowledged him as his son. Between 1988 and 1994, Nicholson provided financial assistance to put Caleb through college. Around 1998, Nicholson publicly acknowledged Caleb as his son and said that they got along "beautifully now". Anspach's "New York Times" obituary referred to Caleb as "her son, whose father is Jack Nicholson."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 1971 and 1972, Nicholson was in a relationship with singer Michelle Phillips, the ex-wife of his best friend Dennis Hopper, during which time she suffered a miscarriage. Nicholson's longest relationship was 17 years with actress Anjelica Huston, from 1973 until 1990. Their on-again, off-again romance included several periods of overlap with other women, including former Bond girl Jill St. John and Danish model Winnie Hollman, with whom Nicholson supposedly fathered a daughter, Honey (born January 26, 1982), though Nicholson has never publicly acknowledged his paternity.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: The relationship with Huston ended when Nicholson had an affair and fathered a child with actress/waitress Rebecca Broussard. They had two children: Lorraine (born April 16, 1990) and Raymond (born February 20, 1992). Nicholson and Broussard split up in 1994; that same year, Nicholson supposedly had a daughter, Tessa (born August 22, 1994), with waitress Jeannine Gourin. Nicholson has never publicly acknowledged his paternity.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Beginning in the late 1990s, Nicholson was involved with actress Lara Flynn Boyle. The two initially broke up in 2000, later reuniting before splitting permanently in 2004, after which Nicholson was linked to English supermodel Kate Moss. In 2006, Nicholson dated actress Paz de la Huerta.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson has said that children "give your life a resonance that it can't have without them ... As a father, I'm there all the time. I give unconditional love". He has also lamented that he "didn't see enough of my eldest daughter because I was trying to make a career".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In a criminal complaint filed on February 8, 1994, Robert Blank stated that Nicholson, then 56, approached Blank's Mercedes-Benz while he was stopped at a red light in North Hollywood. After accusing Blank of cutting him off in traffic, Nicholson used a golf club to bash the roof and windshield of Blank's car. A witness confirmed Blank's account of the incident and misdemeanor charges of assault and vandalism were filed against Nicholson. Charges were dropped after Nicholson apologized to Blank, and the two reached an undisclosed settlement, which included a reported $500,000 check from Nicholson.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 1996, a lawsuit was brought against him alleging that he promised a woman named Catherine Sheehan $1,000 for sex and then assaulted her when she asked for the money. Sheehan received a settlement of about $40,000, but filed another lawsuit against him, arguing that the settlement was insufficient to cover the injuries inflicted upon her, including brain trauma, which she said were "actually killing her." The case was dismissed.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson lived next door to Marlon Brando for a number of years on Mulholland Drive in Beverly Hills. Warren Beatty also lived nearby, earning the road the nickname "Bad Boy Drive". After Brando's death in 2004, Nicholson purchased his bungalow for $6.1 million, with the purpose of having it demolished. Nicholson said he did so out of respect for Brando's legacy, as it had become too expensive to renovate the "derelict" building, which was plagued by mold.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson's friendship with author-journalist Hunter S. Thompson is described in Thompson's autobiography "Kingdom of Fear". After Thompson died in 2005, Nicholson and fellow actors Johnny Depp, John Cusack, and Sean Penn attended his private memorial service in Colorado. Nicholson was also a close friend of Robert Evans, the producer of "Chinatown", and after Evans lost Woodland, his home, as the result of a 1980s drug bust, Nicholson and other friends of Evans bought Woodland to give it back to him. Nicholson is also friends with fellow New Jerseyans Danny DeVito and Joe Pesci.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson is a fan of the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers. He has been a Lakers season ticket holder since 1970, and has held courtside season tickets for the past 25 years next to the opponent's benches both at The Forum and Staples Center, missing very few games. Nicholson has occasionally argued with game officials and opposing players, and even walked onto the court. He was almost ejected from a Lakers playoff game in May 2003 after yelling at a referee. After the death of former Lakers star Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash in January 2020, Nicholson gave a rare phone interview to Los Angeles station KCBS-TV expressing his grief.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson is a collector of 20th-century and contemporary paintings, including those of Henri Matisse, Tamara de Lempicka, Andy Warhol and Jack Vettriano. In 1995, artist Ed Ruscha said that Nicholson has "one of the best collections out here".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Nicholson has called himself a "lifelong Irish Democrat", although he has said he supports every president. In 2020, Nicholson supported Bernie Sanders for president. Although he is personally against abortion, he is pro-choice. He has said, "I'm pro-choice but against abortion because I'm an illegitimate child myself, and it would be hypocritical to take any other position. I'd be dead. I wouldn't exist." He has also said that he has "nothing but total admiration, gratitude, and respect for the strength of the women who made the decision they made in my individual case".


title: Jack Nicholson

text: During a 1992 "Vanity Fair" interview, Nicholson stated, "I don't believe in God now. I can still work up an envy for someone who has faith. I can see how that could be a deeply soothing experience."


title: Jack Nicholson

text: Among Nicholson's films are "Easy Rider" (1969), "Five Easy Pieces" (1970), "Carnal Knowledge" (1971), "The Last Detail" (1973), "Chinatown" (1974), "The Passenger" (1975), "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), "The Shining" (1980), "Reds" (1981), "Terms of Endearment" (1983), "Prizzi's Honor" (1985), "Batman" (1989), "A Few Good Men" (1992), "As Good as It Gets" (1997), "About Schmidt" (2002), and "The Departed" (2006).


