The Kendrick Lamar–Drake beef has formally landed in new and uncharted territory.
The hip-hop feud reached a fever pitch Wednesday in Los Angeles when Lamar, the hometown hero of South Central, hosted a celebratory Juneteenth live performance titled The Pop Out: Ken & Pals on the Kia Discussion board. On the live performance, he carried out his Billboard-charting Drake diss “Not Like Us” 5 occasions in a row.
Hundreds rapped alongside as Lamar spit his fiery verses onstage on the star-studded affair, which was live-streamed on Amazon. The live performance occasion additionally included visitors Tyler, the Creator and YG. NBA stars Russell Westbrook and LeBron James, in addition to singer The Weeknd, have been within the crowd as Lamar introduced dozens of rival gang members onstage.
“This shit gets me emotional, dog,” he informed the group. “We done lost a lot of homies to this music shit, lot of homies to some street shit, and for all of us to be on this stage together; unity from each side of motherfucking L.A., crips, bloods, pirus — this shit is special, man.
The beef between the two hip-hip titans kicked off in March when the rappers directly engaged each other on wax after years of subtle shots. Lamar fans would note that his “Not Like Us” is already hip-hop’s unofficial summer time anthem.
The live performance attracted about 17,000 attendees. One social media consumer wrote on X, previously Twitter, “This Kendrick show is the blueprint for a hometown event.”
Christopher Polk through Getty Photos
Lamar apparently named the present after his espoused ethos on “Not Like Us” that “you gotta pop out” to squash the competitors typically. He gave 15 comparatively unknown native acts the stage to open for him.
Lamar held the live performance on Juneteenth in commemoration of the final enslaved folks within the U.S. being liberated in 1865 — after Drake accused him in a diss of “always rapping like you bout to get the slaves freed.” Lamar took a second onstage to handle Drake, saying, “Give me Tupac’s ring back.”
The Canadian rapper bought one in all Shakur’s rings final 12 months for over $1 million.
Whereas some followers are adamant the meat isn’t over, others see The Pop Out as the ultimate nail within the coffin that’s Drake’s rap profession.
