This past weekend was festival heavy. Festivals were going down across North America, from Lollapalooza in Chicago, to HARD Fest in California, to OVO Fest in Toronto, and finally Osheaga in Montreal. Most have wrapped up by now, apart from OVO which sees its final day of festivities today.
This year Osheaga represented for hip-hop with performances from up & comers like Bishop Nehru, alt-r'n'b artists like FKA Twigs, as well as veteran MCs like Nas, Mos Def aka Yasiin Bey and Run The Jewels. Kendrick Lamar, of course, closed out Saturday night with a bang-- literally, fireworks were going off during his performance. Tyler, The Creator was there for the final day on Sunday, as were SZA and Raury, while another TDE rapper, ScHoolboy Q, hit the Osheaga stage on Friday night.
Nonetheless, it was Kendrick who definitely drew in the largest and craziest crowd. He did the massive audience justice, backed by a live band, and turning his hip-hop show into something akin to a rock show, jumping around the length of the stage and rapping over rock-infused versions of his instrumentals. He also paid homage to classic West Coast hip-hop while he was on stage.
For those of you who couldn't make it out, check out a photo gallery from Kendrick's performance above, and a videos below. He performs "Money Trees" in the first, and the second is of his finale: a performance of "Alright" with Mos Def.
Kendrick Lamar was joined by the god Mos Def Official to perform a special version of "Alright" at Osheaga.