Kendrick Lamar's Handwrap At The Grammys Sparks Theories About His Next Album

BY Cole Blake
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Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Recording artist Kendrick Lamar performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl LIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Kendrick Lamar had a huge night at the Grammy Awards, taking home Best Rap Album for his 2024 project, "GNX."

Kendrick Lamar wore a boxing wrap on his right hand while attending the 2026 Grammy Awards on Sunday. The strange move has sparked several theories on social media as fans attempt to come up with an explanation. To make matters even more interesting, Dave Free shared a close-up picture of the hand wrap on his Instagram Story.

"Is Kendrick Lamar’s next album inspired by boxing?" one user asked on X (formerly Twitter). "First, there was this hand wrap he wore at the Grammys then the Pernell Whitaker video and now Kendrick referencing Roy Jones Jr… He has trained in boxing before as well (one of the better celebrities at it IMO)…" Another wrote: "See… now this.. is a rollout.. done right.. not none of this.. Drake.. Iceman streams.. this is real.. art…" One more theorized that's he's "Ready for Cole" as J. Cole gears up to drop The Fall-Off on Friday. Lamar feuded with both Drake and J. Cole back in 2024.

Kendrick Lamar's Grammy Wins

At the ceremony, Kendrick Lamar took home several awards. He won Best Rap Album for GNX, Best Rap Song for “tv off,” and Best Melodic Rap Performance for "luther," which also won Record of the Year. Winners in other categories included Doechii, Clipse, and more.

While on stage for Best Rap Album, he spoke about the everlasting popularity of hip-hop. “Every time I tell you, hip-hop gon’ always be right here,” he said. “We gon’ be in these suits, we gon’ be looking good, we gon’ be having our folks with us, we’re gon’ be havin’ the culture with us."

Lamar released GNX back in November 2024, just months after he battled with Drake over the course of several diss tracks. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart with 319,000 album-equivalent units. It features collaborations with SZA, Dody6, Lefty Gunplay, Wallie the Sensei, Siete7x, Roddy Ricch, AzChike, Hitta J3, YoungThreat, and Peysoh.

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.

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