On February 9th history was made. Kendrick Lamar took to the field to perform the annual Super Bowl LIX half-time show - a coveted slot if ever there was one. Lamar let loose with a blisteringly delivered 13-minute set, amidst a meticulously staged and choreographed stage performance. The result was a mind-blowing spectacle of incendiary hip-hop and ferociously charged political commentary.
The overwhelming response to this spotlight performance hasn't just been indicated by glowing reviews and thinkpiece analyses of Lamar's themes and targets (was it Trump, racism, consumerism or Drake that he was most taking aim at?). The Apple Music-backed set has resulted in a huge upswing in sales, streams and public awareness of the Compton-born rapper.
On the strength of these numbers, we'd say he's comfortably become the world's biggest hip-hop artist.
Let's break down that claim. Firstly, a quick look at Kendrick's Spotify numbers. Since the performance, Lamar's monthly listeners have risen to over 100.1 million, sitting him within a small ensemble of nine artists who have also reached gone over the 100 mil mark, including the arguably more 'playlistable' The Weeknd and Bruno Mars.
This massive accomplishment comes on the heels of his winning of five Grammy Awards for the superb Not Like Us, the Drake-baiting diss track that became a pop culture talking point since its release in May last year.
Even when it comes to the more conventional metrics for ranking the success of music - the charts - Kendrick also fares remarkably well.
Three of his acclaimed albums sit within the top ten of the Billboard Top 100 Chart. His latest record, GNX, sits atop said chart, while 2017's critically acclaimed Damn re-enters the top ten seizing the no 9 slot. Then comes 2012's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City which leaps up to number 10.
As some have already pointed out, having three albums concurrently in the Billboard Top Ten marks quite the milestone. It's the first time that three albums from one rap act have sat in the top ten of the Billboard Chart since it began 69 years ago.
In fact, having three albums in this top ten is in of itself something of a rarity. The only other artists to have three albums in the top ten at the same time have been Taylor Swift and Prince (in the wake of his death in 2016).
Back in 2023, Billboard and Vibe placed Kendrick as the second most important rappers of all time, just behind Jay-Z who took the top spot in their judgement.
As Kendrick's success proves, being known for being an authentic and unique creative voice still counts for something when building a massive global audience. It's particularly impressive when we consider the more anonymous role that artists can take in the increasing number of blindly curated playlists that many passive music listeners engage with the music world through.
"I want to continue to have something that’s not microwavable in a world today where our attention span is pretty much lost," Lamar said in an interview with Time back in 2015. "I’m [going to] continue to make the music I want to make and say the things I want to say, whether you agree with it or not.”
The world is listening to Kendrick Lamar now, far more than ever before.
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