'This is for the city!' Kendrick Lamar fans sound off and show out in the Forum parking lot
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Thousands of Kendrick Lamar fans from across the country congregated Wednesday afternoon at the Forum in Inglewood for the hometown rapper's only recently announced "The Pop Out — Ken & Friends" show, which took place roughly one month after his epic rap feud with Drake.
The concert, which was held on Juneteenth (an annual commemoration of the day in 1865 in which enslaved African Americans in Texas were told they were free), featured lively performances from dozens of L.A. artists including DJ Mustard, Ty Dolla Sign, Blxst, Steve Lacy, Westside Boogie, Dom Kennedy, RJMrLA, Tommy the Clown (along with his talented crew of child krumpers) and Tyler, the Creator. Lamar also surprised fans with a Black Hippy reunion by bringing Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q to the stage.
While many of Lamar's supporters came to experience his Drake diss records — "Not Like Us" and "Euphoria" — performed live for the first time, others thought of the concert as the best way to celebrate Juneteenth, given the topics that Lamar regularly discusses in his music.
Read more: Editorial: Juneteenth isn't a holiday just for Black people. Everyone should celebrate freedom
Before the event, we spoke to fans in the parking lot about why they wanted to attend the show, how Lamar's music embodies the spirit of Juneteenth and why the event was a significant cultural moment in hip-hop history. Their responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Daja Heard, Omarri Veck, Christian Johnson, Parlet Cooper of L.A.
“There’s nobody, honestly, better than Lamar to bring out the community who actually know the history and purpose of Juneteenth and to get people more aware of Juneteenth and its importance.” — Omarri Veck, 24, of Los Angeles
"There's been community representation, but hip-hop icon has taken Juneteenth as their celebration date and utilized it for something that speaks for the community. It's not for a tour or nothing like that — this is for the city." — Christian Johnson, 35, of Los Angeles
Robert Harris of Anaheim
"Kendrick has been a very inspirational person in my life. Ever since I came out to this area, I've been listening to his music and it's been really touching. He always speaks to the people and for the people, so at the end of the day, it's just great to see him always show love back. I've been to pretty much, every single one of his concerts. This show is impacting the people. It's bringing people together that were normally feuding. It's bringing good energy. It's not even about hate and love, it's actually just all about good vibes. And for Kendrick to do that, I celebrate him because he's the man — he runs hip-hop. We all know that." — Robert Harris, 34, of Anaheim
Porsche Johnson of Compton
"It's a moment because I mean, it's Kendrick and 'Not Like Us' is definitely an anthem right now. Even with other races being here, they are acknowledging us like how we do Cinco de Mayo — we celebrate everybody. Now it's everybody celebrating us, and the fact that so many people came out for him to do this is what made it big." — Porsche Johnson, 38, Compton
Pennelope Gonzalez and Johnny "Raydeoworld" Feliz of New York
"We wanted to be here because of the fact that he knows that he is the embodiment of culture. We feel like he understands what we go through... He's like the best person to voice that out and lead that, and I feel like we've needing a leader in hip-hop who advocates for the right thing we should all follow and do. It just felt right to celebrate Juneteenth with him. He just made sense because he's all about culture. We had to come here." — Johnny "Raydeoworld" Feliz, 26 of New York
"For me, I just love Kendrick based on what I feel like he represents. [Feliz] inspired me to actually put Compton Cowboys and pgLang [on my fit]. I personally like Kendrick in this photo [from his 'Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers' album]. I've never seen him so relaxed, but so elegant at the same time, so I wanted a photo that represented a photo that represents this holiday specifically. It took me two days to make it." — Pennelope Gonzalez, 21
Stacy Aneke of Ontario, Calif.
"With this being Kendrick's first performance in a long time, being able to experience 'Not Like Us' in person, I had to be here. ... I obviously think he won the beef, so that's why it's a cultural moment. Just being able to be a part of the "winning team." — Stacy Aneke, 25, of Ontario
Drew Bosompem of New Jersey and Chioma Nwana of New York
"It's the two biggest rappers going at it," said Drew Bosompem, 29, of New Jersey. "I feel like it's something that people have been waiting for."
Lauren and Lawrence Wolfeland of L.A.
"We've always been Kendrick fans, but with this whole thing that happened within the past month, I feel like he literally spoke up for the culture and pointed things out and was like 'Look y'all. Look.' We all know the whole history of us always being taken advantage of and somebody being like 'I want some of that,' and here you got somebody who kind of looks like us kind of doing the same thing, and we got to be like 'Yo! Hey.' And right before we have our own big celebration, it's just perfect like let's not only celebrate someone who we're a fan of, but for what he just spoke about. Let's come together and recognize that about ourselves and keep an eye out for things to come." — Lauren Wolfeland, 40
"He unified L.A., the coast, hip-hop and then to have it on Juneteenth, our freedom day, that's a big deal. — Lawrence Wolfeland, 43 of Los Angeles
See more shots of K.Dot fans from the Forum parking lot below:
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
