Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Pop Out’ delivered another knockout
OPINION: Kendrick Lamar's diss concert on Juneteenth was like a Versuz where the other MC (you know who) wasn't there.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Sometimes, as I tweeted last night, you really do have to pop out and show people. That’s what Kendrick did last night with an epic show. Someone on TikTok said “Kendrick is Juneteenth and Drake is the Fourth of July,” and after last night’s Kendrick concert The Pop Out, that checks out. Kendrick is Black culture while Drake is a huge crossover celebration. But, before we go any further, we need to come together on a name for this historic show that the culture watched as one, talking on Black Twitter and texts about how this show was giving us life.
@shanellegenai on Twitter suggested we could call it “Gangchella” or “Gangteenth” because of how Kendrick brought together the Bloods and the Crips and the Pirus of L.A. at the end of the show. (She also suggested “Goonteenth,” “The Gangerie,” “The Blood Bonvention,” and “Niggapalooza.”) The gang unity aspect was both heartwarming and wild. To see red and blue dancing onstage together and taking a photo together showed Kendrick’s cultural power — his ability to unite warring people is unmatched in modern hip-hop. @michaelharriot tweeted: “Gangbangers frolicking was not on my Juneteenth bingo card.” @actatumonline tweeted: “It’s dudes with 14 bodies on that stage dancing care free.” They were onstage together at the end in peace. @righttimeBomani said Kendrick deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for that. I tweeted “Not Like Us” is so hot it united Crips and Bloods.
But no this will not go down as “Gangchella.” Many suggested we call it “Hatechella.” @mikebeauvais tweeted: “This is like “We Are the World but for hating a guy.” Kendrick ran through all his battle records, starting with “Euphoria,” sliding into “6:16 In LA” and “Like That” and then ending with “Not Like Us” which he did five or six times in a row. I lost count in all of the, um, euphoria. You know you’ve got an iconic monster smash when you can do a song five or six times and everyone’s wants to hear it again. @kevonstage tweeted: “Kendrick playing this song over and over like I do in my car.” @basseyworld tweeted: “Are you still a serial killer if you’re just killing one man repeatedly?”
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@porterhouseLA tweeted: “This is literally the culture that Drake does not have” and that is the point Kendrick has made repeatedly throughout this battle. When Kendrick called Drake a colonizer and told him “we don’t wanna hear you say [that word] no more,” it wasn’t about biology. It wasn’t because he’s mixed. It’s because he lacks a deep cultural connection with African-American culture because he’s not African American. Everything Kendrick has done in this battle displayed Kendrick’s cultural competency and his cultural power and last night only added to that. He brought out Compton stars from Dr. Dre to YG to Roddy Rich and got L.A.-born NBA stars Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan up on the stage dancing with him. I heard LeBron was in the house. Is there anyone who won’t join in on Kendrick’s sonic stomping? (OK, J. Cole. Touché.) And he performed in a blood-red outfit that spoke to his Blood homies and to the legacy of Tupac who rocked a blood-red sweatshirt and a blood-red hat in 1994. (That was a visual double entendre. This man is genius.) Drake is in the culture for sure, but Kendrick is the culture. It’s in his blood.
Many were kiki-ing that last night as the end of Drake—@stagbechillin tweeted: “Damn that was a nice funeral. They did the body nice.” Of course, Drake isn’t dead. He lost badly and being embarrassed in public is devastating for someone who’s all about image and being liked. He may have to discuss his PTSD with his therapist but make no mistake, his career will carry on. But he will forever carry the stain of this loss and perhaps also the pain of watching an arena full of people rhyme along with songs calling him a pedophile. Because you know Drake was at home watching as his blood pressure rose and rose. @drewscotty said, “If I were Drake I’d cancel my Amazon Prime membership immediately.” For sure.
At the end of the horrendous “The Heart Part 6,” Drake said it was good to get out, get the pen working, but after the battle what is he left with besides scars? Kendrick can do a whole show on Amazon blasting his new anti-Drake songs. It was a whole diss concert. Like a Versuz where the other MC wasn’t there. As I tweeted, “You think Drake is gonna do his records from the battle whenever he goes on tour? Nope.”
Touré is a host and Creative Director at theGrio. He is the host of Masters of the Game on theGrioTV. He is also the host and creator of the docuseries podcast “Being Black: The ’80s” and the animated show “Star Stories with Toure” which you can find at TheGrio.com/starstories. He is also the host of the podcast “Toure Show” and the podcast docuseries “Who Was Prince?” He is the author of eight books including the Prince biography Nothing Compares 2 U and the ebook The Ivy League Counterfeiter.
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