Kendrick Lamar was first “discovered” at the local level by Top Dawg Entertainment founder Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, after a friend and future collaborator Dave Free passed along Kendrick’s early mixtape, which led to Lamar signing with TDE in the mid‑2000s. Later in his career, his leap into the mainstream was propelled when Dr. Dre took interest in his work and brought him into a joint deal with Aftermath and Interscope.

Early discovery at TDE

  • As a teenager in Compton, Kendrick (then rapping as K.Dot) recorded early mixtapes that circulated locally and online.
  • School friend and aspiring music exec Dave Free was impressed, began working with him, and helped get his music in front of Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, who signed him to the then‑new independent label Top Dawg Entertainment around 2004–2005.

Breakthrough to the mainstream

  • Years after joining TDE, Kendrick’s project Section.80 and his growing buzz put him on the radar of Dr. Dre, who was looking for new West Coast talent.
  • Dre’s interest led to a joint deal with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope, setting up the release of good kid, m.A.A.d city and turning Kendrick from underground star into a mainstream headliner.

So who “discovered” him?

  • At the industry/label level, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith is widely credited as the one who discovered and signed Kendrick Lamar early on.
  • At the superstar level, Dr. Dre is often described as having “discovered” Kendrick for the mainstream, after TDE had already developed him, by co‑signing and signing him to Aftermath.

In short: Tiffith and TDE discovered and built Kendrick, while Dr. Dre discovered him for the wider world.

TL;DR:

  • Local/label discovery: Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith via Dave Free and early K.Dot tapes.
  • Major‑label/global discovery: Dr. Dre bringing him into Aftermath/Interscope after Section.80.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.