Kendrick Lamar with Travis Scott & D.R.A.M.
It was rumored around the first weekend of Coachella this year that Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott would announce a joint tour and soon after the festival ended, that rumor became a reality. This ignited both artists' fan-bases and we were all eager to see what they can bring to the table in a non-festival setting. They finally get the freedom to do whatever they want and give us a show that is on-hundred percent their personalities. It only makes sense for these two hip-hop titans collaborate on a North American tour especially with the explosion of their joint track "goosebumps" that took over radio stations in 2016. As mentioned in a previous post, Lamar had my favorite set of the entire Coachella weekend this year, but I was not that impressed with Scott's, so I was definitely curious to see if the former would uphold his standards and if the latter would step it up.
I arrived to the brand new, gorgeous T-Mobile Arena in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip just in time to catch D.R.A.M. close out his set with his only hit "Broccoli" and only waited a short amount of time before Travis Scott took the stage. I was really hoping to get an unforgettable set from Scott since he's known for raging. Hard. That's exactly what I got. La Flame has the stage presence of an early 90's grunge lead singer, but stays grounded as a hip-hop artist as much as he can. His set was filled with flames, smoke, loud noises, and an enormous robotic bird that he climbed onto and performed from for the last half of his set. Scott has so much energy it's almost perplexing. How can this kid do this every night and still remain hyped? Probably because he's a kid. A kid with unfathomable talent.
Then came the time for the main event: Mr. Kendrick "Kung Fu Kenny" Lamar himself. Just like his Coachella set, he kicked things off with "DNA." , which really sets the tone for the rest of the night. Delivering one of the best tracks from DAMN. with precise cadence had every single person jumping up and down in the arena. In fact, throughout the night, I don't think anyone sat down even for a second. The energy and vibe that the Las Vegas audience emitted was relentless. Always roaring, cheering, and rapping every lyric along with Lamar was practically magic. He delivered hit after hit, back to back to back, only leaving during very brief intermissions in order to make his way too and from the tiny stage in the center of the venue as well as one wardrobe change.
It was a pleasant surprise for him to perform his verses from "Mask Off (Remix)" and "Collard Greens", but I was left a bit perplexed as to why he didn't just bring out Travis for "goosebumps". Probably because we needed to focus all of our attention on K. Dot anyway as his set had a storyline (again, much like his Coachella set). Some other highlights included him rapping Rihanna's parts in "LOYALTY.", his breather track in the center for "Money Trees", and the chill, bouncy vibes of "LOVE." The best part of the night, however, was when he closed out his set with "HUMBLE." Yes, it is on rotation on every major radio station in the country, but he let us, the fans, perform it ourselves before he ran it back and did it himself. Every person in the crowd was in sync, in tune, and incredible. I still get chills just thinking about that moment and it's a safe bet to crown The DAMN. Tour the best North American tour of 2017. ★★★★★
★★★★★ Legendary | ★★★★ Excellent | ★★★ Good | ★★ Fair | ★ Poor