It’s no secret that Kendrick Lamar is one of the most thorough, intensive, and skillful songwriters in all of hip-hop at the moment. Creating new narratives with incredibly poignant social commentary with each new album, Lamar’s knack for lyricism has been practically unmatched since his arrival in the early 2010s.
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But, what also makes his writing even more special is that it is rarely accessible. Throughout his career, Lamar has sparingly offered songwriting assistance to other artists, unless he has a particular affinity for them. And, whenever he can be found in the songwriting credits for another artist’s song, rest assured that it will be impressive.
Here are the five best songs by other singers or rappers that Lamar earned songwriting credits on.
1. “All Day,” Kanye West (2015)
A year before West would eventually release his star-studded seventh studio album The Life of Pablo in 2016, he would warm fans up for his return with his “All Day” single in March 2015. Upon release, the song would peak at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, as it contained a fiery performance from West on the verses and the How long you n****s ball? All day, n***a hook.
What some fans don’t know about the song is that Lamar recorded a reference track for “All Day,” which included a secret verse that almost ended up on the final version. The reference track would leak shortly after the song’s release but never earned an official remix or release. However, Lamar would still earn songwriting credits on “All Day.”
2. “BULLIES,” Baby Keem (2019)
In the past couple of years, it’s become evident that Lamar and his Las Vegas-bred cousin Baby Keem are forming one of the most thrilling duos in hip-hop. But, before they gave each other eye-opening guest verses on each other’s most recent albums, The Melodic Blue (2021) and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (2022), Lamar was working behind the scenes to uplift the blossoming emcee.
Helping produce and choreograph the release of Keem’s 2019 mixtape DIE FOR MY BITCH, Lamar earned songwriting on the project’s fifth song “BULLIES.”
3. “I Am,” Jorja Smith (2018)
When Lamar constructed the track list for the 2018 Black Panther soundtrack, he recruited some particularly fascinating names to put songs together. Along with crafting songs with SZA, Travis Scott, and The Weeknd for the LP, Lamar also helped burgeoning British vocalist Jorja Smith with the sixth song “I Am.”
Although he did not offer vocals on the song as he did for “All the Stars” or “Pray for Me,” Lamar did earn songwriting credits on Smith’s contribution to the soundtrack.
4. “CrasH,” ScHoolboy Q (2019)
Although Lamar now runs his own label imprint pgLang, which signed Baby Keem when established in 2021, he once was a member of Top Dawg Entertainment, which houses SZA, Isaiah Rashad, and ScHoolboy Q, among others. So, when ScHoolboy was making his 2019 album CrasH Talk, it came as no surprise that Lamar assisted him in the creation of some songs for it.
Along with “Numb Numb Juice,” “Floating” with 21 Savage, and “Chopstix” with Travis Scott, Lamar earned songwriting credits on the LP’s 12th song “CrasH.”
5. “WIN,” Jay Rock (2018)
Also signed to TDE, Jay Rock’s 2018 album Redemption was a colossal moment for the label, as it included features like Lamar, J. Cole, SZA, Future, and more, as well as hits like “Rotation 112th” and “WIN.” On the latter song, which eventually earned a remix with Snoop Dogg, Lamar earned songwriting credits.
(Photo by Santiago Bluguermann/Getty Images)
