Kendrick Lamar

Rapper

Lamar is the outstanding popular musician of our time, representing a bridge between the hyper-masculine gangster rap of his native Compton, Los Angeles, and something more reflective, as he reckons with the social issues especially affecting young men. His latest album—his fourth consecutive triumph—is an honest, if abrasive, exploration of black trauma, sexual abuse, his

Christian faith and mental ill-health, as well as homophobia and transphobia among African Americans. He is the first rapper ever to win a Pulitzer Prize—for 2017’s album Damn. His headline slot at Glastonbury this year, when he wore a diamond crown of thorns, confirmed his genius.