title: Jack Nicholson

text: With 12 Academy Award nominations (eight for Best Actor and four for Best Supporting Actor), Nicholson is the most nominated male actor in Academy Awards history. Only Nicholson (1960s–2000s), Michael Caine (1960s–2000s), Meryl Streep (1970s–2010s), Paul Newman (1950s–1960s, 1980s–2000s), Katharine Hepburn (1930s–1960s, 1980s), Frances McDormand (1980s–2020s), Denzel Washington (1980s-2020s), and Laurence Olivier (1930s–1970s) have been nominated for an acting (lead or supporting) Academy Award in five different decades. With three Oscar wins, he also ties with Walter Brennan, Daniel Day-Lewis, Ingrid Bergman, Frances McDormand and Meryl Streep for the second-most Oscar wins in acting categories. Only Katharine Hepburn, with four Oscars, won more.


title: Jack Nicholson

text: In 2013, Nicholson co-presented the Academy Award for Best Picture with First Lady Michelle Obama. This ceremony marked the eighth time he has presented the Academy Award for Best Picture (1972, 1977, 1978, 1990, 1993, 2006, 2007, and 2013). Nicholson is an active and voting member of the Academy. In May 2008, then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Nicholson would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts. The induction ceremony took place on December 15, 2008, where he was inducted alongside 11 other Californians. In 2010, Nicholson was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. In 2011, Nicholson received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Brown University at its 243rd commencement. At the ceremony, Ruth Simmons, Brown University's president, called him "the most skilled actor of our lifetime".


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation. Born and raised in Compton, California, Lamar began his career as a teenager performing under the stage name K.Dot. He quickly garnered local attention which led to him signing a recording contract with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: After becoming a founding member of the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy, Lamar dropped his stage name and started using his first and middle names professionally. In 2011, he released his debut studio album "Section.80", a conscious hip hop record. The album was met with positive reviews and included his debut single "HiiiiPower". In 2012, Lamar secured a record deal with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment, under the aegis of Interscope Records, and released his second studio album "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City". The West Coast and gangsta rap influenced album garnered widespread critical recognition and commercial success, while including the singles "Swimming Pools (Drank)", "Backseat Freestyle" and "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe".


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: A visit to South Africa inspired Lamar’s jazz-flavored third studio album "To Pimp a Butterfly" (2015). It received universal acclaim and became his first number-one album on the "Billboard" 200. The same year, he topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 for the first time with the remix of "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift. Lamar experimented with R&B, pop and psychedelic soul in his fourth studio album "Damn" (2017). It spawned his first solo number-one single "Humble" and became the first non-classical and non-jazz work to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Following a four-year hiatus, Lamar released his minimalist fifth studio album "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" (2022), which served as his swan song from TDE. He has directed and produced several music videos and films with his creative partner Dave Free, with whom he founded the creative collective PGLang.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Having sold over 70 million records in the United States alone, all of Lamar’s studio albums have been certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including 14 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, two American Music Awards, six "Billboard" Music Awards, 11 MTV Video Music Awards, a Brit Award, and a nomination for an Academy Award. He was named MTV’s Hottest MC in the Game in 2012. In 2015, Lamar received the California State Senate’s Generational Icon Award. He has been featured in listicles such as the "Time" 100 and "Forbes" 30 Under 30. Three of his studio albums were included on "Rolling Stone"’s 2020 ranking of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born in Compton, California, on June 17, 1987, the son of a couple from Chicago. Although not in a gang himself, he grew up around gang members; with his closest friends being Westside Piru Bloods and his father, Kenny Duckworth, being a Gangster Disciple. His first name was given to him by his mother, Paula Oliver, in honor of singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations. He grew up on welfare and in Section 8 housing.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In 1995, at the age of eight, Lamar witnessed Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre film the music video for their single "California Love", which proved to be a significant moment in his life. As a child, he attended McNair Elementary and Vanguard Learning Center in the Compton Unified School District. He has admitted to being quiet and shy in school, his mother confirming he was a "loner" until the age of seven. Lamar was further educated at Centennial High School, where he graduated in 2005 as a straight-A student.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In 2003, at the age of 16, Lamar released his first full-length project, a mixtape titled "Youngest Head Nigga in Charge (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year)", under the pseudonym K.Dot. The mixtape was released under Konkrete Jungle Muzik and garnered local recognition for Lamar. The mixtape led to Lamar securing a recording contract with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), a newly founded independent record label based in Carson, California. He began recording material with the label and subsequently released a 26-track mixtape two years later, titled "Training Day" (2005).


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Throughout 2006 and 2007, Lamar would appear alongside other up-and-coming West Coast rappers, such as Jay Rock and Ya Boy, as opening acts for veteran West Coast rapper The Game. Under the moniker K.Dot, Lamar was also featured on The Game's songs "The Cypha" and "Cali Niggaz".


