Kendrick Lamar's Juneteenth concert went viral when the rapper performed 'Euphoria' and 'Not Like Us' for the first time.
Kendrick Lamar marked his debut live performance of his viral Drake diss tracks with a star-studded one-off concert titled "The Pop Out -- Ken and Friends." The Juneteenth concert, presented by pgLang and Free Lunch, featured a long lineup of iconic artists, mostly from Los Angeles and California, who performed in Lamar's hometown at the Kia Forum.
While the concert -- which featured performances from Dr. Dre, Tyler, the Creator, Schoolboy Q, Ty Dolla $ign, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, dancer Tommy the Clown and others -- was a love letter to West Coast hip-hop culture, the highly anticipated show went viral for Lamar performing "Euphoria" and "Not Like Us," two of the four diss tracks the 37-year-old released amid his heated lyrical war with the Canadian-born rapper.
The event was star-studded, with NBA players LeBron James (who is mentioned in Lamar's "Meet the Grahams' track), James Harden, DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook in attendance. A few celebs with their own Drake beefs were also at the show. Rick Ross, who dropped a Drake diss song of his own called "Champagne Moments," and The Weeknd, who was called out on Drake's "Push Ups" rap, were reportedly there.
Additionally, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's 11-year-old daughter, North West, was at the concert.
While Lamar performed several of his classic hits -- including "Loyalty," "ELEMENT," "Alright," and "Swimming Pools" -- it was his first live performances of "Euphoria" and "Not Like Us" that captured the internet's attention.
The Pulitzer-winning rapper opened up his set with "Euphoria," during which he surprised the audience with a new verse for it.
Lamar used "Euphoria" to poke fun at Drake's legacy as a hip-hop artist and numerous feuds over the years -- including his unforgettable beef with rapper Pusha T that led to the reveal that Drake had a son with adult film star Sophie Brussaux, Adonis, now six years old.
"Give me Tupac's ring back and I might give you a little respect," Lamar rapped on Wednesday, referencing the ring previously owned by the late Tupac Shakur that was purchased by an undisclosed buyer at an auction and revealed to be Drake last year.
Lamar closed out the concert with a performance of "Not Like Us," rapping the track an additional four times. "Y'all ain't gonna let anyone disrespect the West Coast, huh? Oh y'all ain't gonna let nobody mock or imitate our legends, huh?" the rapper reportedly told the cheering crowd in between the encore performance.
The performance also featured a tribute to the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, who died on March 31, 2019.
"The Pop Out -- Ken and Friends" comes just as the beef between Lamar and Drake was dying down.
It seemingly all began with Drake and J. Cole's October 2023 release of "First Person Shooter" -- in which Cole called him, Drake and Lamar the "Big 3" of rap -- and Lamar's response in "Like That" is what seemingly ignited the lyrical war against Drake.
Drake began catching heat from Future, Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd and Rick Ross over several months, but the most contentious barbs were traded between the "Back to Back" rapper and Lamar.
At one point, even actress Uma Thurman got in on the action, offering support to the GRAMMY winner while he was facing off against several of his hip-hop peers.
Last month, Snoop Dogg weighed in on the beef that's captivated the world (yes, even Tom Hanks), telling ET that he's got nothing but love and respect for the Compton and Toronto natives, especially for raising the bar in the rap game.
"Well, the only thing I want to say about that whole scenario is that I want to give both of them a shout-out for raising the bar as far as lyrics, as far as song-making and writing because the writing has been upped since the confrontation or whatever you call it, whatever they went through," Snoop tells ET. "Those are my nephews. I'm not in the middle of it. I support both of them and that's personal business, not my business."
If and when the dust settles (there's a consensus that Kendrick came out the victor), Snoop will look back on this rap beef with fondness for Kendrick and Drake's contributions to the rap game.
"As far as what they did for the industry and the rap game, they made you rap again," Snoop said. "You can't mumble your way and gimmick your way to a song no more, buddy. So, thank y'all."
RELATED CONTENT:
