Kendrick Lamar rocked the sold out Howard Theatre on Friday night for BET & TDE’s Music Matters Tour. It was a family affair as K. Dot brought the rest of his team including Jay Rock, Ab-Soul and a surprise appearance from Schoolboy Q. Maybach Music Group‘s own Stalley even hit the stage.
Fly Union, a young rap trio from Columbus, Ohio, warmed up the crowd with their head-nodding beats accompanied by some pretty decent lyrics, followed by a few songs by Stalley. After Stalley‘s performance, Top Dawg Entertainment was ready to take over.
The theme of the night was HiiiPower as the crowd held up their three fingers several times throughout the show to pay homage to the movement. The audience gave love to the deep-voiced Jay Rock and the black-lipped bastard Ab-Soul. Though much respect was given to the two members of TDE as the audience rocked with them to every song.
It was when Kendrick Lamar came on, however, that it became clear who the patrons came to see. Starting out with “HiiiPower,” Kendrick moved across the stage with energetically jerking motions as his hands told a story as elaborate as his tone of voice. Providing something for everyone in the crowd, he performed songs from his Overly Dedicated mixtape like “Michael Jordan” and “P&p 1.5,“ his debut album Section.80 including “A.D.H.D” and “Tammy’s Song” and even “Swimming Pools (Drank)” from his upcoming good kid m.A.A.d. city project.
He even included “Chapter 6,” an interlude from Section.80, as a cool down after bringing Schoolboy Q out to perform “Hands on the Wheel.”
The tone of the night was wild and rebellious filled with a “Spiteful Chant” and Ab-Soul‘s constant reminder of “we really out here my nigga” and Kendrick’s anecdotal conversations he shared with his mother and father. After ending the show with “Cartoons & Cereal,” the TDE gang rested for about two hours before going for another round for their midnight show in the same venue. Double the fun, right?
A Daily Dose Of Tea 