0
0
Kendrick Lamar’s performance worth every dollar
By Jillian Chesney
Kendrick Lamar’s “The DAMN. Tour” opened with D.R.A.M and Travis Scott. D.R.A.M. is an artist whose acronym stands for “Does. Real. Ass. Music” and he sang many of his top hits followed by his biggest hit: “Broccoli.” He is a hip-hop nonconformist with a love of soul and has a bass as the backbone to his music. Travis Scott performed most of his concert on a black bird hanging from the ceiling. There was a spotlight attached to the bottom of the bird that shined on various areas of the crowd. The bird symbolized his album Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight.
His set featured most of his chart-topping album’s greatest tracks. Travis Scott has developed a heavily autotuned half-sung, half-rapped style. He sounded slightly quiet and different as he performed, but that’s expected because of his autotuned style. There were large gaps between artists. Crowds were getting very eager and impatient after the two-hour wait. Personally, this was the longest opening I have ever attended.
Kendrick Lamar finally got on stage at around 9:30 p.m. and the flow of music began to pick up. Lamar opened with a video from Kung Fu Kenny. That theme continued throughout his entire performance. Lamar tells stories of his upbringing and struggles through his music. His DAMN. album focuses on black lives, violence, and police brutality. Lamar’s overall performance was outstanding.
Not only did he perform DAMN, but he also performed songs on To Pimp a Butterfly and Good Kid, m.A.A.d city. Lamar surprised his entire audience by bringing out J. Cole towards the end. I about lost it. J. Cole sang “Deja Vu,” “No Role Modelz,” and “A Tale of 2 Citiez.” The crowds were filled with so much more energy after Cole performed. Once Cole left the stage, Lamar sang some of his biggest hits. Nearly everyone was singing along.
As the concert came to an end, fans began repeatedly chanting “EN-CORE, EN-CORE, EN-CORE.” As requested by the audience, Lamar made his last appearance on stage and performed “GOD.” He again thanked Detroit for coming out and expressed how much he loves his people.
Overall, this concert was well worth my $80 seat that was a row down from the wall; I had somewhat the same experience as the people who sat closer. This concert is the best concert I’ve ever attended. Chance the Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring Book Tour, which I attended last September at the Fillmore in Detroit, is a close second. Lamar’s openers and surprise guest moved “The DAMN. Tour” above Chance’s “Magnificent Coloring Book Tour.” Through great surprises and even better music, the only thing most would say as the night concluded was: DAMN.
