Ranking Kendrick Lamar albums by sales
Kendrick Lamar has quickly become one of the world’s biggest rappers, remaining consistent from album to album. Now six studio albums into his career, K. Dot has proven time and time again that quality and attention to detail will always prevail when it comes to crafting a hip-hop classic.
King Kenny was born Kendrick Duckworth in Compton, California, in 1987. Named after Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations, Kendrick was an only child until seven. His parents are both from the South Side of Chicago but relocated to Compton in 1984, just several years before he was born.
As a school kid, he was described as a quiet student who performed well academically. His English teacher, Regis Inge, introduced him to poetry, and he fell in love with songwriting. He studied rhymes, metaphors, and double entendres and wrote lyrics in his school notebooks.
Kendrick’s interest in rapping was sparked by hearing a recording of his voice for the first time. In high school, he acquired the rap name K. Dot and began freestyling and battle rapping on the school grounds. He graduated from high school in 2005 as a straight-A student and went on to focus on a music career.
His now-longtime collaborator, Dave Free, travelled from Inglewood to watch him rap. While working as a computer technician, he eventually introduced his Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year mixtape to Top Dawg Entertainment founder Anthony ‘Top Dawg’ Tiffith.
Tiffith invited Kendrick to an audition for TDE, where he freestyled for him and president Terrence ‘Punch’ Henderson for two hours. He was then signed to the label in 2005 alongside Jay Rock and purchased a stake.
Kendrick released multiple mixtapes, including Training Day, No Sleep ‘Til NYC, C4, Overly Dedicated and his self-titled EP, before dropping his debut album Section.80 in 2011, peaking at number 113 on the Billboard 200 chart. The next album changed everything, with Kendrick signing a deal with Dr Dre’s Aftermath label and releasing good kid, m.A.A.d city, which reached number two in the albums chart.
His subsequent four albums, To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN., Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers and GNX, all topped the Billboard 200 and have earned acclaim from fans and critics alike. He also dropped untitled unmastered., a compilation album containing unreleased demos, in 2016, along with the soundtrack for Marvel’s Black Panther movie in 2018.
Everyone has their favourite Kendrick Lamar album, whether it’s the jazz rap on To Pimp a Butterfly, hard-hitting tracks like ‘Humble’ on DAMN. or deeply confessional lyrics on Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. Below, take a look at Kendrick’s biggest album in terms of sales, according to Best Selling Albums. Note: data for GNX, released in 2024, isn’t provided, so it doesn’t appear on the list.
Kendrick Lamar album sales ranked:
- DAMN. (2017) – 4,255,414 sold
- good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) – 3,757,000 sold
- To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) – 1,518,219 sold
- Section.80 (2011) – 500,000 sold
- Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers (2022) – 110,000 sold
- untitled unmastered. (2016) – 60,000 sold