Kendrick Lamar Named His 25 Favourite Albums Of All Time | News

Kendrick Lamar is in town this week, touching down in London as part of his exhilarating UK tour. Breathless reports have followed his live shows, and he’ll play a series of sold out nights at London’s O2 Arena.

Kicking off this evening – November 7th – we decided to look through the internet archive to uncover some of Kendrick’s roots, his favourite albums of all time.

The list was compiled 10 years ago, coinciding with the release of ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City’; Clash profiled Kendrick Lamar at the time, and you can read it in our archive.

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In a separate piece, Kendrick Lamar spoke to Complex about his 25 favourite albums of all time, revealing his rap bedrock in the process.

As you might expect, there’s a penchant for West Coast rap, with Kendrick labelling Dr. Dre’s seminal 1992 release ‘The Chronic’ as a key touchstone for him. “That was probably the first rap album I remember them playing in the house from top to bottom. Songs that I actually remember as a kid. That’s the start of them house parties I always talk about growing up.”

Elsewhere, Kendrick praises the raw artistry of New York artist Notorious B.I.G., commenting:  “The storytelling and the flow. The one thing about West Coast music, we had storytelling, it wasn’t crazy in-depth like that, but we had it. Our stuff was more laid back, more flow and feel good, more how records felt. His was just grimy. Stories was crazy. Flows was crazy.”

You can re-visit the feature in its entirety at Complex, or find the list in full below.

1. DJ Quik – Quik Is the Name (1991)
2. Ice Cube – Death Certificate (1991)
3. Dr. Dre – The Chronic (1992)
4. Snoop Dogg – Doggystyle (1993)
5. The Notorious B.I.G – Ready to Die (1994)
6. 2Pac – Me Against the World (1995)
7. Tha Dogg Pound – Dogg Food (1995)
8. 2Pac – All Eyez on Me (1996)
9. Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt (1996)
10. 2Pac (Makaveli) – The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)
11. The Notorious B.I.G – Life After Death (1997)
12. DMX – It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998)
13. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
14. Juvenile – 400 Degreez (1998)
15. DJ Quik – Rhythm-al-ism (1998)
16. B.G. – Chopper City in the Ghetto (1999)
17. Hot Boy$ – Guerrilla Warfare (1999)
18. Lil Wayne – Tha Block Is Hot (1999)
19. E-40 – Charlie Hustle (1999)
20. Kurupt – The Street Iz a Mutha (1999)
21. Dr. Dre – 2001 (1999)
22. DJ Quik – Balance & Options (2000)
23. Nas – Stillmatic (2001)
24. Clipse – Lord Willin’ (2002)
25. Jay-Z – The Black Album (2003)

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Kendrick Lamar will play London’s O2 Arena on November 7th, 8th, and 9th. All shows are sold out.