Kendrick Lamar

“It’s just big me!” With that lyric from his guest verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” this past March, Kendrick Lamar set off the most high-profile war of words that hip-hop has ever seen. But as always with Kendrick, he changed the rules of rap beef. He didn't just bring contempt to the battle: his creative psychoanalysis, storytelling, and wordplay had fans indulging in their love for hip-hop, communing to endlessly inspecting his lyrics and single art for deeper meanings. And the chart-topping, record-breaking single "Not Like Us" was used not only as a diss, but as a vehicle to unify the disparate factions in his stomping grounds of Los Angeles. That strength in numbers mentality coalesced at the epic “The Pop Out: Ken and Friends” concert, which brought more than a dozen of the most respected rappers on the West Coast out for a celebratory night at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. Kendrick capped off his incredible summer with a major announcement: that he would be headlining the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show in New Orleans, becoming the first rapper in history to do so as a solo act. And in November, he became the rapper with the most Grammy nominations this year — all without even releasing a full album. We're hopeful that that comes soon, but he's already given us plenty.