The bass thumped, the crowd roared and the words flowed like the Hillsborough River. By the time headliner Kendrick Lamar had taken the stage at around 10:30 p.m. last Wednesday, the crowd had already been treated to a superb show by the opening acts, which included Fly Union, Jay Rock, Stalley and Ab Soul. Then Kendrick, whom Dr. Dre has labeled as his protégé, came out, causing the crowd to roar to a record-setting decibel level.
He started off with “HiiiPower,” which is well-known with Lamar fans, as it details Lamar’s self-proclaimed religion and his base connections with the legendary Tupac Shakur with the customary loud bass that had ruled the concert thus far. Then it was onto “F— Your Ethnicity,” in which he preached to the crowd about the importance of ignoring each other’s color and race. “Hol Up” and “ADHD” followed, and the crowd began to sing along with Kendrick. By the time “ADHD” and its drug-infused lyrics had ended, the crowd had nailed the last set of lyrics.
Then a slight disturbance with the sound took place, but it was no problem for Kendrick, as he just busted into some freestyle, which really riled everyone up. When the music and DJ were back on track, Lamar went on without a hitch, flowing right into “Ronald Reagan Era,” which continued the theme of kids abusing drugs during the 80s. He then followed up with “The Spiteful Chant.” It really upped the bass even louder. The floor of the Ritz shook as everyone jumped and pumped their fists to the beat.
“Tammy’s Song” was up next, and as one of Lamar’s best flows, it met my standards. It detailed two women who cheat on their boyfriends because they were unfaithful. Kendrick performed “Michael Jordan” next as he continued to talk about his HiiiPower movement as well as his background growing up in the rough streets of Compton in Los Angeles. Then came “Rigamortus,” one of Lamar’s best-known songs. By this time, the crowd knew every word before Kendrick uttered it, often a couple of words ahead of him.
Lamar closed with his most popular songs. “The Recipe,” which features Lamar’s mentor, Dr. Dre, nearly blew the roof off the Ritz. The bass and crowd practically drowned out his performance. But Lamar killed it even without Dr. Dre there next to him, easily flowing into Dre’s verses like he was meant to rap this song alone. Then came “Swimming Pools.” The audience refrained from saying the chorus repeatedly: “N—-, why you babysittin’ only two or three shots?/I’ma show you how to turn it up a notch/first you get a swimming pool full of liquor/then you dive in it/pool full of liquor/then you dive in.”
As Kendrick walked off the stage, the audience begged for more. He of course obliged it, running back onto the stage for “Cartoons and Cereal,” his latest hit and final encore. The crowd roared once more, more audible over the subdued yet still ever present bass.
Kendrick then saluted the wild fans, threw out a pair of autographed Beats headphones to a fan in the front and exited the stage. The lights came back on in the packed Ritz, and an announcer said, “You ain’t gotta go home, but you gotta get the hell out of here.” What an apt ending to a night filled with nothing but bass. Kendrick himself couldn’t have said it any better.
Critic’s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Jordan Llanes can be reached at jordan.llanes@spartans.ut.edu