Kendrick Lamar delighted fans on Wednesday by hosting star-studded show The Pop Out – Ken & Friends at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum, with more than 20 musicians making guest appearances, Daily Mail reports.
Taking place on Juneteenth, the concert was intended to showcase unity among West Coast talent – famous faces who took to the stage included Dr Dre, Roddy Ricch and Ty Dolla $ign.
Kendrick Lamar called all of the acts together on stage to pose for a group photograph before gushing: ‘This is unity, y’all just don’t know man’.
However, the real standout moment of the show, which was live streamed on Amazon, was when the 17-time Grammy winner performed the breakout song from his recent beef with the Toronto-born Drake, 37, reigniting their long-running feud.
The diss-track Not Like Us was rapped not once, not twice, but a whopping five times by Kendrick Lamar after he was encouraged by the crowd again each time the song came to a close.
After the explosive performance, the hitmaker said: ‘Y’all ain’t gonna let nobody disrespect the West Coast, huh?
‘Oh y’all ain’t gonna let nobody mock or imitate our legends, huh?’
Kendrick Lamar was supposedly referencing Drake’s choice to use AI versions of Snoop Dogg and Tupac’s voices on his track, Taylor Made Freestyle.
The pair, who are arguably two of the world’s biggest hip-hop voices, have been embroiled in a furious rivalry for years.
Fans of either artist will know that the pair have a rocky relationship, despite becoming friends and even collaborating on each other’s records in their early careers.
Since things turned sour, both of the rappers have continued to release numerous of back-and-forth diss tracks about each other.
However, the feud entered new territory in May when Lamar made some serious accusations on Not Like Us.
In the song, the Compton-born rapper appears to accuse Drake of being a pedophile, along with another member of his crew.
It was released on YouTube with what appeared to be a graphic of Drake’s home covered with red sex offender symbols.
In the lyrics, the Pulitzer Prize winner hit out at the hitmaker and members of his October’s Very Own (OVO) crew.
‘Say Drake, I hear you like ’em young,’ Lamar raps, encouraging others to ‘hide your little sister from him.’
He then goes on to say ‘They tell me Chubbs (Drake’s security guard) the only one that get your hand-me-downs.’
‘And Party at the party playin’ wit’ his nose now,’ targeting Canadian artist PartyNextDoor.
It gets even more personal when Lamar lodges these allegations against Baka Not Nice: ‘And Baka got a weird case/Why is he around? he asks, before seeming to call both Baka and Drake, ‘Certified Lover Boys, certified pedophiles.’
He continues with, ‘Why you trollin’ like a b****, ain’t you tired? You’re tryin’ to strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.’
And the multiple performances of Not Like Us was not the only shots that were fired at the recent Juneteenth concert.
When Kendrick Lamar initially took to the stage, he opened with his track Euphoria, which is another diss-track aimed at Drake – and it included new lyrics.
According to the BBC, the song included a new line, with the hitmaker rapping: ‘Give me Tupac’s ring back and I might give you a little respect.’
The new addition seems to reference how Drake purchased the late Tupac Shakur’s crown ring for more than $1 million in July 2023, as an anonymous bidder.
Other songs Lamar performed at the pop out concert include DNA, ELEMENT, Alright, Swimming Pools, Money Trees, and 6:16 in LA.