Kendrick Lamar, From BLM Symbol to Super Bowl Star

THE ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE to Kendrick Lamar's music over the past 12 years has been driven in part by the perception that he's a political vessel.

- Zak Cheney-Rice

GOOD KID, M.A.A.D CITY SXSW performance

He's not just the most lyrically gifted MC of his generation but the griot of the Obama era and its discontents, whose songs have galvanized street protests against police brutality as seamlessly as they have filled concert arenas and inspired academic books. But what exactly are his politics?

2012 Young Leader

The year Kendrick released his debut album marked his first real brush with political controversy. In an interview with conspiracy website Truth Is Scary, the Compton native, then 25, proclaimed, "I don't do no voting," signaling his intention to sit out the upcoming election. The backlash was immediate. "He isn't the only young leader frustrated with the state of the political process," said Robert "Biko" Baker, president of the League of Young Voters. Yet by refusing to vote, Baker added, the rapper was "giving the very people he is frustrated with more free rein." Kendrick clarified his stance: Americans should vote, but only for "the right reasons," he tweeted, so they "won't point the finger at that black man like y'all did," presumably referring to Obama.

"ALRIGHT" BET Awards performance

2015 Fox News Target