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Kendrick Lamar named Chanel’s new brand ambassador
A few months after releasing his sixth album, GNX (in November 2024), Kendrick Lamar has just been announced as the new male ambassador for Chanel Eyewear. He also made a strong impression at the Grammy Awards ceremony on February 2, 2025, winning a slew of trophies thanks to his track Not Like Us.
by Alexis Thibault.
Kendrick Lamar, the new male face of Chanel
On Monday, April 21, 2025, Kendrick Lamar was officially named a Chanel ambassador. This marks the beginning of a new chapter for the fashion house’s eyewear line and continues the ongoing mutual admiration between the Parisian house and major figures in contemporary music. From Pharrell Williams to Angèle, recently chosen as the face of Chance Eau Splendide’s fragrance, Chanel skillfully cultivates a dialogue between couture and the music world.
But this alliance didn’t happen overnight. Back in 2023, the rapper appeared at the Met Gala in a quilted jacket designed by Virginie Viard. Then, in January 2024, he turned his attention to the set design and soundtrack of Chanel’s Spring-Summer 2024 haute couture show, working alongside his creative partner Dave Free, an American filmmaker and record producer.
At 37, Kendrick Lamar now joins the elite group of male artists associated with the house, alongside Timothée Chalamet (ambassador for Bleu de Chanel) and G-Dragon, while bringing in a new perspective. “I spent a week in Paris with their teams, diving into the House’s history, visiting the ateliers, and understanding how an idea becomes an object,” Lamar explains. Chanel appears to have found in the Compton-born rapper a rare mirror: an elegance that thinks, that tells stories, and that resists.
From the Grammys to the Super Bowl, Kendrick Lamar still reigns over Hip-Hop
Leaning against the trunk of a 1987 Buick Regal T-Type, Kendrick Lamar locks eyes with the camera… On Friday, November 22, 2024, the 37-year-old rapper dropped his sixth studio album without any prior notice to the press or his longtime fans. Why bother? A surprise 12-track album — 44 minutes long — titled GNX, named after the fastest American car of 1987, further cements the legend of the Compton native.
Lamar had already stood out this year. First with his collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin (Like That), then with Not Like Us, a phenomenal diss track aimed at rapper Drake, which the media pounced on like sharks. The 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner emerged victorious from his feud with the Passionfruit (2017) performer, whose image and discography he methodically tarnished.
On Sunday, February 2, during the 67th Grammy Awards, Kendrick Lamar shone again. He took home three Grammys (during the pre-ceremony), including Best Rap Performance, and then the main awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Video of the Year for Not Like Us. No other rap track had ever won five awards before.
A short-lived controversy
Kendrick Lamar’s seven (controversial) nominations for the 2025 Grammys raised eyebrows. How can a rapper with no album release in 2024 receive so many nominations? The internet was set ablaze: was Kendrick Lamar being favored by the Academy, especially as he was scheduled to perform during the Super Bowl halftime show in February 2025?
The controversy was put to rest on Friday, November 22, 2024. As legendary producer Rick Rubin often says: “The best music is the kind you make for yourself.” Kendrick Lamar clearly understands this. GNX (not eligible for the Grammys) ignores modern conventions and public expectations. It’s an album without any hits, a work without a banger that once again reveals the flawless flow and exceptional writing of a truly singular artist. Welcome to Compton.
A star-studded line-up on GNX
Kendrick Lamar has long criticized the star system and the overly commercial offerings of his peers. And yet, paradoxically, it’s Jack Antonoff, the frontman of Bleachers and producer of Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey, who helms this unexpected record. He’s credited on eleven of the album’s twelve tracks, bringing a West Coast flavor with touches of synth-pop (Dodger Blue). Also present is Mark Anthony Spears, aka Sounwave, a longtime collaborator known for his work with Beyoncé, Schoolboy Q, and Mac Miller, and a key architect of 2012’s seminal Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.
While Kendrick takes aim at Lil Wayne, he also highlights SZA (on Luther and Gloria), Roddy Ricch, and Deyra Barrera, a mariachi musician discovered at a baseball game in Los Angeles. Critics embraced the surprise album. One standout is the sixth chapter in the Heart series, which appears as the tenth track on the record.
GNX by Kendrick Lamar, available now. Kendrick Lamar live at Paris La Défense Arena, July 15 and 16, 2025.
