Kendrick Lamar Performs 'Not Like Us' In Toronto, And The Crowd's Reaction May Surprise You
Kendrick Lamar has been busy on the road over the last few weeks on his Grand National Tour with SZA, and fans have been especially curious what he will do when the trek touches down in Drake's home city. Last night, they finally got their answer.
The GNX-supporting tour kicked off back in April of this year, so concertgoers had a good idea of which songs are part of K. Dot's setlist. The Toronto show went down as scheduled on Thursday (June 12) and will even circle back for round two on Friday (June 13). Lamar performed several Drizzy disses with the crowd rapping along to nearly every word.
'Euphoria,' one of the first few tracks from the summer 2024 rap beef, made its debut early in the evening and set the tone for what was to come. The Compton rapper also delivered 'Not Like Us,' his scathing chart-topping track where he calls Drake a pedophile, a colonizer, and more. When the now-viral 'A-minorrr' line was rapped, the attendees could be heard loudly singing along. View clips from the concert below.
Fans online expressed split opinions about the footage, with people claiming Kendrick is 'milking' the moment and others saying the reaction isn't surprising and laughing along. 'Some people are from out of town but this is wild but expected,' one user wrote on X. 'What were people expecting to happen? Kendrick fans are singing Kendrick songs,' typed another. On Instagram, a top comment read, 'How are we still talking about not like us in June 2025' as another user echoed, 'Bro milking it so hard.'
Speaking of shows in Canada, Top Dawg Entertainment artist SiR recently spoke about his Toronto show getting mysteriously cancelled last year and insinuated the Kendrick-Drake beef was the reason.
'So the venue in Toronto, which was partially owned by Drake, cancelled the show completely,' the singer revealed to the crowd last week in a now-viral clip. 'Then when we tried to switch venues, the next venue was like, 'Nah we ain't f**cking with it, I ain't taking no motherf**cking chance.'' He citied 'complications' that were 'too close to home for a lot of people.'
Watch SiR's explanation below and read VIBE's recent review of the Grand National Tour here.
More from VIBE.com
Drake To Join Kai Cenat On Livestream And Host $300K Giveaway
Kendrick & SZA's Grand National Tour Cements How They're Two Sides Of The Same Coin
Keith Sweat Stands Behind "Entitled" Women Remarks With A Little Help From Kendrick Lamar
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Eric Dane Describes Waking Up With ALS In First TV Interview Since Announcement
Eric Dane said he cannot hide from the fact that he has ALS. 'I wake up every day and I'm immediately reminded that this is happening,' the recently diagnosed 'Grey's Anatomy' alum told Diane Sawyer in an interview preview shared Thursday. (Watch the video below.) 'It's not a dream,' Sawyer said. 'It's not a dream,' the actor replied. Despite living with the incurable disease, which ravages the nervous system, Dane explained: 'I don't think this is the end of my story. I don't feel like this is the end of me.' Sawyer asked Dane whom he called first ― presumably to deliver the news of his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis. Dane appeared to well up with emotion as he bowed his head. The snippet ended there. Sawyer's full interview airs Monday on 'Good Morning America.' The actor revealed he had ALS, sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease, in an April issue of People. 'I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter,' he said. He said he planned to keep working on HBO's 'Euphoria,' in which he plays Cal Jacobs, the father of Jacob Elordi's Nate Jacobs character. The TV star rose to fame as hunky plastic surgeon Mark Sloan, aka McSteamy, on 'Grey's Anatomy' from 2006 to 2012. Dane, 52, has two teenage children with wife Rebecca Gayheart. 'Grey's Anatomy' Star Reveals ALS Diagnosis 'Grey's Anatomy' Star Reveals What It Was Really Like Working With Denzel Washington As Director Ellen Pompeo Reveals The 'Grey's Anatomy' Death That Hit The Hardest
New York Times
6 hours ago
- New York Times
How a Sneaker Designer Spends His Day Transforming Nikes
Andy Martinez is the founder and sole producer of his bespoke shoe brand &e. He makes his signature shoe by hand-stitching sneaker bottoms — often Nike Air Force 1s — to cowboy boot shafts. What started as a one-off design for himself took off in 2018 when he got laid off from his job at a photography studio. Mr. Martinez, 34, studied cartooning and film at Pratt Institute and found himself surrounded by fashionable people. Soon, they saw his shoes and wanted a pair of their own. His business snowballed online, and he has sold his shoes to celebrities, including the music artists SZA, Doechii, Don Toliver, Jessie Murph and Theophilus London, and the Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. 'I'm wearing my shoes all the time, whether it's to go to church or the grocery store — this is my business card,' said Mr. Martinez, who makes each shoe by hand and sells them for about $600 to $650. 'Of course, cowboy boots have been there for ages. But I was really early on the cowboy trend that's been happening now, with Beyoncé and Bad Bunny and Post Malone, and all these random country bars are opening in the city. So now there's a market, and there's a new customer that's growing along with my product.' Mr. Martinez's family immigrated from the Dominican Republic to the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and then to Washington Heights in 1994. For the last six years, he has lived in a one-bedroom-plus-office apartment on the Upper West Side, decorated with artwork by friends. He shares the space with his longhair American cat, Chase. Mr. Martinez recently spent a Wednesday with The New York Times to share his routine on design days. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Hamilton Spectator