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: After receiving a co-sign from Lil Wayne, Lamar released his third mixtape in 2009, titled "C4", which was heavily themed around Wayne's album "Tha Carter III". Soon after, Lamar decided to no longer go by the stage name of K.Dot and opted to use his birth name. He subsequently released a self-titled extended play in late 2009. That same year, Lamar along with his TDE label-mates: Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and ScHoolboy Q formed Black Hippy, a hip hop supergroup.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Throughout 2010, Lamar toured with Tech N9ne and Jay Rock on "The Independent Grind" tour. On September 14, 2010, he released the visuals for "P&P 1.5", a song taken from his mixtape, "Overly Dedicated", featuring his Black Hippy cohort Ab-Soul. On the same date, Lamar released "Overly Dedicated" to digital retailers under TDE, and later on September 23, released it for free online. The project fared well enough to enter the United States "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, where it peaked at number 72.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: The mixtape includes a song titled "Ignorance Is Bliss", in which Lamar highlights gangsta rap and street crime, but ends each verse with "ignorance is bliss", giving the message "we know not what we do;" it was this song specifically that made hip hop producer Dr. Dre want to work with Lamar after seeing the music video on YouTube. This, and a conversation between Dre and J. Cole. J Cole helped introduce Lamar to Dre which led to Lamar working with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on Dre's often-delayed "Detox" album, as well as speculation of Lamar signing to Dr. Dre's record label, Aftermath Entertainment. In December 2010, "Complex" magazine spotlighted Lamar in an edition of their "Indie Intro" series.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In early 2011, Lamar was included in "XXL"'s annual Top 10 Freshman Class, and was featured on the cover alongside fellow up-and-coming rappers Cyhi the Prynce, Meek Mill, Fred the Godson, Mac Miller, Yelawolf and Big K.R.I.T., Lil B, and Diggy Simmons. On April 11, 2011, Lamar announced the title of his next full-length project to be "Section.80", and the following day the first single "HiiiPoWeR" was released, the concept of which was to further explain the HiiiPoWeR movement. The song was produced by fellow American rapper J. Cole, marking their first of several collaborations.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On the topic of whether his next project would be an album or a mixtape, Lamar answered: "I treat every project like it's an album anyway. It's not going to be nothing leftover. I never do nothing like that. These are my leftover songs you all can have them. I'm going to put my best out. My best effort. I'm trying to look for an album in 2012." In June 2011, Lamar released "Ronald Reagan Era (His Evils)", a cut from "Section.80", featuring Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA. On July 2, 2011, Lamar released "Section.80", his debut studio album. The album features guest appearances from GLC, Colin Munroe, Schoolboy Q, and Ab-Soul, while the production was handled by TDE in-house production team Digi+Phonics as well as Wyldfyer, Terrace Martin and J. Cole. "Section.80" went on to sell 5,300 digital copies in its first week, without any television or radio coverage, and received mostly positive reviews.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In August 2011, while performing at a West Los Angeles concert, Lamar was dubbed the "New King of the West Coast" by Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Game. On August 24, 2011, Lamar released the music video for the "Section.80" track, "ADHD". The video was directed by Vashtie Kola who had this to say of the video: "Inspired by "A.D.H.D"'s dark beat and melancholy lyrics which explore a generation in conflict, we find Kendrick Lamar in a video that illustrates the songs[sic] universal and age-old theme of apathetic youth. (...) Shot in New York City during the sweltering July Summer heat". In October 2011, Lamar appeared alongside fellow American rappers B.o.B, Tech N9ne, MGK, and Big K.R.I.T., in a cypher at the BET Hip Hop Awards. Also in October, Lamar partnered with Windows Phone, and crafted an original song with producer Nosaj Thing entitled "Cloud 10", to promote Microsoft's new product. During 2011, Lamar appeared on several high-profile albums including Game's "The R.E.D. Album", Tech N9ne's "All 6's and 7's", 9th Wonder's "The Wonder Years" and Canadian recording artist Drake's Grammy Award-winning "Take Care", which featured Lamar on a solo track.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On February 15, 2012, a song by Lamar titled "Cartoon and Cereal", featuring fellow American rapper Gunplay, was leaked online. Lamar later revealed that the track was for his major-label debut studio album and that he had plans to shoot a video for it. Although the song would later be ranked No. 2 in "Complex"'s Best 50 Songs of 2012 list, it would ultimately fail to appear on Lamar's debut. In February 2012, it was announced that "Fader" had enlisted both Kendrick Lamar and Detroit-based rapper Danny Brown, to appear on the cover of the magazine's Spring Style issue. In February, Lamar also embarked on Drake's Club Paradise Tour, opening along with fellow American rappers ASAP Rocky and 2 Chainz.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In March 2012, MTV announced that Lamar had signed a deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, marking the end of his career as an independent artist. Under the new deal, Lamar's projects, including his album "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City", would be jointly released via TDE, Aftermath, and Interscope. Also in March, Lamar appeared on "Last Call with Carson Daly", where he spoke on Dr. Dre and his hometown of Compton, California. On April 2, 2012, Lamar premiered his commercial debut single "The Recipe", on Big Boy's Neighborhood at Power 106. The song, which serves as the first single from "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City", was released for digital download the following day. The song was produced by West Coast producer Scoop DeVille and features vocals from his mentor Dr. Dre, who also mixed the record.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On May 14, 2012, J. Cole again spoke on his collaborative effort with Lamar. In an interview with Bootleg Kev, Cole stated: "I just started working with Kendrick the other day. We got it in, finally, again. We got maybe four or five [songs] together." On May 21, Lamar made his "106 & Park" debut alongside Ace Hood, joining Birdman and Mack Maine on stage to perform "B Boyz". Lamar also talked about his style and sound, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, and his upcoming collaborative LP with J. Cole. On the same date, Lamar released "War Is My Love", an original song written and recorded for the video game "", for which he appeared in a mini promotional clip earlier that month.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On July 31, 2012, TDE, Aftermath, and Interscope serviced "Swimming Pools (Drank)" as the lead single from Lamar's debut album. The song's music video, directed by Jerome D, premiered on August 3, 2012, on "106 & Park". The song peaked at number 17 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in its thirteenth week of gradually climbing up the chart. On August 15, 2012, singer Lady Gaga announced via Twitter that both had recorded a song titled "PartyNauseous" for his debut album. However, Gaga withdrew from participation in the last moment, citing that it was due to artistic differences and had nothing to do with Lamar. On August 17, 2012, Lamar released a song titled "Westside, Right on Time", featuring Southern rapper Young Jeezy. The song was released as part of the "Top Dawg Entertainment Fam Appreciation Week". During 2012, Lamar also toured with the rest of Black Hippy and MMG rapper, Stalley, on BET's Music Matters Tour.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar's major-label debut, "good kid, m.A.A.d city", was released on October 22, 2012. The album debuted at number two in the US, selling 242,100 copies in its first week. Later that year, Fuse TV listed Lamar's single, "Backseat Freestyle" among the top 40 songs of 2012. In a few months' time, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). HipHopDX named Lamar "Emcee of the Year" for their 2012 Year-End honors. In November, after Cole posted pictures of himself and Lamar working in the studio, the latter revealed that the two are still working on a project, but an exact release date was not given for the joint album: "We are going to drop that out the sky though. I don't want to give dates. I'm just going to let it fall" in an interview with the LA Leakers.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On January 26, 2013, Lamar performed the album's first singles "Swimming Pools (Drank)" and "Poetic Justice" on NBC's sketch comedy and variety show, "Saturday Night Live". In the same episode, Lamar also appeared alongside guest host Adam Levine and comedy band The Lonely Island, in an SNL Digital Short, which spawned the single "YOLO". On February 22, 2013, Lamar released the video for "Poetic Justice", the Janet Jackson-sampling collaboration with Canadian rapper Drake. On February 26, Lamar performed "Poetic Justice" on the "Late Show with David Letterman". Just nine months after its release, "good kid, m.A.A.d city" was certified platinum by the RIAA, Lamar's first platinum certification.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In August 2013, Lamar's verse on the Big Sean track "Control", made waves across the hip-hop industry. In the verse, Lamar vows to lyrically "murder" every other up-and-coming rapper, namely J. Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Mill, ASAP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electronica, Tyler, The Creator and Mac Miller. During the song, Lamar also calls himself the "King of New York", which caused controversy among several New York-based rappers. Many New York rappers, including Papoose, The Mad Rapper, Mickey Factz, JR Writer, Mysonne, Joell Ortiz and more, took offense to this. Furthermore, fellow American rappers such as Meek Mill, Lupe Fiasco, Cassidy, Joe Budden, King L, Bizarre and B.o.B, among many others, released a response or diss track, within a week. In the days following the track's release, Lamar's Twitter account saw a 510% increase in followers.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On September 6, 2013, American recording artist and record producer Kanye West announced he would be headlining his first solo tour in five years, in support of his sixth album "Yeezus" (2013), with Kendrick Lamar accompanying him on tour. The Yeezus Tour began in October. In October, it was also revealed that Lamar would be featured on Eminem's eighth studio album "The Marshall Mathers LP 2". On October 15, 2013, Lamar won five awards at the BET Hip Hop Awards, including Album of the Year and Lyricist of the Year (the latter of which he had also won the year before). At the award show, Lamar performed "Money Trees", and was also featured in a cypher alongside his Top Dawg label-mates Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, Isaiah Rashad, and Ab-Soul. During an October 2013 interview with "XXL", Lamar revealed that following The Yeezus Tour, he would begin to start working on his next album.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In November 2013, he was named "GQ" "Rapper of the Year," and was featured on the cover of the magazine's "Men of the Year" issue. During the interview, he stated that he would begin recording his second major-label studio album in January 2014. Following the issue's release, TDE's CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith pulled Lamar from performing at "GQ"s party that accompanies the issue, calling out writer Steve Marsh's profile for its "racial overtones." "GQ" editor-in-chief Jim Nelson responded with the following statement: "Kendrick Lamar is one of the most talented new musicians to arrive on the scene in years. That's the reason we chose to celebrate him, wrote an incredibly positive article declaring him the next King of Rap, and gave him our highest honor: putting him on the cover of our Men of the Year issue. I'm not sure how you can spin that into a bad thing, and I encourage anyone interested to read the story and see for themselves."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar received a total of seven Grammy nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards (2014), including Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and Best Rap Song, but did not win in any category. Many publications felt that The Recording Academy snubbed Lamar, as well as Seattle-based rapper Macklemore, who won Best Rap Albumcategory for which Lamar was also nominated. At the ceremony, Lamar performed "M.A.A.D City" and a remix of "Radioactive" in a mash-up with American rock band Imagine Dragons at the awards ceremony. The remix was again performed by Lamar and the band on February 1, 2014, during the airing of "Saturday Night Live", marking Lamar's second appearance on the show.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In an interview with "Billboard" in February 2014, Lamar stated he was planning to put out a new album the next September. During the same interview, which also included Schoolboy Q, Tiffith, and Dave Free, the possibility of a debut effort from the Black Hippy collective appearing in 2014 was announced. On July 31, 2014, it was announced that Lamar would premiere his short film "m.A.A.d" at Sundance's inaugural NEXT Fest in Los Angeles on August 9. The film is inspired by "good kid, m.A.A.d city", and was directed by Kahlil Joseph, who had previously worked with Lamar on the Yeezus Tour. Lamar featured on the Alicia Keys song "It's On Again", which was written for the film "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014).


