For Kendrick Lamar, his Juneteenth “The Pop Out – Ken & Friends” show wasn’t about Drake or putting the final nail in the coffin of a smoldering rap feud, but rather a celebration of Los Angeles and its impact on rap culture as a whole: because “they hate us.”
As the Pulitzer Prize winner rapped the lyrics to his undeniable hit “Not Like Us” a total of five times (a first for him), several of his pals hopped onstage at the Kia Forum to rap enthusiastically with him, C-walking to the beat, and capped off the night with an epic group photo of LA legends. Among those onstage were DJ Mustard (the record’s producer), Black Hippies (Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q), Compton rapper YG, LA Clipper Russell Westbrook, singer Steve Lacy, radio host Big Boi, Tommy the Clown (with his talented crew of kid-clampers), choreographer Charm LaDonna, and allegedly every gang member in LA.
“This shit moves me,” Lamar said. “We lost so many of our homies because of this shit in music. We all got to stand on this stage together because of this shit in the streets. Both sides of motherfuckin’ LA, Crips, Bloods and Pyras united. This is special.”
He added: “I made this for you guys.”
Lamar announced “The Pop Out — Ken & Friends,” a show he produced in collaboration with his label/creative agency pgLang and Free Lunch, on June 5th, just days after organizers of the annual Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival in South Los Angeles announced it was canceling the festival due to cost and safety concerns. The festival, where thousands of Black Los Angeles residents have gathered for years for the special holiday, came about a month after a bitter rap feud between Lamar and Drake, in which Lamar was declared the winner by internet scorekeepers.
DJ Hed from Real 92.3 took to the stage first around 4:20pm and introduced a number of guest performers including Kalan.FrFr, Westside Boogie, the Cuzzos (a female rap group) and Tommy the Clown and his group of child dancers performing the Krumpy dance.
Next up was Grammy Award-winning producer DJ Mustard, who also welcomed some of his collaborators and friends to the stage, including Blxst, Ty Dolla $ign, Dom Kennedy, Roddy Ricch, recent high school graduate 310 Babi, and Tyler, the Creator. He also paid tribute to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle during his DJ set.
During the break between sets, the crowd belted out the final memorable lyric of “Not Like Us,” one of the catchiest: “OVHOE.”
Following a recorded introduction by rapper E-40, Lamar emerged from the stage, red lights shining down on him, to kick off his anti-Drake performance with “Euphoria.” Eagle-eyed fans were quick to post on social media that he’d added a new bar to the song: “Maybe if you gave Tupac his ring back I’d show him some respect.”
Lamar played some of his older songs, which take on a different weight after his feud with Drake, including “DNA,” “Element,” and “Alright,” but undoubtedly one of the best moments of the show was when Lamar reunited onstage with Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, and Ab-Soul to perform “King’s Dead.”
After performing his verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” Lamar invited his longtime mentor and collaborator Dr. Dre onto the stage to perform his classics “Still Dre” and “California Love.” Before leaving the stage, Dre got the crowd going by singing “I see dead people” at the beginning of Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
Lamar performed “Not Like Us” five times in total (not including the sixth, which was just an instrumental), pausing on the haunting lyric “A minorrrrrrrrrrrrr” so that he and the crowd could hang on to it for a long time. (The moment felt like Lamar’s version of Kanye and Jay-Z’s “N—as in Paris,” or Beyoncé’s mute challenge.)
Of the dozen-plus performers, the most surprising absence of a guest appearance on the show was from Lamar’s cousin and labelmate, Baby Keem.
The PopOut Ken & Friends show was arguably Lamar’s final victory march, but he made it clear from start to finish that this event meant much more than him or any rap feud. The event has always been about elevating culture, bringing people together and serving the city, and that will never change.
In the parking lot, many in the crowd saw the show as a historic moment celebrating not just music, but hip hop and Black LA.
“This is a cultural moment,” said Stacey Anneke, 25, from Ontario, adding that of course she wants to celebrate Kendrick with “the winning team.”
“There’s honestly no one better than Lamar to bring out the community that actually knows the history and the purpose of Juneteenth and to educate people on Juneteenth and its importance,” said fan O’Malley Beck, 24.