10 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Drake who? In his Toronto return, Kendrick Lamar rose above the drama to deliver a career-spanning spectacle
Rogers Centre, Toronto, June 12, 2025 We all love a bit of drama. A bit of conflict. As humans, we thrive on it. For over a year, music fans have feasted on the bitter discord between Kendrick Lamar and Drake , obsessing over each sensational new development in what's been touted as the greatest rap beef of the 21st century. So it should come as no surprise that Lamar's arrival in Toronto on Thursday night — his first venture north of the border since the feud erupted last spring — to perform on the city's biggest stage was touted as another triumph for the Compton rapper, or framed as a juicy opportunity to provoke his rival on his home turf. But inside Rogers Centre, the spectre of Drake was hardly discernible. Lamar didn't mention him, nor did make reference to the feud even once during a nearly three-hour show. Instead, Lamar chose the high road, providing fans with an electric, career-spanning spectacle that felt less like a victory lap than a joyous celebration of a hip hop superstar operating at the peak of his powers. 'I see Toronto ain't playing tonight,' a smiling Lamar exclaimed midway through the show, following a rousing performance of 'Family Ties,' his 2021 collaboration with Baby Keem that sparked the first of several enthusiastic 'Kendrick' chants from the tens of thousands in attendance. And though Lamar chose not to fan the flames of conflict on Thursday, there were plenty of fireworks, both literal and figurative, provided by both Lamar and his co-headliner SZA, in an expensive extravaganza that sagged a little at times, but mostly soared. I'll admit that I was somewhat skeptical ahead of Thursday's show — the first of Lamar and SZA's back-to-back gigs in Toronto. Something about seeing a hip hop show at a baseball stadium felt wrong, somehow. With a capacity of 50,000, Rogers Centre is more than double the size of Scotiabank Arena, where Lamar typically performs when he comes to Toronto. As I filtered into the stadium and took my seats, I was surprised at the makeup of the crowd: the vast majority of fans appeared to be under 25, and many were teenagers, some sitting with their parents, munching popcorn or admiring their newly purchased merch. Between the main show and the opening DJ set from Mustard, the vibe felt more like a comic convention than a hip hop show. All that changed when the lights went down and a black Buick GNX was rolled slowly toward the middle of the sprawling stage, as the menacing horns of 'wacced out murals' blasted through the stadium's booming speakers. Lamar, the superstar Compton rapper who's been embroiled in a year-long feud with Drake, The audience leapt to the feet immediately as Lamar emerged from the car, kicking the show off with furious medley of upbeat songs from across different eras of his storied career — 'squabble up' from 2024's 'GNX,' 'King Kunta' from 2015's 'To Pimp A Butterfly,' and 'ELEMENT' from 2017's 'DAMN.' After about 10 minutes, the audience erupted for a second time as SZA — who more than once has cancelled Toronto shows at the last minute — emerged from beneath the stage on a rising platform to perform '30 for 30,' a standout collaboration with Lamar from her recent album 'Lana.' It was a thrilling moment, buoyed by the natural chemistry between the two artists, their voices duelling and eventually dovetailing in the song's final chorus. As Lamar exited the stage, SZA was joined by a troupe of dancers to perform three songs from her beloved debut album, 'Ctrl,' her voice nearly drowned out by the thousands of fans singing along at the top of their voices. The rest of the show proceeded in this unique fashion: a miniset by Lamar followed by a miniset from SZA, with collaborations peppered in between. SZA (left) and Kendrick Lamar (right) perform at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey in May. In an era where co-headlining tours are commonplace, pairing Lamar and SZA together for the Grand National Tour stands out as a particularly brilliant move. Longtime collaborators, both artists are currently riding a wave of unprecedented commercial and critical success: Lamar's record-breaking diss track 'Not Like Us' recently won five Grammys, while SZA's 2022 album 'SOS' recently spent its 85th week on the Billboard Top 10. But more importantly, Lamar and SZA feel remarkably compatible: Lamar, at 37, the slippery shape-shifter and