After Drake battle, Kendrick Lamar turns victory lap concert into LA unity celebration

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Not content material with merely taking a victory lap after successful his battle in opposition to fellow rap famous person Drake, Kendrick Lamar turned his Juneteenth “Pop Out” live performance on the Discussion board right into a cathartic livestreamed celebration of Los Angeles unity.

Lamar curated a three-hour live performance that includes a mixture of up-and-coming LA rappers and stars together with Tyler, The Creator, Steve Lacy and YG. When it was his flip to take the stage, the 37-year-old rapper powered via a set with Black Hippy collaborators Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, carried out his Drake diss songs “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA,” then was joined on-stage by Dr. Dre.

The 2 West Coast titans carried out “Nonetheless D.R.E.” and “California Love” earlier than Dre quieted the roaring crowd by calling for a second of silence. It was a misdirect. He then delivered the “Sixth Sense” quote that opens Lamar’s chart-topping “Not Like Us”: “I see lifeless individuals.”

A crowd of 17,000 that included The Weeknd, LeBron James, Ayo Edebiri and Rick Ross rapped alongside to each phrase of the biting-but-jubilant DJ Mustard manufacturing, which Lamar restarted twice after the primary verse and carried out 4 instances in full.

Shuffling, frolicking, dancing and spinning round him as Lamar strode the stage in a purple hoodie: NBA stars Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan, Mustard, rapper Roddy Ricch and even a teenage dance troupe led by the krumping innovator Tommy the Clown.

Lamar reveled within the second: “Y’all ain’t gon’ let no one disrespect the West Coast. Y’all ain’t gon’ let no one imitate our legends, huh,” he mentioned, referring to Drake’s use of an AI device to imitate 2Pac’s voice on certainly one of his diss information.

However Lamar had extra on his thoughts, calling out to particular women and men to affix him on-stage for a gaggle photograph.

“Let the world see this,” he mentioned. “For all of us to be on this stage collectively, unity, from East aspect … LA, Crips, Bloods, Piru — this … is particular, man. We put this … collectively only for ya’ll.

“This … ain’t acquired nothing to do with no music at this level, ain’t acquired nothing to do with no backwards and forwards information, it’s acquired all the pieces to do with this second proper right here. That’s what this … was about, to deliver all of us collectively.”

After the ultimate music, Lamar exited, saying “I promise you this received’t be the final of us.” The stabbing horns of the “Not Like Us” instrumental kicked in as soon as once more and the gang rapped the lyrics with out Lamar as they filed via hallways out to the car parking zone.