Kendrick Lamar performing at Glastonbury in June
(Picture: AP)As co-headliner of the first ever hip hop Superbowl Halftime Show, the only rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize and the first hip hop artist to close Glastonbury, Kendrick Lamar is already streets ahead of his peers. On the opening night of his three-date residency at the O2, fans witnessed the Compton-raised star widening that gulf in real time, as he delivered an arena show quite unlike any other.
Currently touring his exceptional fifth LP – the emotionally raw Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Lamar made no attempt to dilute or obfuscate the record’s conversations around accountability, trauma and control. Indeed, that torment was placed front and centre via innovative staging choices and arresting, often militaristic choreography.
During the breakneck bars of set-opener United In Grief, Lamar stood halfway along the almost arena-length catwalk, operating a ventriloquist dummy in his own likeness. For Count Me Out he rapped doubled over, his silhouette projected on the stage’s floor-to-ceiling curtain and embellished with arrows buried in his back.
Later, Alright saw Lamar trapped within a transparent cube and administered with a Covid test, flanked by four of the night’s 10 dancers, temporarily clad in white hazmat suits. Peppered throughout the performance was additional narration courtesy of Dame Helen Mirren, whose pre-recorded therapist-speak added an extra level of unease.
Arguably the most powerful facet of last night’s staging was its leading man’s quiet composure. Where many other headliners stuff sets with endless backing tracks and video interludes for fear of losing the attention of their audience, Lamar really leant into the silences between songs, often remaining static for minutes at a time so as to soak up the atmosphere. His inscrutability only served to whip the audience up into further frenzies, as proven by the rapturous applause preceding an enjoyably low-slung outing of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City-classic Money Trees.
Though he only delivered short bursts of Swimming Pools (Drank) and Loyalty, Lamar largely proved liberal with the hits, dispatching typically dexterous performances of King Kunta and Humble, plus a roof-raising rendition of DNA featuring roman candle-style fireworks.
Generously giving over a large part of the show’s final stretch to the tour’s main support act Baby Keem, Lamar reprised his Grammy-winning turn on Family Ties before sparring with Keem and show-opener Tanna Leone on an incendiary, pyro-packed version of Mr. Morale.
As Lamar put it himself following set-closer Savior, “This is the greatest show on earth.’ Allowing himself a rare smile, he added, “And tomorrow night we do it all again.”
