Since getting his big break in the industry, Lamar has continuously addressed police brutality in his songs. Particularly, Lamar’s 2015 single, “Alright,” has become widely recognized as a protest song in the Black community. Despite his legendary artistry, Lamar has been faced with great measures of tragedy through his years. In his 2010 track, “Cut You Off (To Grow Closer),” the rapper touched on the death of his grandmother, who was actively involved in his life as a child and with whom he had shared a great bond. “Ever since grandma died, everyone parted ways / Argue on holidays,” he rapped, in part.

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During his 2015 interview with NPR, Kendrick Lamar opened up about the tragic death of his friend Chad Keaton. “Chad Keaton. He was like my little brother; we grew up in the same community,”  he shared, explaining that he had been best friends with Keaton’s older brother, Jason before his incarceration. “And him just always telling me to make does kendrick lamar do drugs sure that Chad is on the right path. And, you know, he was on the right path,” Lamar added. Unfortunately, Keaton ended up getting gravely injured in a drive by shooting while Lamar was on tour in 2013. Despite their financial challenges, Lamar’s childhood had good memories. His parents frequently had house parties in their home, some of which he snuck into.

Do people smoke weed at Kendrick Lamar concerts?

It’s almost a summary of all the themes shown through the whole album. With the long awaited release of this album, he explains how he doesn’t want his fans to wait on him and that they should grow on their own. Manduca, Robert, et al. “Punishing and toxic neighborhood environments independently predict the intergenerational social mobility of black and white children.” PNAS, 2019. In her 2010 book, The New Jim Crow, author Michelle Alexander argues that the American prison system has served as an extension of Jim Crow oppression beyond the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Through tough-on-crime efforts such as the war on drugs, African American men are arrested and incarcerated at shockingly disproportionate rates. Black people with criminal records face all sorts of legal discrimination in housing, voting, and employment, to only name a few.

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• Because those kids aren’t going to be the next Kendrick, more than likely.
• However, Lamar told HipHopDX back in 2011 that his dad had an incredible impact on the his life and it kept the rapper from falling into the lifestyle.
• Muller and Roehrkasse find that high-income black people are more likely to live in a high-incarceration neighborhood than low-income white people.
• Many other sober celebrities, including Pharrell Williams and Eminem, also fit the cateogry.
• In an interview with Fox News, Budden spoke about the dangers he’s experienced with the party-popular drug.

This, however, is only one of the many tragedies Lamar has been faced with through the years. Lupe Fiasco has always been a passionate artist, but he has also had a long battle with substance abuse. He was able to get sober in 2012, and has since opened up about his struggles and how he was able to overcome them. Since then, he has been open about the importance of sobriety and how it has helped him better himself as an artist. While many rap artists like to boast about their sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle, it’s landed many in prison, many broken, battered and bruised, and a number even six-feet under. The artist’s commitment to mental wellness through sobriety has become increasingly relevant in today’s conversation about mental health and addiction.

I don’t need any enhancers, I’ve never done it.” It turns out Hopsin’s “Ill Mind” isn’t so twisted, after all. Lamar’s philanthropic lifestyle appropriately measures up to this definition. He has successfully combated systemic failures such as police brutality, education, poverty to name a few. Additionally, he has achieved in breaking barriers that poverty stricken demographics face and giving these people a positive platform to challenge the system that abuses them. Macklemore has struggled with remaining sober his whole life.

To put it in perspective, he stopped mid-song during a concert in Detroit, just because he couldn’t relate to his old music anymore. He told the crowd that he doesn’t do any of that anymore, and couldn’t fully connect with the content of the songs—which is definitely a good thing. Over the years, Eminem has battled, going back and forth from stoned to clean, even recording an album called Recovery, where  he spilled his guts out about his demons. His high energy, colorful personality and fan demographic (who indulges in drugs quite heavily) doesn’t stop him from speaking drug addiction on his commitment to the straight edge lifestyle. A life-long musician, a former promoter, and a vinyl enthusiast, he loves digging into the stories behind the great artists of our time.

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• As much as Kendrick Lamar’s parents did to provide for him and his siblings, there was little they could do to shelter him from the world outside.
• In his younger years, Eminem had a serious pill-popping addiction, something which is generally well-known if you’re a fan of the MC.
• Lamar was introduced to the California Senate by fellow Compton native Senator Isadore Hall III.
• But in my opinion, out of his five studio released albums none of them are comparable.
• A 2019 PNAS study found that kids raised in neighborhoods with high incarceration rates are at a higher risk of experiencing downward mobility and future incarceration themselves (Manduca et al. 2019).

Banks said, “I’ve never had any drugs and I had a little taste of alcohol when I was 12-years-old, but that’s about it.” Thankfully, she said, she doesn’t have an addictive personality. Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is a rapper, songwriter, and producer. Lamar is regarded as one of the most influential artists of his generation, having won 13 Grammys and stamping his undeniable influence on the music of the 2010s and beyond. He reminds me a lot about Bob Dylan in the sense of his career and how he always goes left when others go right and doesn’t do what’s expected of me. There’s often very similar signs throughout music history of people that reach this special songwriting level that’s just above everyone. Alford would later catch on and encouraged the rapper to seek help.