Music news: Kendrick Lamar breaks record as most Grammy-awarded rapper, beats Jay-Z

Rapper Kendrick Lamar has officially broken Jay-Z’s record as the most-awarded rapper in the event’s history after bagging a total of 27 awards. 

The 68th Annual Grammy Awards were held on Sunday, February 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles – and the showpiece was filled with powerful speeches, political statements and stellar performances. 

Lamar, 38, surpassed Jay-Z’s record of 25 Grammy Awards during this year’s event after winning the Gramophone for Best Rap Album for his 2024 release titled “GNX”. 

Five Grammy Award wins

He also collected trophies for Best Rap Song for “tv off”, Best Melodic Rap Performance for “luther”, his collaboration with SZA, Best Rap Performance for “Chains & Whips” and Record of the Year for “luther”. These were all collected from a total of nine nominations. 

During his acceptance speech, Lamar recognised his fellow nominees while describing his historic victory as “hip hop as usual”.

“I’m not good at talking about myself, but I express it through the music,” he told the audience. 

“Every time I tell you this: hip hop is gonna always be right here. We gonna be in these suits, we gonna be looking good, we gonna be having our folks with us, we gonna be having the culture with us.”

“I appreciate y’all,” Lamar concluded. “[To] God is the glory. Love y’all.”

With these wins, Lamar also joined Stevie Wonder as one of the only artists to earn five or more Grammy awards in consecutive years. 

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Bad Bunny makes history at Grammys, condemns ICE in acceptance speech

Back-to-back success

It was only a year ago when the Pulitzer Prize winner received a Grammy for his iconic Drake diss track “Not Like Us”, winning Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video.

The song had everyone in a cultural chokehold when Lamar performed it during the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2025, featuring unexpected appearances by tennis star Serena Williams and actor Samuel L. Jackson. 

Lamar earned his first career Grammy for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for “I” in 2014, and in 2015 he bagged five Grammys, including for Best Rap Performance for his hit single “Alright”.

READ NEXT: Music news: Fans split over Rosé and Bruno Mars’ Grammy loss for “APT.”