HHRV #16 Kendrick Lamar & Friends

HHRV #16
Kendrick Lamar & Friends

IN A MOMENT that may go down in rap history, Kendrick Lamar performed his Drake-eviscerating hit “Not Like Us” for the first time at his Juneteenth concert, The Pop Out: Ken & Friends. The show took place at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum and was announced less than two weeks prior. It was livestreamed on Twitch by Amazon Music.

Kendrick performed the track five separate times, each more explosive than the last. “Y’all ain’t gonna let nobody disrespect the West Coast, huh?” Kendrick Lamar asked after holding out the oft-repeated “A Minor” lyric (a double entendre meant to mock Drake as Lamar accuses him of being sexually inappropriate with underaged girls) in the first edition. He largely let the crowd lead the second, and for the third, there were firey pyrotechnics, dancers, and a loud chant of the “O-V-Ho'” as he performed the song to completion. The audience demanded a fourth, for which many of the nights performers and other stars joined including YG, Steve Lacy, Roddy Ricch, ScHoolboy Q and Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook. There were dozens of people on stage as Kendrick rapped, danced, and dapped through them for a fifth time.