The last time Kendrick Lamar played Governors Ball in 2013, he had just released his breakthrough album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City a few months earlier. On Sunday (June 11), everything came full circle when Lamar returned as a headliner, 10 years later, to close out the 2023 festival.
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Lamar’s 10-Year Reunion
Marvin Gaye’s 1976 hit “I Want You” played out before Lamar broke into “N95,” off his 2022 album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.
Throughout his 23-song set, Lamar spliced through tracks, moving back and forth from 2017 release DAMN with “ELEMENT,” “DNA,” and “HUMBLE,” to his third album, To Pimp a Butterfly (“King Kunta,” “Alright”). His performance spanned the catalog of his five releases.
Lamar also plugged in four covers including “Nostalgia” by Pusha T, who also performed at Governors Ball earlier in the day, and The Weeknd’s “Sidewalk.” He eventually addressed the audience an hour into his performance and later brought out protégé Baby Keem for “Family Ties” and closed the night with “Savior.”
Rounding out the final day of performances were British rockers Black Midi, Girl In Red, and a mostly chilled-out PinkPantheress, who sauntered around the stage with a bag on her shoulder before placing it down after “Break It Off” and “Pain.”
When she was done, she picked her bag back and nonchalantly walked off stage.
Lil Nas X Played On
Lil Nas X warmed up the main stage for Lamar and powered through some technical difficulties, even restarting the opening song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”
“I want to leave so fucking bad right now,” he said, visibly frustrated by mic and other tech issues on stage. Nas eventually flicked through his 10-song set, including “Old Town Road,” and closed on his 2021 Montero hit “Industry Baby” with samples of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” slipped in.
Governors Ball 2024 will presumably return to Flushing Meadows Corona Park and run June 7-9, if it is scheduled on the same weekend, but these dates have not been confirmed.
Photo (Kendrick Lamar): Nick Watkin / Courtesy of Clarion Call Media
