Why is Kendrick Lamar called K. Dot? Origins of the rapper's famous moniker explored 

American rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar, who is currently trending for his ongoing feud with longtime rival and Canadian rapper, singer, and actor Drake, is also known by his former stage name K. Dot.

When Lamar began his career in freestyling and battle rapping while in high school, he adopted the name K. Dot, which he used professionally until 2009. Under this moniker, he released various mixtapes including Konkrete Jungle Muzik.

Following that, he changed his name back to Kendrick Lamar to remove the distraction surrounding his identity, and to let people know who he is as a person and what he represents, as per his past interview with Hard Knock TV.

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Kendrick Lamar’s K. Dot stage name was part of his “prepping” phase

In 2003, when Kendrick Lamar Duckworth began his hip-hop career as a senior in Compton’s Centennial High School, he also started using the stage name K. Dot and made a name for himself in South Central Los Angeles by freestyling, battle rapping, and creating mixtapes.

In November 2017, he explained the origins of the name, during an interview with Jinx as part of ComplexCon alongside fellow guest and former NBA star, Kobe Bryant.

"K. Dot, this was me prepping myself, as far as the lyrical ability, and being able to go in the studio and say, 'You know what, I want to be the best wordsmith, anyone who gets on this track, I have to annihilate them however that is -- whether that's through rhyme schemes, whether it's through metaphors, punchlines [or] wordplay,'" Kendrick Lamar stated back then."

The Pulitzer Prize winner further continued by explaining how he later transitioned to Kendrick Lamar and his other alias Kung-Fu Kenny. He added:

“I didn't have the actual technique of songwriting then. This is the transition where [I become] Kendrick Lamar and Kung-Fu Kenny. I look at Kung-Fu Kenny as a master of the craft now. Now I have the ability to make songs and still have the wordsmith technique, intertwine it, and have a composed mentality on how to approach music.”

The Poetic Justice hitmaker mentioned that as K. Dot, he was a novice, busy learning the art of music creation, and only interacted with “people in the studio” and his “homies.” However, as Kendrick Lamar or Kung-Fu Kenny, he now connects with “people around the world, universally.”

In an earlier interview with Hard Knock TV in 2011, the rapper explained why he changed back to his birth name in 2009 following the release of his mixtape C4. Around the same time, he also launched an EP with his original name.

“The name change was just me basically developing myself. When people heard the name K. Dot, they were like, ‘The kid is dope, he can rap; but who is he?’ That went on for years -- just another kid in the streets who can rap good, right? So, I was like, ‘You know what? I want people to know who I am as a person and what I represent’,” he noted.

He also told Variety in 2017 that his name change from K. Dot to Kendrick Lamar helped him discover his true “voice” as a musician. He also stated that he should have made the move two or three years before he did.

The PGLang founder explained that rather than rushing to get signed and be commercially successful, he should have “stuck to the script and continued to develop,” and not hindered his “growth.”

Notably, the multiple-time Grammy winner got his original name from singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks, who was the co-founder of the 1960s R&B group The Temptation, as per his 2013 interview with Arsenio Hall.

In 2017, he honored his family name Duckworth in the song with the same name, which was part of the studio album DAMN.

Besides his professional monikers, Lamar is also known as 'Man Man' among his family and friends. He once told Rolling Stone during an interview that his family gave him the unusual nickname to “toughen” him up, and get him ready for the real world and the “responsibility my fans put upon me.”