Career

2004–2009: Career beginnings

In 2004, at the age of 16, Lamar released his first full-length project, a mixtape titled Youngest
Head Nigga in Charge (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year), under the pseudonym K-Dot.[18] The
mixtape was released under Konkrete Jungle Muzik and garnered local recognition for Lamar.
[19]
 The mixtape led to Lamar securing a recording contract with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE),
a newly founded indie record label, based in Carson, California.[18] He began recording material
with the label and subsequently released a 26-track mixtape two years later, titled Training
Day (2005).[20]
Throughout 2006 and 2007, Lamar would appear alongside other up-and-coming West Coast
rappers, such as Jay Rock and Ya Boy, as opening acts for veteran West Coast rapper The
Game. Under the moniker K-Dot, Lamar was also featured on The Game's songs "The Cypha"
and "Cali Niggaz".[21][22]
In 2008, Lamar was prominently featured throughout the music video for Jay Rock's commercial
debut single, "All My Life (In the Ghetto)", which features American hip hop superstar Lil
Wayne and was backed by Warner Bros. Records. Lamar garnered further recognition after a
video of a live performance of a Charles Hamilton show surfaced, in which
Hamilton battled fellow rappers who were in the audience. Lamar began rapping a verse over
the instrumental to Miilkbone's "Keep It Real", which would later appear on a track titled "West
Coast Wu-Tang".[14]
After receiving a co-sign from Lil Wayne,[23][24] Lamar released his third mixtape in 2009, titled C4,
which was heavily themed around Wayne's album Tha Carter III.[25] Soon after, Lamar decided to
drop K-Dot as his stage name and go by Kendrick Lamar. He subsequently released a self-titled
extended play in late 2009.[26] That same year, Lamar along with his TDE label-mates: Jay Rock,
Ab-Soul and ScHoolboy Q formed Black Hippy, a hip hop supergroup.[27]