Kendrick Lamar donned a custom-made titanium and diamond “crown of thorns” during the debut performance at Glastonbury over the weekend.
The DAMN rapper took to the stage at the iconic event at Worthy Farm on Sunday night in a pared back look, wearing a white shirt, black suit trousers and his headpiece.
He made headlines after concluding his set with the track “Saviour”, during which the rapper appeared to bleed from the thorns and he chanted: “Godspeed for women’s rights. They judge you, they judge Christ.”
The titanium and pave diamond crown was the result of a collaboration between Lamar and his pgLang partner Dave Free.
It took 10 months to be crafted by Tiffany & Co artisans at the jeweller’s New York City workshop .
Alexandre Arnault, executive vice president of product and communication at the jeweller, said in a statement: “Kendrick Lamar represents the artistry, risk-taking creativity and relentless innovation that has also defined Tiffany & Co for nearly two centuries.
“We are proud and incredibly excited to work with a visionary like Kendrick in realising his vision for the crown.”
The “crown of thorns” is a widely-recognised symbol of religious iconography, worn by Jesus Christ as he was crucified in the Bible.
According to Tiffany & Co, the headpiece is a “metaphor for artistic prowess, humility and perseverance”.
The crown is also a “nod of respect to the prolific artists who came before [Lamar], as well as a powerful statement of Lamar’s influence and contributions to music and culture”.
The artists were also inspired by French jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger’s Thorns brooch, which he created in 1947 before joining Tiffany & Co in 1956.
Lamar’s crown featured diamonds of various sizes set closely together to “maximise brilliance” and give a “naturalistic quality” to the piece.
Each diamond was set by hand and the prongs, representing the thorns, were also handcrafted.
It took four of Tiffany & Co’s craftsmen more than 1,300 hours from start to finish to create the piece, which weighs approximately 200g.
More than 8,000 diamonds were set into the crown, amounting to 137 total carats, and it featured 50 thorns.
The Independent gave Lamar’s Glastonbury performance five stars and said the rapper’s “energy and flowis so good that i feels like he’s overtaking everyone”.