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On September 23, 2014, Lamar released "i" as the first single from his third album. On November 15, 2014, Lamar once again appeared on "Saturday Night Live" as the musical guest, where he performed "i" and "Pay for It", appearing alongside Jay Rock. Through his appearance, with blackout contacts and his braids partly out, Lamar paid homage to New York-based rapper Method Man, whose debut album "Tical" celebrated its 20th anniversary that day. On December 17, 2014, Lamar debuted a new untitled song on one of the final episodes of "The Colbert Report". In early 2015, Lamar won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for his song "i" at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. On February 9, 2015, he released his third album's second single, titled "The Blacker the Berry". Originally expected to be released on March 23, 2015, his new album "To Pimp a Butterfly" was released a week early on March 16, 2015, to rave reviews. The album debuted atop the US "Billboard" 200 chart selling 324,000 copies in its first week, and established Spotify's global first-day streaming record (9.6 million). Lamar was later featured on the cover of "Rolling Stone", with editor Josh Eells writing he's "arguably the most talented rapper of his generation."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On May 17, 2015, Lamar featured on the official remix of American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's song "Bad Blood", as well as appearing in the music video. The original song is in Swift's fifth studio album "1989". The single reached number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and the music video won them a Grammy Award for Best Music Video and a MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. "To Pimp a Butterfly" produced three other singles with accompanying music videos, "King Kunta", "Alright" and "These Walls". The music video for "Alright" received four nominations at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year and Best Male Video. The song "For Free? (Interlude)" also featured a music video, as did "u" with "For Sale" as part of the short film "God Is Gangsta." In October 2015, Lamar announced the Kunta's Groove Sessions Tour, which included eight shows in eight cities. In early 2016, Kanye West released the track "No More Parties in L.A." on his official SoundCloud, a collaboration featuring Lamar and produced by West and Madlib. Lamar also performed a new song, "Untitled 2" on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in January.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: "Billboard" critics commented at the end of the year, "twenty years ago, a conscious rap record wouldn't have penetrated the mainstream in the way Kendrick Lamar did with "To Pimp A Butterfly". His sense of timing is impeccable. In the midst of rampant cases of police brutality and racial tension across America, he spews raw, aggressive bars while possibly cutting a rug," while "Pitchfork" editors noted it "forced critics to think deeply about music. It's an album by the greatest rapper of his generation." Producer Tony Visconti stated David Bowie's album "Blackstar" (2016) was influenced by Lamar's work, "we were listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar [...] we loved the fact Kendrick was so open-minded and he didn't do a straight-up hip-hop record. He threw everything on there, and that's exactly what we wanted to do." Visconti also stated this about Lamar while talking about "rule-breakers" in music. "His album "To Pimp A Butterfly" broke every rule in the book and he had a number one album glued to the top of the charts. You'd think certain labels would learn from that. But they take somebody who is out there and say, 'That's what people want.' No, people want that for one week. You don't want the same song every single day of your life."Lamar won five Grammys at the 58th ceremony, including Best Rap Album for "To Pimp a Butterfly". Other nominations included Album of the Year and Song of the Year. At the ceremony, Lamar performed a medley of "The Blacker the Berry" and "Alright". "Rolling Stone" and "Billboard" called it the best moment of the night, with the latter writing "It was easily one of the best live TV performances in history."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On March 4, 2016, Lamar released a compilation album "Untitled Unmastered", containing eight untitled tracks, each dated. The tracks were unfinished demos from the recording of "To Pimp a Butterfly". The compilation album debuted atop the US "Billboard" 200.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On March 23, 2017, Lamar released a promotional single "The Heart Part 4". A week later, Lamar released the lead single, titled "Humble", accompanied by its music video. On April 7, 2017, his fourth studio album was made available for pre-order and confirmed to be released on April 14, 2017. On April 11, Lamar announced the album title, "Damn" (stylized as "DAMN."), as well as the track list, which confirmed guest appearances by Rihanna, Zacari, and U2. The album was released on April 14, 2017, to rave reviews, with a "Rolling Stone" writer describing it as a combination of "the old school and the next-level." It marked his third number one album on the "Billboard" 200 chart, and the single "Humble" became his first number one as a lead artist on the "Billboard" Hot 100. On May 4, 2017, "Damn" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Lamar later released the "DAMN." Collectors Edition in mid-December 2017, with the tracklist from the original album in reverse order.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Along with Tiffith, Lamar produced and curated the film soundtrack for the Marvel Studios superhero film "Black Panther" (2018), titled "Black Panther: The Album". A single from the soundtrack, "All the Stars", was released in January 2018 featuring singer SZA, and it earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. Shortly thereafter, another track, titled "King's Dead", was released by Jay Rock featuring Lamar, Future and James Blake. The third single, "Pray For Me", by Lamar and The Weeknd, was released in February 2018, ahead of the album's release in that month. "Black Panther: The Album" was released on February 9, 2018.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In January 2018, Lamar's song publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music began to expire; TDE was seeking $20 to $40 million for the rapper's catalogue. Lamar opened the 60th Annual Grammy Awards with a medley of "XXX", "Lust", "DNA", "Humble", "King's Dead" and Rich the Kid's "New Freezer". He was also nominated for seven awards, including Album of the Year and Best Rap Album for "Damn", and the Record of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video for "Humble", and Best Rap/Sung Performance for "Loyalty" with Rihanna. Lamar ultimately won five awards at the ceremony, for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Music Video, and Best Rap/Sung Performance. After the "Black Panther" soundtrack, Lamar did not release music of his own for four years.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On March 5, 2020, Lamar and Free launched PGLang, which was described as a multilingual, artist-friendly service company. In a press release, Free claimed that the company "is not a record label, a movie studio, or a publishing house. This is something new. In this overstimulated time, we are focused on cultivating raw expression from grassroots partnerships." The announcement also featured a "visual mission statement," a four-minute short film starring Lamar, Baby Keem, Jorja Smith, and Yara Shahidi.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On August 20, 2021, Lamar announced on a blog post that he was in the middle of producing his final album under TDE. A week later, he appeared on Baby Keem's single "Family Ties", from his debut studio album "The Melodic Blue". The song marked Lamar's first single release in three years, and won Best Rap Performance at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. Lamar additionally made several appearances on "The Melodic Blue", on the tracks "Range Brothers" and "Vent". On November 12, Lamar made his comeback performance by headlining the first night of Day N Vegas.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: On February 13, 2022, Lamar headlined the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige, which won him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). On May 8, he released the promotional single "The Heart Part 5". Lamar's fifth studio album, "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers", was released on May 13. Ahead of its release, he visited Ghana to shoot a mini documentary with Spotify. He also invited and met music executives and other Ghanaian artists such as Stonebwoy, Amaarae, Black Sherif, and Smallgod during a private album listening party in Accra. In June, he performed at Louis Vuitton's Men's Spring/Summer 2023 show, in honor of their late artistic director Virgil Abloh, inside the Louvre during Paris Fashion Week. He later headlined the final night of the Glastonbury Festival.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar cites Tupac Shakur as his biggest influence, noting that he has impacted his music and everyday life. He has stated that Shakur, the Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Nas and Eminem are his top five favorite rappers. In a 2011 interview with "Rolling Stone", Lamar mentioned Mos Def and Snoop Dogg as rappers that he listened to and took influence from during his early years. He also cited DMX as someone who "really [got me started] on music. "That first album ["It's Dark and Hell Is Hot"] is classic, [so he had an influence on me]." He further added that Eazy-E also influenced him, saying, "I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Eazy-E."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In a September 2012 interview, Lamar stated that Eminem "influenced a lot of my style" and has credited him for his own aggression on records such as "Backseat Freestyle". Lamar also gave Lil Wayne's work in Hot Boys credit for influencing his style and praised his longevity. He has said that he also grew up listening to Rakim, Dr. Dre, and Tha Dogg Pound. In January 2013, when asked to name three rappers that have played a role in his style, Lamar said: "It's probably more of a west coast influence. A little bit of Kurupt, [Tupac], with some of the content of Ice Cube." In a November 2013 interview with "GQ", when asked who are the four MCs that made him, he answered Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Mobb Deep, namely Prodigy. Lamar professed to having been influenced by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and Parliament-Funkadelic during the recording of "To Pimp a Butterfly".


