Kendrick Lamar Honored at Inaugural 'Variety' Hitmakers Event

With less than two months left in 2017, Kendrick Lamar continues to add to his stellar year. The TDE rapper was recently honored at Variety's inaugural Hitmakers event with the Hitmaker of the Year award.

The showcase took place Saturday (Nov. 18), at the Sunset Tower Hotel in Hollywood, Calif., and featured dozens of artists and execs. K. Dot's critically-acclaimed album, Damn., helped him win the most prestigious trophy of the night. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, since I was 13, 14 years old - 15, 16 with my boy Dave in the studio,” Lamar said during his acceptance speech. “To own and hone in the title of a hitmaker means a lot because we put a lot of time and a lot of effort [in the studio]. I wanna go back to when I was first in the studio. You know, it's a lot of trash shit I was doing in that studio that didn't live up to the hype. But I respect the moments. I love the moments. 'Cause it takes me back to the first initial idea of me trying to be lyricist or trying to be a hitmaker."

Lamar continued, “I thank each and every one of you for allowing me to evolve and let me make these weird a— songs that y’all like. These songs represent me and who I am. I want to continue to push that envelope and hopefully I continue to have y’all ears to do so.”

DJ Khaled was also honored. The master curator took home the Mediabase PowerPlaylist award. “This is the type of cloth talk that we work hard for," he stressed to those in attendance while receiving his honor.

Check out Kendrick's acceptance speech below.

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