Pulitzer winner Kendrick Lamar added audience participation when he performed a headlining set at the Hangout Music Festival on Sunday, May 20, but it backfired.
The 30-year-old invited a white woman onstage to rap "m.A.A.d City." However, he cut the performance shortly after the fan had repeatedly used the N-word featured on the track.
Kendrick Lamar Shuts Down Fan
"Wait," Lamar interrupted. "You gotta bleep one single word, though."
The woman argued that she got used to singing the lyrics he wrote and asked to stay onstage. At that point, the audience was already booing and throwing expletives at her, but the rapper gave her another shot.
Unfortunately, there was no redemption for the female fan. Lamar had to stop her and get on with the rest of the show. Daily News reports that the Grammy-winning artist followed the failed fan participation by performing his hit track "B****, Don't Kill My Vibe."
Kendrick Lamar brought a white fan on stage to rap "m.A.A.d City"....and then she dropped the n-word pic.twitter.com/JeMaI0UsBv — MASS APPEAL (@MassAppeal) May 21, 2018
The performance happened on the same night of the 2018 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. Lamar was nominated in 15 categories and went home with six wins.
He tied in with British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran who also received six trophies on Sunday night.
Kendrick Lamar Gets Sued
In other news, the "HUMBLE." rapper and his frequent collaborator SZA are insisting that they did not copy the artwork of an artist on the music video for "All The Stars" from the Black Panther soundtrack.
Earlier this year, a woman named Lina Iris Viktor filed a lawsuit against the two TDE artists for allegedly imitating her works "Constellations I," "Constellations II," and "Constellations III." She said she has previously refused to give permission to use her art in the movie.
On Friday, May 18, both Lamar and SZA denied the accusations and said that the music video was independently created. They also insisted that no portion of the music video directed by Dave Meyers & the little homies was ripped off.
The two artists argued that if there were indeed similarities between the music video and Viktor's art, it is protected by fair use. In addition, they claim that none of the profits made by the music video were due to the alleged use of the artworks.
Lamar and SZA are hoping that the case will be dismissed by the court.