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar's musical style is known to be "anti-flamboyant, interior and complex." His work is generally categorized as progressive rap due to his contributions of broadening the genre's audience to reach mainstream listeners. He's stated in an interview that "You really can't categorize my music, it's human music." Lamar's debut studio album "Section.80" was categorized as conscious hip hop. His second album "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" was heavily influenced by West Coast hip hop and 1990s gangsta rap. His next three albums, "To Pimp a Butterfly", "Damn" and "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers", are all classified as conscious hip hop records; with "To Pimp a Butterfly" incorporating elements of jazz, soul, funk and spoken word poetry, "Damn" drawing on R&B, pop and psychedelic soul influences, and "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" utilizing minimalist production.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Labeled as a technical rapper by "The New York Times", Lamar's "limber and dexterous" flow switches from derivative to generative metrics while incorporating internal and multisyllabic rhyme schemes. He's also known for his "willingness to experiment with his voice", often using cadences to convey complex emotions and tell stories through multiple personas. Tirhakah Love of MTV writes that by expanding his vocal range, Lamar "calls back to a lineage that runs through James Brown's foundational work in the ’60s; the psychedelic ’70s; Prince’s sweaty phantasmagoria in the ’80s; and gangsta rap's run in the ’90s. In each of these eras, artists stretched the human voice in order to challenge listeners to consider the forces residing in our bodies, awaiting a sound to call them to life."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar's introspective and confessional songwriting is often based on his personal life. He has been branded a "master of storytelling" by "The New Yorker", while his lyricism has been described by "Billboard" as "Shakespearean". Considered a "radio-friendly but overtly political rapper" by "Pitchfork", Lamar's writing often contain political and social commentary centered around African American life and culture, exploring themes of racism, black empowerment and social injustice. It has been compared to a State of the Union address by "The Guardian". Jacob Uitti of "American Songwriter" notes, "For as much as he is a musician and a lyricist and an emcee, Lamar is also a playwright, a novelist, a short story author. He’s literary within the art form of music."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: All of Lamar's studio albums have been classified as concept albums. "Section.80" is themed around Generation Y and dwells on related subjects such as the 1980s crack epidemic, medication tolerance and the presidency of Ronald Reagan. "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" is a nonlinear narrative that chronicles Lamar's harsh teenage experiences in his native Compton. "To Pimp a Butterfly" combines political and personal themes such as racial inequality, depression, and institutional discrimination to document the Black American experience. "Damn" explores the dualities of human nature and delves into themes of morality and spirituality. "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" details Lamar's experiences in therapy and explores personal themes such as childhood and generational trauma, accountability and celebrity worship.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar's 2015 song "The Blacker the Berry" gathered controversy following the lines, "So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street, when gang-banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me? Hypocrite!" Some fans perceived the line to be Lamar judging the black community. Lamar later explained the motivation behind the lyric in an NPR interview, saying, "It's not me pointing at my community; it's me pointing at myself, I don't talk about these things if I haven't lived them, and I've hurt people in my life. It's something I still have to think about when I sleep at night."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: While Lamar's 2022 song "Auntie Diaries" was met with praise from critics and transgender listeners, the song was also met with heavy criticism due to Lamar's epizeuxis usage of "faggot", as well as deadnaming and misgendering his transgender relatives to express his own personal growth from childhood misunderstanding.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In August 2013, Lamar was featured on the song "Control" by Big Sean. In his verse, Lamar called out several rappers, telling them he was going to murder his competition. The verse gathered responses and diss tracks from artists such as Joe Budden, Papoose, Meek Mill, Diddy, Lupe Fiasco, and B.o.B. "Rolling Stone" called the single "one of the most important hip-hop songs of the last decade".


