I saw Kendrick Lamar in concert and he is not my savior
thefader.com“Are you alive right now?” Kendrick Lamar’s question boomed through TD Garden not long after he took the stage. Aside from repeating the questions a few times to feed off the crowd’s rapturous energy and thanking Boston for welcoming him back, Kendrick didn’t have much to say in-between songs.
The silence outside of his performance felt meditative, as if he were channeling the Kendrick Lamar characterized on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers: cagey, defensive about his responsibilities as an artist and one of the biggest rappers on the planet, and learning how to open up through a mess of conflicting impulses.
Early on in his set, a soft robotic voice speaks to Kendrick directly: “You seem to forget who you are… Do you need a reminder?” Nearly clueless about the setlist and performance, I wondered how Kendrick, whose live performances are known to elevate his songs to greater heights, would attempt to draw new depth out of his latest album.
The melodrama of Mr. Morale can make it, at times, a difficult headphone listen. Its supporting tour understands this issue and works to bring the songs to life with intense emotive rapping and visuals projected onto a flowing box of white drapes meant to enhance their storylines and metaphors.
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