Kendrick Lamar at Life is Beautiful 2023 on September 23, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images
Kendrick Lamar may have kicked off his set during Wednesday night’s “Ken & Friends – The Pop Out” with a performance of “Euphoria” — one of several tracks targeted by Compton lyricist Drake amid the recent rap beef — but the focus on the Juneteenth event was Showing unity among West Coast talent, more than two dozen of them appeared at the concert.
“This is unity, y’all don’t know man,” Lamar said as a group photo captured the more than 25 artists from around Los Angeles who performed at the show as they directed everyone on stage to say “One West.”
He added: “Everyone has fallen sons, but here we are, now celebrating them all. This shit is special.”
Among the friends who performed at the show — which was held at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, and which was simulcast on Amazon — were Tyler, the Creator, YG, Roddy Ricch, Ty Dolla $ign, Dom Kennedy and Steve Lacy, who came out during a sponsored set Los Angeles producer DJ Mustard, who also held a moment in memory of slain Crenshaw rapper Nipsey Hussle. During his set, Lamar reunited with Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock, with whom he formed the hip-hop supergroup Black Hippy under the record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2008. He also brought out Dr. Dre, who performed the songs “Still DRE” and ” California Love” before completing Lamar’s grand final rendition of Drake’s viral song “Not Like Us” by whispering the intro line, “I see dead people.”
Lamar continued to rap four additional times, saying between the final performances, “You ain’t gonna let nobody disrespect the West Coast, right?” Oh, we’re not going to let anyone mock or imitate our legends, are we?” He also teased out one of the song’s standout lyrics, “Tryna strikes a chord and it’s probably going to fall short” — a double meaning that plays on an earlier reference in the track that claims Drake loves Underage girls – with every refrain.
Momentum for Lamar’s first live performance of the record was building throughout the night as the crowd began chanting “OV-hoe” – another lyric from “Not Like Us” – at various points in the evening. Early on, Lamar remixed a lyric from “Euphoria,” taking a new jab toward Drake, saying, “Give me back Tupac’s ring and I might give you a little respect.” He also sang his verse for Future and Metro Boomin’s single “Like That” which served as the impetus for today’s rap music. Aside from those targeted moments, Lamar kept the energy going during his set with hits like “MAAd City,” “Be Humble,” “DNA.”, “Element.”, “Money Trees,” and “Swimming Pools.” , and “Element.” “King Kunta” and “The King is Dead”.
The night began with opening performances by 15 local Los Angeles artists along with Los Angeles’ DJ Hed. The lineup, which included Ray Vaughn, Cuzzos, Westside Boogie, Zoe Osama, RJMRLA, OhGeesy and Jason Martin, emphasized the purpose of the Juneteenth show.
“Let them see this,” Lamar said, as he gathered performers from various Los Angeles neighborhoods and affiliations on stage at the end of the concert. “We brought this together with peace… I promise this won’t be our last.”