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar has been reported to be in a feud with Drake. "Complex" called their relationship "complicated", Genius called it a "subliminal war", and "GQ" called it a "cold war" due to the mass popularity of both artists. Before Lamar's "Control" verse, Lamar had been featured on Drake's "Buried Alive Interlude", Drake was featured on Lamar's single "Poetic Justice", and both were featured on A$AP Rocky's song "Fuckin' Problems". Drake responded to Lamar's "Control" verse in an interview with "Billboard", saying, "I know good and well that Kendrick's not murdering me, at all, in any platform."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In September 2013, Drake's third album, "Nothing was the Same", was released. Publications such as "Complex" speculated that Drake had directed subliminal insults at Lamar in the song "The Language". In an interview with "Pitchfork" a day later, Drake showed disapproval of "Control", saying he wasn't impressed with it and added, "Mind you, it'll go on– "Complex" and Rap Radar will give it like, verse of the millennium and all that shit or whatever." Drake later said his only competition was Kanye West, after being asked about Kendrick saying he was murdering his competition. Lamar further escalated tensions in the 2013 BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher when he referred to Drake during the cypher, saying, "Yeah, and nothing's been the same since they dropped 'Control' / And tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes." Stereogum noted that Lamar was referencing Drake's third studio album, "Nothing was the Same", and also Drake being called overly sensitive by the media.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In December 2013, Drake, whilst being interviewed by "Vice", said he "stood his ground" and he has to realize "I'm being baited and I'm not gonna fall", then refusing to deny that the line on "The Language" was directed to Lamar, saying he "doesn't want to get into responses". Drake later went on to say that he acknowledged the lines in Lamar's cypher were for him and that it wasn't enough for him to prepare a response before saying they haven't seen each other since the BET cypher. Several more reported subliminal lines were spoken by each rapper, four by Kendrick on the songs, "Pay for it", "King Kunta", "Darkside/Gone", and "Deep Water" and two by Drake on the songs "Used To" and "4PM In Calabasas".


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In June 2016, former NFL player and broadcast show host Marcellus Wiley alleged that on his ESPN show, Drake or Lamar had given an interview in which they started "talking noise" and claimed that they had problems with the other individual. The interview was eventually not aired and Wiley said it had been "destroyed". Wiley said that the interview would have escalated the reported feud to become official with diss tracks being directed at the other side. Following an almost year-long hiatus from music, Lamar released "The Heart Part 4". It was speculated that Lamar's line, "One, two, three, four, five / I am the greatest rapper alive" was a response to Drake's line, "I know I said top five, but I'm top two / And I'm not two and I got one" on the song "Gyalchester". Kendrick proceeded to insult rappers who have ghostwriters in an interview with "Rolling Stone" in August 2015. It was speculated that the insult was directed towards Drake, who has seen controversy due to the use of "ghostwriters" on songs such as "RICO".


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar has also feuded with Detroit rapper and former collaborator Big Sean. Following the release of Sean's track "Control" in August 2013 where Lamar calls Sean out and claims he's gonna "murder" him, Sean responded in praise, saying, "Alright, that's what it need to get back to, it need to get back to hip-hop, that culture." In January 2015, Sean later spoke on "Control", saying that the song was "negative" and a month later released the "Me, Myself, and I". In October 2016, Big Sean released "No More Interviews" with shots directed at Lamar.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In May 2018, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, contacted Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, and the streaming service's head of artist relations Troy Carter to express his frustrations with their policy. Conceived in light of the #MeToo movement, the removal policy sought to promote "openness, diversity, tolerance and respect" by removing content that promotes, advocates, or incites hatred and violence against an individual or group based on characteristics. In accordance to the policy, the streaming platform removed XXXTentacion and R. Kelly's music their editorial and algorithmic playlists due to their publicized acts of violence against women. Tiffith claimed that the policy was censorship and threatened to pull music from his label, including Lamar's, from the platform if they kept the policy as it stood. In the midst of Tiffith's threat, Lamar praised XXXTentacion's debut studio album "17" on Twitter. In response to the criticism, Spotify reversed their policy and reinstated XXXTentacion's music back onto playlists after other artists threatened to pull their music.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar began his filmmaking career by writing the music video for his song "Ignorance Is Bliss". He made his directorial debut with the music video for "Backseat Freestyle". Since then, he has directed several of his music videos alongside his creative partner Dave Free under the collective name The Little Homies. In 2014, Lamar produced and was featured in "M.A.A.D", a short film inspired by his second studio album "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City". In December 2015, he co-directed, edited and starred in the short film "God Is Gangsta", which was inspired by his third studio album "To Pimp a Butterfly". He began executive producing music videos in 2020 with Baby Keem's "Hooligan". In January 2022, Lamar and Free announced that they will be producing an untitled comedy film with "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: In July 2018, Lamar made his acting debut in the fifth season of the Starz drama series "Power", portraying a Dominican drug addict named Laces. His casting stemmed from his friendship with rapper 50 Cent, who stars in and executive produces the series. Lamar wanted to portray a character that did not resemble his musical persona, and drew inspiration from various people he knew when growing up in Compton. He also compared his acting preparation to his songwriting, saying that he prefers to "always have that open space to evolve". Lamar's performance was praised by critics and viewers, and earned him an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy or Drama Series.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar owns a percentage of his former record label Top Dawg Entertainment. In December 2014, he was announced as a brand ambassador for sportswear brand Reebok, and designed six sneakers with the company. After ending his ambassadorship with Reebok in 2017, Lamar began a partnership with Nike and collaborated on five sneakers. In 2022, he collaborated with Converse on two sneakers.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar's work has earned universal acclaim from music critics, industry peers, and cultural figures. He has been named by numerous media outlets as one of the most influential artists of the 2010s, with "Billboard" listing him as one of the greatest rappers of all time. He has been credited by NPR Music with the revival of jazz rap, which waned after the 1990s. Writing for "Esquire UK", editor Olivia Ovended opined, "Even if you're not overly familiar with Lamar's back catalogue, his influence in music is everywhere, from the West Coast hip-hop now being made by Anderson .Paak. to the trap of Gucci Mane. He is—and we'll brook no argument here—the greatest rapper making music today." "The New Yorker" journalist Carrie Battan considered him "California's biggest hip-hop artist since the nineteen-nineties." Lamar has been branded as the "New King of Hip Hop" numerous times by media outlets. Steve Batlin of "Forbes" writes that although he "may or may not be the greatest rapper alive right now", he's "certainly in the very short lists of artists in the conversation." Lamar frequently refers to himself as the "Greatest Rapper Alive" and has once declared himself the "King of New York".


