As part of an Obama-hosted Fourth of July barbecue, Kendrick Lamar and Janelle Monáe performed at the White House. Given the event, Lamar performed clean versions of his lyrics.
President Obama is a noted Kendrick fan; Obama had hosted the rapper at the White House before and has called Lamar’s ‘How Much a Dollar Cost’ his favorite track of last year.
Lamar, however, did not perform that song, nor did he perform any songs off last year’s To Pimp a Butterfly besides the Black Lives Matter anthem ‘Alright’.
Instead, he stuck almost exclusively to favorites off his 2012 breakthrough Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, throwing in ‘ADHD’ from his debut Section.80 near the end of his set.
Throughout the set, Lamar and his DJ incorporated the lyric “Obama say, ‘What it do?’”, possibly as an act of protest, possibly as an act of tribute. The lyric comes from the TPAB track ‘Hood Politics’.
Janelle Monáe’s set included a cover of Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’. After her performance, Obama and Lamar joined her onstage, with the president leading a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ for his daughter Malia.
Watch Monáe's performance of 'Tightrope' and Lamar's set below, and remember that Kendrick is headlining Longitude Festival on July 15.