Kendrick Lamar walked into this year’s American Music Awards leading the pack with 10 nominations. Artist of the Year? Check. Album of the Year? Check. Favorite Hip-Hop Artist? Of course. This year’s ceremony was set up to be another landmark in the historic year of Kendrick.
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Except… the fans had other plans.
Despite all the buzz and expectations, Kendrick walked away with just one win — Favorite Hip-Hop Song for the explosive diss track “Not Like Us.” And while that track has practically become an anthem this year, it was the only recognition he got from the AMAs. That’s right — ten nominations, one win.
In an otherwise shocking sequence of events, Eminem ended up snagging Favorite Hip-Hop Album for The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). Shady’s victory saw him edge out heavy hitters including Kendrick, Future & Metro Boomin, Gunna, and Tyler, The Creator. Meanwhile, the Favorite Male Hip-Hop Artist category, which featured Drake, Future, Tyler, and Kendrick, went to… Eminem again.
Kendrick Still Remains On Top of Hip Hop
But here’s the thing: awards are great, but Kendrick Lamar is operating on a whole different level right now.
His Grand National Tour has been nothing short of historic. In Dallas, he broke another record at AT&T Stadium with $11.8 million, making it the highest-grossing show by a Black male artist ever. Then a few weeks later in Seattle, he sold nearly 61,000 tickets at Lumen Field and grossed $14.8 million — the highest-grossing hip-hop concert ever. That’s not just winning — that’s rewriting the rules.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Compton MC continues to dominate the charts as well. “Luther,” his collab with SZA, has spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is now the longest-charting rap song in history, holding strong for over a year.
So, yeah — the AMAs may have gone the other way, but the fans, the charts, the records — they’re all shouting the same thing: Kendrick Lamar is in a league of his own.
