With a major release looming on the horizon, Kendrick Lamar brought his good k.i.d., m.A.A.d city act back home for two sold out shows as part of the BET Music Matters Tour. With lines wrapped around the block and fans eager to buy the project, Kendrick pulled out all the stops, bringing out a host of artists to celebrate the pending release.
To kick things off, Ohio trio Fly Union got the amped crowd accustomed to their music, clearly gaining bands of new fans. BCG/MMG fans were then treated to a enthusiastic set by Stalley, who brought out Nipsey Hussle and Lil Eazy-E. Stalley ran through a quick set of songs from his Savage Journey to the American Dream project, also performing a few of his well known works from his Jet Life collaborations.
TDE controlled the show from there, as Jay Rock and Ab-Soul ran though a host of their hits over the past few years. Jay-Rock didn’t do a backflip on stage, although he did get the crowd crazy hype. It was clear that TDE was home as soon as Jay-Rock performed,
“It feels good too be back home Club Nokia; y’all was turnt the f*ck up appreciate the love!!! #TDE #BETMusicMattersTour,” Jay Rock Tweeted after the show.
“Home court advantage 2nite…this should b fun,” Ab-Soul told his fans via Twitter.
Then, finally, after much anticipation, Kendrick came out and shut it down. As difficult as his lyrics are to decipher, it seemed like every fan in the building knew his lyrics. With a set that featured a front porch, a picture of the mini-van from his album artwork, and “Jesus is Lord” written in the background, it was clear that Kendrick was excited to show his fans love for all the love they give him back.
Running through songs like “F*ck Your Ethnicity”, “ADHD”, “Hol Up”, “Rigamortus”, and other jams from Section.80, Kendrick proved why people keep calling him the “West Coast Nas”; although, as his fans know, Kendrick has his own lane along with his TDE fam. Highlights from Kendrick’s set included him trading verses with Game on “The City”. If you’ve never heard him kick the end of that song with the acapella, you haven’t lived. Adding Game to the mix just made it truly epic.
To close out the show, the hometown favorite brought out Dr. Dre and then Big Sean, who performed their respective songs with Kendrick. Check out Dr. Dre performing “The Recipe” with him below.
It’s clear Kendrick has been up next for a long time – not just on the West, but in Hip-Hop, and Dre made that known as he graced the stage of the Nokia Theater.
“Yea sh*t is real, I’m up here with my ni**a Kendrick Lamar. Yeah, you know we always come with the hot sh*t. I wanna let y’all know something, I’m so proud of this dude right here. Even before y’all knew he was signed, he was like, ‘Yo lets keep that sh*t on the low, I don’t want nobody to know.” And he kept doing his thing. He’s a true f*ckin’ lyricist and true mothaf*ckin MC. That’s what we need in f*ckin’ Hip-Hop, that sh*t I love. Make some noise for Hip-Hop y’all! Let’s keep this sh*t going!”