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I Rock the Party: Kendrick Lamar - Kendrick Lamar made it on his own terms. The Top Dawg Entertainment rhymer has a platinum-selling album to his name and countless notables feature verse all spoken in his own brand of rap jargon.Lamar paints visuals with his music, often shaded under analogies inspired by everything from history to his Compton, CA upbringing. With intellect and quick-witted rhymes making him a distinct member among hip hop's new school list of talents, the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards is happy to welcome the West Coast rapper as one of this year's performers. Click below to see 10 essential K. Dot tracks.  (Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

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"Michael Jordan" Feat. SchoolBoy Q - Years before his "Control" verse waged a war on the rap game, Kendrick Lamar just wanted to be like Mike. In 2010, he dropped the Schoolboy Q-assisted track named after the sport's great and predicted his own rise, rapping: "Seen too many of ya'll getting money/Know my time coming." (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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"Swimming Pools" - Peer pressure was Kendrick Lamar's muse on the 2012 single produced by T-Minus. Here, the Compton MC asserts himself as a leader who breaks from the crowd. He recounts family battles with addiction as inspiration for his refusal to "Pour up. Drank." (Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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"Don't Kill My Vibe" - The title says one thing but the lyrics tell a whole other story. Kendrick Lamar's "Don't Kill My Vibe" is about staying unique when it's not commonplace. Lady Gaga originally sang on the track, then titled "Partynauseous," but in the end Lamar held it down solo. (Photo: Mark Davis/Getty Images for BET)

Photo By Photo: Mark Davis/Getty Images for BET

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"Poetic Justice" Feat. Drake - Kendrick showed major love to Janet Jackson with this standout song, yet the real dedication was in honor of Sherane. On the good kidd m.A.A.D. city single — titled after Jackson's 1993 film, and sampling her "Anytime, Anyplace" vocals — Lamar dotes over Sherane, the object of his adolescent affection before Drake chimes in with his own relationship story.  (Photo: Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for BET)

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"Backseat Freestyle" - Hit-Boy's gritty production is no match for Kendrick Lamar's lyrical athleticism. K. Dot's ferocious bars chokehold the beat until he lets it up for air by the song's end, when the music stands alone before the record fades to black. (Photo: Helen Boast/Redferns via Getty Images)

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"HiiiPower" - Kendrick serves "food for thought" on the first release from his acclaimed 2011 indie release, Section.80. J. Cole laid the instrumental groundwork for the TDE frontman's verbal feast replete with metaphors and nods to Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. (Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for BET)

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"P---y and Patron" Feat. Ab Soul - Two things were on K. Dot's mind on "P---y and Patron," and we've gotta give him props for his honesty. The double Ps are the medicine of choice on this vintage cut from his self-titled mixtape featuring TDE affiliate Ab Soul. (Photo: Chris McKay/WireImage)

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"A.D.H.D" - Kendrick's never been into drinking and drugs and he's not afraid to say it. Another standout from his Section.80 project finds him delving deeper into his generation's preoccupation with controlled substances, of which he refuses to partake. (Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

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"Ronald Regan Era" Feat. RZA - K.Dot and The RZA connect on the Section.80 banger. Lamar spits about West Coast life rooted on the gang-infested streets of Compton, CA. (Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Samsung)

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"Rigamortis" - Kendrick Lamar parallels the stiffness of a dead body to his competitors. The jazz beat alone individualizes "Rigamortis," while Lamar's bars are another example of the atypical direction of his pen. (Photo: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)