She’s the poet of a generation. He’s a Pulitzer winner. Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar are both legends in their respective corners of the music industry, and when they get together it’s nothing short of amazing. While the two are more like colleagues than besties, it’s clear they have a mutual respect and friendship between them.
Here’s a complete Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar friendship timline.
February, 2025: At the Grammys—where 1989, a decade prior, controversially beat To Pimp A Butterfly for AOTY—Lamar’s “Not Like Us” wins record of the year, best rap song, and best music video. Every time Lamar takes the stage, Swift is up and applauding, or offering a toast to her favorite rapper.
October, 2023: With the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) comes a new recording of “Bad Blood,” which Lamar went back to the studio to contribute to. “The reality that Kendrick would go back in and re-record ‘Bad Blood’ so that I could reclaim and own this work I’m so proud of is surreal and bewildering to me,” Swift gushes on Instagram, sharing a picture from the first time they collabed.
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February, 2016: Swift, Lamar, and “Bad Blood” co-star Selena Gomez say hey at the Grammys.
May 2015: With the 1989 hype still going, Swift releases a remix of “Bad Blood” that features a verse from Lamar, who also appears in the star-studded music video as “Welvin Da Great.”
(Though the song was something of a diss track from Swift to Katy Perry—and though Lamar is certainly no stranger to the art of the diss track—he reveals later that he wasn’t aware of that context and has no side in the Swift-Perry feud.)
“You forgive, you forget but you never let it…go” becomes a must-scream lyric to Swifties forever.
March 2015: When Lamar’s album To Pimp A Butterfly goes on iTunes a week ahead of schedule, Swift tweets, “KENDRICK PUT HIS ALBUM OUT EARLY. NO ONE TOUCH ME” in excitement.
January 2015: Kendrick tells Billboard he’s definitely open to a Swift collab, praising her passion for music. Watch the full clip to see him freestyle over his favorite song of hers, “Shake It Off.”
November 4, 2014: Lamar tells The Fader, “Shout out to Taylor Swift. You can’t put great music in different genres. I enjoy great music outside of my own music all the time, so I definitely can see where she’s coming from when she says that she listens to the record, and it’s a great thing for her to acknowledge that and put that good energy out into the world like that.” He also sings a couple lines from “Shake It Off.”
At the same time, Swift celebrates 1989‘s massive success by lip synching to “Backseat Freestyle” the song in her car. “I really wish I was best friends with Kendrick Lamar, and I’m not, and it makes me sad daily,” she shared at the time.
September 2014: Swift tells Rolling Stone that her go-to pick-me-up is listening to Lamar’s “Backseat Freestyle.”
“I appreciate Taylor Swift for supporting not only my music but just the hip-hop culture,” Lamar responds in a chat with the AP shortly after.
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