Kendrick Lamar kicked off Black History Month by reaching a major hip-hop milestone at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
Nominated for nine awards for his November 2024 surprise album “GNX,” filled with songs and references that are an homage to Black culture, Lamar won five — becoming the hip-hop artist with the most Grammys in history.
With 27 Grammy awards, the celebrated rapper, who performed at last year’s Super Bowl, has now surpassed Jay-Z’s record of 25 and Kanye West, who has 24.
In accepting the Best Rap Album of the Year award, the artist emphasized the importance of hip-hop on overall culture.
“Hip-hop is gonna always be right here,” he declared.
As Lamar made hip-hop history, the evening — featuring memorable moments such as Lauryn Hill honoring the late artists D’Angelo and Roberta Flack — highlighted the historic influence of Black artists on culture overall.
“Happy because Black excellence won on Black History Month,” one social media user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Lamar’s historic night at the 68th Grammys comes at a time when diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and Black narratives are under federal attack. As a rapper, Lamar unapologetically references Black culture with songs such as “TV Off,” which won Best Rap Song, and “Chains & Whips,” which won Best Rap Performance, a category created less than 40 years ago and first awarded in 1989.
The barrier-breaking rapper also won Record of the Year alongside Sza for the song “Luther,” named after the late legendary singer Luther Vandross, whose 1982 song with Cheryl Lynn, “If This World Were Mine,” was sampled for the song. When announcing the winner, the celebrated singer Cher accidentally said the Grammy was to be awarded to Vandross, as opposed to for the song named in his honor.
While she quickly clarified her words, and the audience and artists alike treated Cher’s mix-up as an honest mistake, Lamar also emphasized the importance of using the sample.
“This is special for me,” Lamar said. “[Vandross] is one of my favorite artists of all time. They granted us the privilege to do our version of it. When we got that clearance, I promise you, we damn near all dropped a tear, because we know how much [Vandross] and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record. And being able to put our vocals on it, proves that we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.”
In accepting the award, singer SZA used the moment to offer encouragement for all those tuning in.
“I just want to say thank you to Kendrick for lifting me up. I just am a small part of this record, but what I really wanted to say is please don’t fall into despair,” she told the crowd and fans watching from home. “I know that right now is a scary time. I know the algorithms tell us that it’s so scary, and all is lost. There’s been world wars, there’s been plagues, and we have gone on. We can go on, we need each other.”