Kendrick Lamar is now the most decorated rapper in Grammys history, overtaking one of his hip-hop heroes, JAY-Z.
The Compton kingpin was the night’s biggest winner at the 2026 Grammy Awards on Sunday (February 1), taking home five trophies including Record of the Year.
That pushes Kendrick’s career total of Grammy wins to 27, putting him two above JAY-Z (25) and one above Kanye West (24).
He is also now fifth on the all-time list of Grammy winners, eight behind current record-holder Beyoncé who has 35.
For the second year in a row, Kendrick — who entered the night with nine nominations — won Record of the Year thanks to his chart-topping “Luther” duet with SZA.
The song, which samples Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 hit “If This World Were Mine,” fended off tough competition from the likes of Bad Bunny’s “DTMF,” Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” and Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower,” which was crowned Song of the Year.
“This is special for me. [Luther Vandross] is one of my favorite artists of all time and they granted us the privilege to do our version of [‘If This World Were Mine’],” Kendrick said while accepting the award.
“When we got that clearance, I promise you we damn near all dropped a tear because we know how much he and Cheryl Lynn poured into that record, and being able to put our vocals over it, it proves that we were somewhat worthy to be just as great as them individuals.”
K.Dot also swept the hip-hop categories, winning Best Rap Album for GNX, Best Rap Song for “TV Off,” Best Melodic Rap Performance for “Luther” and Best Rap Performance for “Chains & Whips,” his blistering, bars-heavy collaboration with the Clipse.
The latter earned Pusha T and Malice their first-ever win at the Grammys, more than 20 years after they were first nominated at the awards.
“It’s hip-hop as usual, man. It’s an honor to be here. Tyler, the Clipse — these is my brothers in this category,” Kendrick said during his Best Rap Album acceptance speech after GNX beat out Tyler, The Creator‘s Chromakopia, the Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out, JID‘s God Does Like Ugly and GloRilla‘s Glorious.
“Every time I tell you this: hip-hop is gon’ always be right here. We gon’ be in these suits, looking good. We gon’ be having our folks with us, we gon’ be having the culture with us.”
Source: Hiphopdx.com