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: His music was also used during protests following the 2016 United States presidential election. According to American studies and media scholar William Hoynes, Lamar's progressive rap music places him in a long line of African-American artists and activists who "worked both inside and outside of the mainstream to advance a counterculture that opposes the racist stereotypes being propagated in white-owned media and culture". History.com considered Lamar's Pulitzer Prize win as "a sign of the American cultural elite's recognition of hip-hop as a legitimate artistic medium." "NPR Music" writer Marcus J. Moore noticed Lamar's rap-jazz aesthetic present on his repertoire, "he's at the vanguard of this movement, proving that he too is a rule breaker, just like Miles, Herbie, Coltrane, Glasper and Hargove, who all took bold creative risks to push jazz into uncharted territory," and stated that Lamar is introducing jazz to a generation "who might only know it through their parents' old record collections." "Esquire US" writer Matt Miller opined about the rapper's videography in 2017, crediting Lamar for "reviving" the music video as "a powerful form" of social commentary, citing as examples "Alright" and "Humble".


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Multiple artists have cited his work as an inspiration, including Khalid, Roddy Ricch, Christine and the Queens, Jhené Aiko, Cordae, Car Seat Headrest and Dua Lipa. Madonna praised "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" as "history making" and "mind-bogglingly brilliant". Pharrell Williams called Lamar "one of the greatest writers of our times", explaining that he "knows how to be very disciplined with a subject matter, he knows that stickiness is important, and he knows that it has to feel great." Lorde described him as "the most popular and influential artist in modern music". David Bowie's final studio album "Blackstar" (2016) was influenced by "To Pimp a Butterfly", which was noted by "Rolling Stone" as one of the albums that made Lamar "the decade's deepest, rangiest, most musical and consequential rapper."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar has won fourteen Grammy Awards. At the 57th Grammy Awards in 2015, his single "i" earned him his first two wins: Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. At the 58th Grammy Awards, Lamar led the list of nominations with 11 mentions, passing Eminem and Kanye West as the rapper with the most nominations in a single night, and second overall behind Michael Jackson and Babyface, who hold the record of 12 nominations. Lamar was the most-awarded artist at the ceremony with five. "good kid, m.A.A.d city", "To Pimp a Butterfly" and "Damn" have all been nominated for Album of the Year, with the latter two winning for Best Rap Album. Those three albums were featured on "Rolling Stone"'s industry-voted list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020. "DAMN." won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, making Lamar the first non-jazz or classical artist to win the award. In collecting his award on May 30, 2018, new Pulitzer administrator Dana Canedy, the first woman and African American to lead the organization, told him: "Congratulations, looks like we're both making history this year." In 2019, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "All the Stars". At the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, he won Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar has received two honors in his hometown. On May 11, 2015, he received the California State Senate's Generational Icon Award from State Senator Isadore Hall III (D–Compton) who represents California's 35th district. From the senate floor, Lamar told the legislature, "Being from the City of Compton and knowing the parks that I played at and the neighborhoods, I always thought how great the opportunity would be to give back to my community off of what I do in music." On February 13, 2016, Mayor of Compton, California Aja Brown presented Lamar with the key to the city, for "representing Compton's evolution, embodying the New Vision for Compton."


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: He appeared for the first time on the "Time" 100 list of most influential people in 2016. His debut major-label release, "good kid, m.A.A.d city", was named one of "The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time" by "Rolling Stone". "To Pimp a Butterfly" was ranked by many publications as one of the best albums of the 2010s (decade), with "The Independent" placing it first. In 2015, "Billboard" included Lamar in "The 10 Greatest Rappers of All-Time." "Complex" magazine has ranked Lamar atop "The 20 Best Rappers in Their 20s" annual lists in 2013, 2015 and 2016. He has also won six "Billboard" Music Awards, seven BET Awards (including Album of the Year), and 25 BET Hip Hop Awards—the most for an artist.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: While attending Centennial High School, Lamar began dating beautician Whitney Alford. In April 2015, during an interview with "The Breakfast Club", Lamar revealed that they were engaged. The couple have two children together: daughter Uzi (born July 2019), and son Enoch. Lamar is an older cousin of fellow rapper Baby Keem, and a younger cousin of basketball player Nick Young. He is a notable fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Rams.


title: Kendrick Lamar

text: Lamar is a devout Christian, having converted following the death of a friend. He has been outspoken about his faith in his music and interviews. He has been baptized twice; first when he was 16 and again in 2013, which he announced during his opening set at Kanye West's The Yeezus Tour. Lamar has credited God for his fame and his "deliverance" from crime that often plagued Compton in the 1990s. He also believes his career is divinely inspired, saying in an interview with "Complex" in 2014, "I got a greater purpose, God put something in my heart to get across and that's what I'm going to focus on, using my voice as an instrument and doing what needs to be done." The introductory lines to his second studio album "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" (2012) includes a form of the Sinner's Prayer. His song "I" and his fourth studio album "Damn" (2017) further discusses his Christian faith and spiritual struggles. In 2014, Lamar dressed up as Jesus for Halloween, explaining, "If I want to idolize somebody, I'm not going to do a scary monster, I'm not gonna do another artist or a human being—I'm gonna idolize the Master, who I feel is the Master, and try to walk in His light. It's hard, it's something I probably could never do, but I'm gonna try. Not just with the outfit but with everyday life. The outfit is just the imagery, but what's inside me will display longer." On the cover of "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" (2022) and during select promotions for the album, Lamar wore a diamond crown of thorns designed by Tiffany & Co.. During his headlining performance at Glastonbury Festival, Lamar explained that he wore the crown as both a "nod of respect to the artists who came before him" and as a reminder of his imperfections, while adding, "They judge you, they judged Christ." He repeated the chant at the end of his performance with theatrical blood pouring down his face; this time, he added "Godspeed for women's rights" in response to the overturning of "Roe v. Wade".