Kendrick Lamar’s Epic Livestream Concert May Have Buried Drake
Kendrick Lamar had a legendary live performance last night for a Juneteenth celebration. The show, which aired on Amazon Prime and, was referred to by many fans as “Hatechella.”
Ken & Friends Epic Livestream Concert
Before K-Dot came out for his highly-anticipated set, he had some of his friends perform to get the crowd hype. Tyler, The Creator, Steve Lacy, Roddy Ricch, Ty Dolla $ign, YG, and more kicked off the show. Some famous faces were also seen in the crowd, like The Weeknd, Lebron James, and Rick Ross.
Kendrick opened up the set by playing his Drake diss track, “Euphoria.” For his first time performing the song, fans immediately got the sense that the Ken & Friends celebration would feature more heat toward Drake. Kendrick even added some new lines to the track with “Give me Tupac’s ring back, and I might give you new respect.”
The sold-out concert had the crowd rapping word-for-word with Kendrick, especially the line where he asks, “What is it, the braids?!” Reacting to his opening track, fans went wild on social media. One person wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “KENDRICK OPENING UP WITH PERFORMING EUPHORIA FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH EVERY ONE SINGING ALONG. THIS IS LEGENDARY S— [sobbing emoji].” Added another, “Kendrick Lamar opening up with Euphoria going down in history.” A third said, “He ain’t ever coming up off Drake’s neck.” Wrote a fourth user, “Opening with Euphoria is dastardly.”
More fans expressed how Kendrick laid Drake to rest during the Juneteenth celebration. One person wrote, “This is the most lit funeral I’ve ever watched.” Added another: “Drake truly underestimated how much Kendrick Lamar hated him.” A third hilariously said: “This is like ‘We Are the World’ but for hating a guy.” Some even noted Kendrick’s outfit choice to be one in honor of Tupac. Another had a Game of Thrones reference, writing, “this is drake’s red wedding.”
After K-Dot finished “Euphoria,” he performed DAMN tracks “Element” and “DNA.” He followed that up with To Pimp A Butterfly‘s “Alright” and Good Kid m.A.A.d City‘s “Swimming Pools (Drank),” ending the song by telling the crowd that the event that they’ve got “going on tonight is bigger than me.”
Bringing out his longtime friend and collaborator Jay Rock, the duo performed “Money Trees,” “Win,” “King’s Dead,” and diss track “6:16 in LA.”
Reuniting with his day-ones Black Hippy, K-Dot brought out Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q, telling the audience, “We finna go up.” The trio performed “Collard Greens,” “THat Part,” and stuck around for “King Kunta,” before the rapper went solo once more. Kendrick performed “m.A.A.d City,” “HUMBLE,” and then “Like That” without Future.
“It’s only right that we start from day one, you know? So where would we be without our legacies,” Kendrick asked the crowd. Dr. Dre came up on the stage to “Still Dre” with Kendrick rapping Snoop Dogg’s part and then performed “California Love.” Before he leaves, Kendrick asks Dre if he’s going to “sing” something. A little shy at first, Dre crouches and whispers, “I see dead people.”
This is when things get wild, as Kendrick performs “Not Like Us” another time after telling the crowd at the end of the first time, “So you’re not gonna let nobody disrespect the west coast” or “imitate our legends, huh?” Playing “Not Like Us” for the third time, the crowd chants “OV-Hoe.” This time, the rapper is joined by two backup dancers. For his fourth consecutive play of “Not Like Us,” he brought out DJ Mustard. Hilariously, K-Dot started to forget his lyrics and even laughed, asking, “What comes after that?”
Fans loved the commitment online, with one person saying, “Ken & Friends is a Hall of Fame hate sesh & it’ll never be dethroned.” Another hilariously wrote, “My a– just started crip walkin’ to ‘Not Like Us’ on Ken & Friends, and I don’t even know how! Drake is ded. Bye. Gone.” Added another, “‘Not Like Us’ with a pull-up live & fireworks, straight chef’s kiss theater! Ken & Friends winning Juneteenth.”
Looking as though he’s having a ball, Kendrick closed out the show playing “Not Like Us” for a fifth time with gang members from different sections joining him on stage, as well as his friends. One person on X noted of the moment, “Kendrick Lamar just unified real life gang members had them all take a group pic and got everyone to dance together to a song calling Drake a pedophile for the 5th time in a row on Amazon Prime.”
Kendrick Lamar's 7 Best Songs Ranked
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born on June 17, 1987, in Compton, California. The rapper was named after singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations. As the eldest of four children, Kendrick and his family lived in Section 8 housing, were reliant on welfare and food stamps, and experienced homelessness.
Kendrick’s Early Life
Despite suffering hardships, K-Dot remembered having “good memories” of his childhood that sparked his interest in hip-hop music. After hearing a recording of his voice for the first time, he became interested in rapping. While in elementary school, Kendrick had a noticeable stutter. Despite that, his first-grade teacher encouraged him to be a writer after hearing him correctly use the word “audacity.”
By middle school, Lamar was introduced to poetry, and through its connection to hip-hop, he studied rhymes, metaphors, and double entendres, which made him fall in love with songwriting. His initial writing helped him manage his psychological trauma and depression, which he struggled with during his adolescence. In high school, he adopted the stage name K-Dot and began freestyling and battle rapping at school. He befriended who would become his long-time friend and collaborator Dave Free, and they recorded music together at Free’s makeshift studio.
Career Beginnings
When Free was working as a computer technician, he introduced Kendrick’s Youngest Head N—- in Charge (Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year) mixtape to record producer Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. Impressed with Lamar’s potential, he invited him to audition for his newly established independent record label, Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE).
In 2005, Kendrick was signed by TDE, joining Jay Rock as the label’s first signings. He then met Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q, forming the hip-hop supergroup Black Hippy. The following year, Lamar signed an artist development deal with Def Jam Recordings and was featured on two singles by the Game. Lamar’s stint in Def Jam was short-lived after an encounter with its president and chief executive officer, Jay-Z. K-Dot later described it as “one of those situations where I wasn’t ready.”
Kendrick’s self-titled debut EP was released in 2009 through TDE. By 2011, he released his first studio album with Section.80, featuring hits like “A.D.H.D.,” “HiiiPoWeR,” and “Hol’ Up.” Just a year later, he followed that up with Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, with even more heat on tracks like “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe,” “Swimming Pools (Drank),” “Money Trees,” “Poetic Justice,” “Compton,” “Backseat Freestyle,” and “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst.”
In the following decade, Kendrick released three more studio albums, a compilation album, a soundtrack album for Black Panther, as well as features and singles.
Take a Look Below at Kendrick Lamar’s 7 Best Songs Ranked:
