Rapper Kendrick Lamar overtakes Jay-Z as most-awarded rapper in Grammys history

American rapper, Kendrick Lamar, has set a new record at the 2026 Grammy Awards, becoming the most-awarded rapper in history with 27 wins, surpassing Jay-Z’s previous record of 25.

The 38-year-old clinched five awards at the  2026 Grammy Awards, which took place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles  on Sunday night.

He won  Best Rap Album for GNX at the start of the ceremony, before receiving another award for Record of the Year for “Luther,” featuring SZA.

He also won Best Rap Performance for “Chains & Whips,”which he is featured on with Clipse, Pusha T & Malice and Pharrell Williams; Best Melodic Rap Performance for “Luther”; and Best Rap Song for “tv off.”

“It is hip-hop as usual, man. I’m not good at talking about myself, but I express it through the music. It’s an honor to be here,” Lamar said while accepting the rap album award. “Hip-hop is going to always be right here. We are going to be in these suits looking good, having our folks with us. We are going to be having the culture with us.”

He also praised his fellow nominees: “It’s Tyler [the Creator], Clipse. These are my brothers to be in this category. What’s up Push man, Malice man. Every time I tell you this, hip hop is gonna always be right here. We gonna be in these suits. We gonna be looking good. We gonna be having our folks with us. We gonna be having the culture with us.”

Lamar concluded, “So I appreciate y’all, God is the glory. Love y’all.”

He also became the first rapper to win record of the year twice and the first male artist and rapper to win the prize consecutively.

Heading into Sunday night’s awards ceremony, Lamar was the most-nominated artist, with nine nominations in most of the major categories, followed by Lady Gaga and producers Cirkut and Jack Antonoff with seven each. Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas, and Sabrina Carpenter earned six apiece.