First biography of Kendrick Lamar released

Kendrick Lamar's first biography, The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America, has been penned by Pitchfork journalist Marcus J. Moore.

Moore, a specialist on jazz, soul, hip-hop and rock for The New York Times, Bandcamp and Entertainment Weekly, explores Lamar's spectacular rise to stardom and his cultural impact on a fractured American society.

Lamar, now a thirteen-time Grammy Award­–winning rapper, released his second album 'To Pimp a Butterfly' in 2015, an LP since ranked in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. 'Butterfly' was followed by a Pulitzer Prize for Music (becoming the first non-classical / non-jazz artist to win the award) and an Oscar winning score for Marvel movie, 'Black Panther'.

Moore's book is said to explore how a modern American icon has evolved from brushes with Compton's local gangs during his youth, to "becoming a beacon of light for countless people" and a force for change in a nation that is struggling to deal with issues of poverty, racism, and political polarisation.

The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America by Marcus J Moore is published by Hodder & Stoughton and now available online.