Kendrick Lamar has dominated the year in music, as he turned his beef with Drake into chart-topping tracks and a wave of momentum that has been nothing short of incredible.
His final Drake diss, “Not Like Us” produced by Mustard, became an instant L.A. anthem, and gave way to the idea to put on a show in L.A. called The Pop Out, referencing a line from the track. On Wednesday night at the Kia Forum, Kendrick, Mustard, and DJ Hed took the stage with various friends, bringing a ton of stars out both on stage and in the crowd.
Among those were a number of NBA stars with L.A. ties, as some of the biggest names in basketball weren’t going to miss this moment. LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and DeMar DeRozan were all on hand, with DeRozan arriving early to support his fellow Compton native.
I’m glad Deroze came home, yall didn’t deserve him neither! #ThepopOut pic.twitter.com/IKrTjE19VJ
— The Red Bull (@Red_BULLish) June 19, 2024
The livestream showed LeBron and Westbrook vibing during Mustard’s set, as he brought out Tyler the Creator, YG, and more to the Forum stage.
Lebron at “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends’ pic.twitter.com/iRbSOocRva
— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) June 20, 2024
YG pulled up to The Pop Out
Russell Westbrook and LeBron James vibing pic.twitter.com/vtecLNQDPV
— Modern Notoriety (@ModernNotoriety) June 20, 2024
Harden was also in the building with another beard enthusiast, Rick Ross, who had more fun dissing Drake than anyone else and wasn’t going to miss a chance to be at Kendrick’s show.
Rick Ross and James Harden at the Kendrick and Friends concert pic.twitter.com/ObTk2wd8QF
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) June 20, 2024
As plenty of people noted, James’ presence had to have hurt Drake a bit, as the two have been tight in the past, but there LeBron was on the Forum floor as Kendrick performed his “Euphoria” diss in its entirety — with some new lyrics — and the crowd went crazy.