Kendrick Lamar

5 album covers in our archive

Kendrick Lamar is featured in Behind the Covers' archive with 5 album covers spanning the 2020s and 2010s. Released across PGLang/Interscope Records, Top Dawg Entertainment and Top Dawg Entertainment / Aftermath Entertainment / Interscope Records labels, the artwork sits in the hip-hop, jazz, funk, rock tradition. Each cover is documented in our archive with design notes covering photography, minimalist, portrait, iconic, polaroid, intimate. Below you'll find the full story behind each Kendrick Lamar cover — designers, photographers, label history, and the visual choices that defined the release.

GNX (2024)

Photographed by Dave Free with lighting direction by Eduardo Silva, the stark black-and-white cover shows Kendrick posed with his 1987 Buick Grand National Experimental. The minimalist composition reflects pgLang's creative direction, connecting Lamar's birth year to automotive legacy.

Label: PGLang/Interscope Records
Photographer: Dave Free with lighting direction by Eduardo Silva, the stark black-and-white cover shows Kendrick posed with his 1987 Buick Grand National Experimental
Genre: Hip-Hop
Decade: 2020s

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DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar — album cover art

DAMN. (2017)

Shot in a single afternoon in Compton, this deceptively simple Polaroid-style cover became one of hip-hop's most powerful statements on Black masculinity and vulnerability. The raw intimacy of Kendrick's expression contrasts sharply with typical rap album imagery.

Label: Top Dawg Entertainment
Designer: Dave Free
Photographer: Vlad Sepetov
Genre: Hip-Hop
Decade: 2010s

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To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar — album cover art

To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)

A black-and-white house party erupts on the White House lawn, dollar bills fanned in fists, a baby cradled in the crowd, and a dead judge sprawled at everyone's feet. Kendrick Lamar's 2015 photograph turned the seat of American power into a stage for the kids he grew up with in Compton.

Label: Top Dawg Entertainment / Aftermath Entertainment / Interscope Records
Designer: Vlad Sepetov
Photographer: Denis Rouvre
Genre: Hip-Hop, Jazz, Funk
Decade: 2010s

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