Kendrick Lamar didn’t do things by halves at the opening of his “Pop Out” concert on Wednesday evening in Los Angeles: He not only opened his set with the Drake diss “Euphoria”, but also sang a new verse:
“Give me back Tupac’s ring and maybe I’ll show you some respect.”
More from Variety
KENDRICK OPENS WITH THE FIRST PERFORMANCE OF EUPHORIA WHERE EVERYONE SINGS ALONG
THIS IS LEGENDARY SHIT 😭😭😭
pic.twitter.com/KGOQPrewV5— Big Boss 🇵🇸 (@LordBalvin) 20 June 2024
The reference, of course, is to a ring formerly owned by the late Tupac Shakur that was purchased at auction by an unknown buyer who turned out to be Drake last year. While it’s just a new verse in a bitter battle between the two top rappers that Lamar won uncontested — and was essentially called off after a number of burglars tried to break into Drake’s Toronto home — there may be more to come.
diversity will release his full concert review in the next few hours, which featured guest appearances from Dr. Dre, Tyler, the Creator, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and more. The concert was live-streamed by Amazon Music and its hip-hop/R&B brand Rotation as part of the company’s “Forever the Influence” celebration of Black musicians and creators for Black Music Month.
The concert, titled “The Pop Out – Ken and Friends,” is named after another song from the feud, Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” in which he raps, “Sometimes you gotta come out and show ’em / Certified bogeyman, I’m the one that’s running up the score with ’em.” The song was a diss against Drake that was released a month ago and has since climbed to the top of the charts. It is arguably the most successful of the songs released between Drake and Lamar.
Throughout the argument, the two rappers attacked each other for their looks, accused each other of pedophilia, and claimed they hid children. The argument ended with Drake’s “The Heart Part 6,” a play on words on Lamar’s long-running series of songs of the same name, and showed that Drake was fed up with the feud between them.
Drake recently referenced the feud in a verse on Sexyy Red’s “U My Everything,” rapping over producer Metro Boomin’s diss beat “BBL Drizzy.” Metro contributed to the feud breaking out by featuring Lamar on his song “Like That,” a collaboration with Future that came out in March.
The best of diversity
Subscribe to Variety’s newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
