The Word Kendrick Lamar Used In First Grade That Convinced His Teachers He’d Be Successful
Lamar's teachers gave him a treasured gift by believing in him.
Adam McCullough | Shutterstock Rapper Kendrick Lamar is fresh off his Super Bowl LIX halftime performance. The set that clocked in at just over 13 minutes has been lauded for its deep symbolism that addressed everything from the direction the United States is headed into his longtime feud with fellow rapper Drake.
Naturally, while Lamar is still riding the high from this halftime performance, social media users are doing all they can to dig up more information about Lamar’s past — and they actually uncovered something good for once.
Kendrick Lamar used a word in first grade that should have been far beyond his vocabulary.
The 37-year-old rapper, whose full name is Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, is known for his word use that more closely resembles poetry than lyrics. His work has been applauded so greatly that he has been nominated for 57 Grammys, winning 22. Additionally, Lamar also won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Music.
Now, an interview has surfaced in which Lamar revealed the moment his first-grade teacher knew he was destined for greatness. Shared on the TikTok account Heritage Hip-Hop, Lamar explained the word he used that was far beyond his first-grade vocabulary.
“I was in first grade, and, um, I was just fascinated by telling how my day started, how yesterday went,” he stated. “And, um, it was one particular word that I said in first grade. It was the word 'audacity.'" He continued, “And my teacher, she pulled me to the corner and said, ‘You know what that means?’ I told her the definition, and she was like, ‘You’re a wordsmith. You may not know it, but you’re in love with words.’”
Lamar said that this moment had a profound impact on him as a child. “And ever since that moment,” he shared, “I just loved to write. That [has] always been my favorite, um, course in school — English and literature. And, um, I excelled to that, and made that transform to poetry.”
Lamar praised his first-grade teacher for her teaching style and acceptance of her students and their ideas. “What she did allowed me to, um, explore my own imagination and in-depth what was going on outside of my community,” he concluded.
Lamar’s first-grade teacher was not the only one impressed with him.
While Lamar’s story of using a word like “audacity” when he was only a first grader is staggering, it seems that his teachers continued to be impressed with him throughout his education.
NBC LA interviewed Regis Inge, a teacher at Compton Unified School District, where Lamar attended. Inge recalled a time early in Lamar’s career, when he went by the stage name K. Dot when people informed him Lamar was talking about him and the impact he had on his life.
“Somebody called me and say, ‘Hey, this rapper, I’m telling you, this rapper keep talking about you,’” Inge told the outlet. “And I’m like, ‘What rapper?’” When Inge finally found out who this mysterious K. Dot was, he couldn’t believe it. “Kendrick Duckworth is, is a rapper?” he exclaimed, recounting his reaction. “Quiet Kendrick?”
Inge, who NBC LA said knew Lamar as “a shy boy who stuttered,” saw the same kind of potential in him that his first-grade teacher did. “The passion, that which he was writing with, it was there,” Inge, who taught Lamar in seventh grade at Vanguard Learning Center, stated. To help foster the budding lyricist’s growth further, Inge encouraged Lamar to recite poetry he wrote and gave him a thesaurus.
All of this shows the power that a good teacher can have in a student’s life.
While this is certainly a testament to Lamar’s intelligence, especially at such an early age, it is also a reminder of the impact teachers can have on students’ lives.
According to Walden University, good teachers “challenge their students” and “teach lifelong lessons.” Lamar’s teachers clearly did that for him.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.