Photo by Jørund Føreland Pedersen.
Hip-Hop music continues to grow and evolve each generation as new rappers put their own spin, personality and experiences into the craft of rapping. No one, however, is capable of matching the creative and lyrical genius of Kendrick “K-Dot” “Kung-Fu Kenny” Lamar.
He currently holds the crown as the self-proclaimed “greatest rapper alive,” and as far as any of us can see there is not much competition for him. As the Grammy award-winning rapper brings his DAMN Tour to a close, he still was able to rock the Spectrum Center on Tuesday with Charlotte being his third-to-last stop.
“DAMN” is the first album in history to have every song on the album in the Billboard Hot 100. At the time of its release “DNA” was number one. Therefore, it was only right to start the show with an explosion of fire, lights and “DNA.”
As “I got, I got, I got, I got” rang through the arena, the opening lyrics to “DNA,” Kendrick appeared on stage in a yellow ninja jump suit, and the entire crowd leapt to their feet. Kendrick continued the show with crowd favorites such as “ELEMENT,” another “DAMN” hit that ranked number three on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time of its release, “King Kunta,” “untitled 07 | 2014 – 2016” and other hits that makes true Kendrick Lamar fans’ eyes roll back into their heads.
After the opening, Lamar used a montage of old school Kung Fu sound effects as well as ninjas instead of backup dancers, to further entertain the “Kung Fu Kenny” alter ego he presented on the “DAMN” album. While the crowd watched the ninjas battle it out on stage, Lamar snuck to the side stage in the middle of the crowd to perform the second portion of the show.
Lamar slowed things down with hits Like “LOVE,” “XXX,” “LOYALTY” and classic hit “Swimming Pool” before disappearing again and reappearing on the main stage in an all red outfit and suspended horizontally 8 ft. above a female martial artist who was suspended in the same way. After coming down, Lamar performed “m.A.A.d City.” The crowd pretty much took it from there and sang more than two-thirds of “HUMBLE” while Lamar watched. He ended the set with an encore performance of “GOD.”
Lamar could have easily blown away the crowd with just a mic and him rapping every song he has come out with and featured from his “Section 80” album in 2011. The lights and showmanship were just an added bonus. Lamar concluded his tour on Sept. 2 in Miami, Florida. Hopefully with a few days in the sun Lamar will be back in the lab to bring us all the music we love.