You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
A crowd surrounds two rappers onstage, bathed in red light.

Kendrick Lamar’s Victory Lap Unites Los Angeles

After unofficially winning a high-profile diss war with Drake, the rapper hosted a Juneteenth concert that celebrated local heroes — and his own sharp-tongued tracks.

Kendrick Lamar’s Victory Lap Unites Los Angeles

After unofficially winning a high-profile diss war with Drake, the rapper hosted a Juneteenth concert that celebrated local heroes — and his own sharp-tongued tracks.

Reporting from Inglewood, Calif.

Kendrick Lamar’s sold-out homecoming at the Kia Forum, an arena just outside Los Angeles, promised pyrotechnics with its name alone: “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends.”

The “Pop Out” ensured drama — it’s from a line in Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” his recent No. 1 song, and a scathing salvo in his war of words with Drake.

The “& Friends” guaranteed surprise appearances from high-profile names: ultimately Dr. Dre, YG, Tyler, the Creator, Roddy Rich, Schoolboy Q and Steve Lacy, among many others. The whole thing would go down on Juneteenth, the annual celebration of Black emancipation in America, after a battle in which Lamar questioned Drake’s status within the Black community.

ImageA woman poses in front of a white wall with black lettering that reads “The Pop Out Ken & Friends June 19 Sold Out.”
Image
Image

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.


Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT