Kendrick Lamar’s 20 Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits

From Section.80 to No. 1, Kendrick Lamar has stormed to levels of commercial success and critical admiration in the last two decades that place him as one of the preeminent rappers of his generation — and many observers suggest, already among the greatest of all time.

Born in Compton, Calif., Lamar earned regional buzz for a series of mixtapes in the 2000s, but slowly attracted larger attention beginning with his Overly Dedicated mixtape. The release became his first Billboard chart entry, reaching No. 72 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums list in October 2010. Less than a year later, Lamar’s debut album, Section.80, allowed the rapper to break onto the Billboard 200 for the first time and peaked at No. 113 in June 2011.

The hitmaking run ignited with his next album, 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d city. The set, his initial LP through a major label, Aftermath/Interscope Records, opened and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and produced three top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – the No. 17 hit “Swimming Pools (Drank),” “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” (No. 32) and the Drake-assisted “Poetic Justice” (No. 26). Cementing its acclaim among Lamar’s industry peers, the set was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, including album of the year.

Since that breakthrough, every Lamar project has become an event. Each of good kid’s studio album successors – To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) DAMN. (2017), Mr. Morale & The Good Steppers (2022) and GNX (2024) – has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as have Lamar’s exploratory demo collection Untitled Unmastered (2016) and the multi-artist soundtrack that he curated for the film Black Panther (2018).

While singles success didn’t initially mirror the chart-topping results of his albums, Lamar steadily became a major player on the Hot 100. He earned his first No. 1 as a guest on Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” in 2015 before unlocking the penthouse on his own with “Humble.” two years later. He accumulated more top 10 hits with solo songs, including “DNA.” and “N95,” and collaborations with acts such as Maroon 5 (“Don’t Wanna Know”), The Weeknd (“Pray for Me”) and SZA (“All the Stars”).

Chart fortunes, however, surged to a new plane in 2024 following a feud with Drake that captured pop culture’s attention. Thanks to Lamar’s targeted verse on the “Like That” collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin, the song debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and sparked an array of diss tracks between the two rappers. Among them, Lamar earned a second Hot 100 No. 1 with “Not Like Us,” the most successful track of the entire saga.

With public momentum in his corner, Lamar released GNX in November 2024. The set’s “Squabble Up” arrived as the rapper’s third Hot 100 leader for the year – the most of any artist in 2024. In addition, GNX tracks occupied the entire top five in its debut week, making Lamar only the fourth act – after The Beatles, Drake and Taylor Swift – to monopolize the region.

Lamar’s victory lap extended into 2025, with five wins at the 2025 Grammy Awards ceremony, including record of the year and song of the year for “Not Like Us.” On Feb. 9, he’ll headline the halftime show at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

As Lamar prepares for his turn on the world’s biggest stage, let’s recap the Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper’s 20 biggest hit songs on the Hot 100, a review that encapsulates a range of his earliest, scrappy hits to world-conquering anthems.

Kendrick Lamar’s Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits ranking is based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 from its Aug. 4, 1958, start through Feb. 8, 2025. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods.

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