Kendrick Lamar's not like anybody else.

The prolific rapper, fresh off of the umpteenth year that qualified as monumental for the 38-year-old from Compton, Calif., surpassed Jay-Z as the most-awarded rapper in Grammys history as he collected the trophy for Best Rap Album for GNX during the 2026 ceremony Feb. 1. (See the full list of winners from the 2026 Grammys.)

In his acceptance speech, Lamar—who scored three more Grammy wins earlier in the day—recognized his fellow nominees while describing his historic victory as "hip hop as usual."

"I'm not good at talking about myself, but I express it through the music," he told the audience at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles during the broadcast. "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."

"I appreciate y'all," Lamar concluded. "[To] God is the glory. Love y'all."

Heading into music's biggest night, Lamar already had 22 Grammy wins to his name and led all comers in 2026 with nine nominations, including Album of the Year for GNX and Record and Song of the Year for "Luther," his collab with SZA.

(Though he was only going to win, at most, eight, as he was nominated twice in Best Rap Performance, for his "tv off," featuring Lefty Gunplay, and his contribution to Clipse, Pusha T & Malice's "Chains & Whips," also featuring Pharrell.)

While he's yet to win Album of the Year (though the clock may be counting down on that fact), the Pulitzer Prize winner made history when the 2026 nominations were announced in November, becoming the first rapper to be nominated five times in this category as a lead artist, as well as the first solo artist ever to be nominated for this award for five consecutive studio albums, dating back to 2014's Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City.

Only a year ago he memorably ran the table with his Drake diss track "Not Like Us," winning Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video.

But while this is seemingly his time, the competition for Album of the Year is stacked, with Lamar's GNX up against LPs from Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, Leon Thomas, Tyler, the Creator and, as a unit, Clipse, Pusha T & Malice. Whichever act triumphs, it'll be their first win in this category. 

Source : E News