Q 01/05

Kendrick Lamar performs under his first and middle names; what is his surname?

A) Carter

B) Duckworth

C) Broadus

D) Griffin

Answer · why

B) Duckworth

Duckworth is also a DAMN. track about his father, who kept an armed robber sweet with free chicken at the KFC where he worked: the robber later became...

Q 02/05

Under what stage name did a teenage Kendrick release his first mixtapes?

A) K.Dot

B) Lil K

C) Kung Fu Kenny

D) Hub City Kid

Answer · why

A) K.Dot

K.Dot was dropped because, he said, people heard a kid who could rap but had no idea who he was, so he started putting his real name on his records.

Q 03/05

Which independent label signed Kendrick Lamar as a teenager and went on to release his first album?

A) Aftermath Entertainment

B) Def Jam Recordings

C) Death Row Records

D) Top Dawg Entertainment

Answer · why

D) Top Dawg Entertainment

Top Dawg Entertainment's founder told him to prove he was good, so he rapped in the booth for an hour or more; the co-president was sold, the boss too...

Q 04/05

Kendrick's 2017 album DAMN. won which honor, a first for any music outside classical and jazz?

A) Nobel

B) Pulitzer

C) MacArthur

D) Polar Music

Answer · why

B) Pulitzer

The Pulitzer arrived three months after DAMN. had lost the Grammy for Album of the Year to Bruno Mars's 24K Magic.

Q 05/05

Which politician named Kendrick Lamar's How Much a Dollar Cost his favourite song of 2015?

A) Joe Biden

B) Bernie Sanders

C) Barack Obama

D) Cory Booker

Answer · why

C) Barack Obama

Barack Obama, asked on YouTube weeks later who would win a rap battle between Kendrick and Drake, answered: "Got to go with Kendrick."