lyrical savant. SZA, at 35, the master craftswoman of irresistible hooks that seamlessly fuse hip hop and R&B. Both standing tall as their musical peers slowly recede from cultural relevancy, whether by self-sabotage ( Kanye West ), by self-imposed exile ( Frank Ocean ), by the seductions of capitalism ( Rihanna ) or by the stench of all-consuming solipsism ( Drake ). Still, following the excitement of the show's first half-hour, both the strengths and flaws the stadium setting became apparent. On the one hand, the show's production was spectacular. Flanked by gigantic screens displaying cutting-edge visuals, along with incredibly charismatic dancers, it was easy to get lost in the performance, even if you were far from the stage. Most arresting was the show's use of stunning pyrotechnics, with thick columns of flames climbing hundreds of feet toward the stadium's ceiling. (Lamar's performance of 'euphoria,' one of two Drake diss tracks he performed throughout the evening, featured more pyro than the entire Metallica show I saw last summer.) On the other hand, the sound in the stadium was frustratingly muddy, with the bass often overpowering Lamar's vocals, and an irritating echo making it difficult to make out banter between songs. The complex stage setup, which included stages that disappeared behind sliding screens, made it difficult to see the performers for stretches at a time, sometimes blocking them completely from view depending on your vantage point. But these issues didn't seem to spoil the fun for fans, who were absolutely dialed in for Lamar's midshow set, which featured some of his biggest hits ('Humble,' 'Backstreet Freestyle'), along with two deconstructed versions of songs from his 2012 debut 'Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.' Nor did the apparent sound issues deter fans from embracing the fun and pure absurdity of SZA's midshow set, during which she showed off both her range and eclectic style with a string of songs from 'SOS' and 'Lana.' For 'F2F,' she brought out a guitarist and bassist, briefly transforming the show into a millennial pop-punk fever-dream. For 'Kitchen,' she performed while riding a giant ant, as dancers dressed as giant praying mantises roamed the stage. ('She's such a stoner,' the woman next to me observed.) SZA performs at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey in May. As the show entered its third hour, the novelty of Lamar and SZA trading sets began to wear off, and the audience energy began to ebb, even as the two artists trotted out some of their most beloved hits — Lamar's 'Money Trees,' SZA's 'I Hate U' and of course 'All the Stars.' It was nearly 11 p.m. when Lamar finally kicked the show back into a high gear with the hyphy banger 'TV off,' as the word 'MUUSSTTAAARD' echoed through the stadium amid exploding fireworks and billowing columns of flame. With the crowd's energy revitalized, Lamar finally launched into a long-awaited rendition of 'Not Like Us' — the chart-topping, record-breaking, multiple Grammy-winning diss track that doubled as knockout punch in Lamar's feud with Drake; a song that sparked a million think pieces, prompted an explosive defamation lawsuit and arguably changed the shape of hip hop forever. And yet, in the context of the Grand National Tour, 'Not Like Us' somehow transcended all the drama and baggage attached to it. There were no sly comments from Lamar, no cheeky visuals or ad-libs. In fact, Lamar said nothing at all. Instead, the tens of thousands in the arena simply bounced along to the track with the same verve and enthusiasm as they did for the half dozen major hits that Lamar performed earlier in the evening. Admittedly, there was something visceral about chanting along to the song's more inflammatory lines, taking part in the gleeful fun we've been witnessed from a distance for over year now. But it all felt somehow detached from Drake, while the feud felt suddenly contrived and overwrought. (Earlier in the evening, Lamar performed 'Poetic Justice,' a song that features Drake, while SZA performed a cover of his song 'Rich Baby Daddy,' a reminder of the Toronto's rappers ubiquitous, etherlike influence on hip hop.) Though 'Not Like Us' was certainly a highlight, the show reached its pinnacle earlier in the night with Lamar's performance of 'Alright,' a galvanizing, politically charged track from 2015 that became a rallying anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement, and which has taken on fresh relevance amid the ongoing protests against mass deportation in the U.S. ' And we hate popo, wanna kill us dead in the street for sure ,' the audience shouted along, in a moment that provided a much deeper sense of emotional catharsis than the lines ' c ertified lover boy, certified pedophile.' As 'Not Like Us' ended, some half-hearted 'one more time' chants bubbled up, but quickly faded away, as fans realized that, after over 50 songs, the show was finally coming to an end. Wearing a bright red jumper, SZA returned to the stage once to perform 'Luther' and 'Gloria,' both lovely duets off Lamar's most recent album. 'Love and faith, that's what this is all about,' she told the exhausted audience, who began filtering out of the stadium before the final song had even wrapped.
