(Inglewood) Not content with taking a lap after winning his fight against Drake, rapper Kendrick Lamar transformed his “Pop Out” concert Wednesday night at the Forum in Los Angeles into a cathartic, live-streamed celebration.
Lamar hosted a three-hour concert featuring a mix of L.A. rappers and emerging stars, including Tyler, The Creator, Steve Lacy and YG. When it was his turn to take the stage, the 37-year-old rapper performed with Black Hippy collaborators Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, and sang his songs taking on Drake, Euphoria and 6:16 in LA. He was then joined on stage by Dr. Dre.
The two West Coast titans performed “Still D. R. E.” and “California Love” before Dre calmed the roaring crowd by calling for a moment of silence. He then delivered the quote from the film The Sixth Sense that opens Lamar’s signature song “Not Like Us”: “I see dead people.”
A crowd of 17,000, including The Weeknd, LeBron James, Ayo Edebiri and Rick Ross, rapped along to every word of DJ Mustard’s biting, yet jubilant production, which Lamar restarted twice after the first verse and performed four times in its entirety.
Frolicking, dancing and twirling around as Lamar took the stage in a red hoodie were NBA celebrities Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan, Mustard, rapper Roddy Ricch and even a teenage dance troupe led by krump dance style innovator Tommy the Clown.
Lamar reveled in the moment: “You’re not going to let anyone disrespect the West Coast. You won’t let anyone imitate our legends, will you,” he said, referring to Drake’s use of an artificial intelligence tool to imitate 2Pac’s vocals on one of his songs.
But Lamar still had other things in mind, calling specific men and women to join him on stage for a group photo.
“It’s not about a song, it’s not about songs coming and going, it’s about this moment in time. That’s what it’s about, bringing us all together.”