Kendrick Lamar reminisces about his music journey with Rwandan stars

American rapper Kendrick Lamar will rock Mzansi this Saturday, but first he delivered an explosive performance at the inaugural Move Afrika: A Global Citizen Experience on Wednesday night with Kigali, in Rwanda, as the anchor city.  

Undoubtedly, the biggest name to grace the stage in SA since Beyoncé performed at Global Citizen: Mandela 100 five years ago; the Grammy-winning musician will headline three-day music festival, Hey Neighbour, in Pretoria on Saturday. Khalid and The Chainsmokers will headline day one on Friday with H.E.R and Swedish House Mafia closing the festival on Sunday.

The Swimming Pools and Poetic Justice hit-maker offered SA audiences a foretaste into what they can expect. Landing in Rwanda in the early hours of Tuesday morning with his family, the 36-year-old artist met with local Rwandan rappers during the day before taking to the stage at the BK Arena. 

Supporting acts included Rwandan superstar Bruce Melodie, Tanzanian songstress Zuchu and more.

On stage, Lamar was reminiscing about his experience with the local talent.

“When I spoke to the local artists earlier, when I first started making music, I was doing it for me. Talking about my experiences, my life and where I come from. I was trying to give medicine to the people around me who were going through things. That was my inspiration behind Good Kid, M.a.a.d City (his 2012 album),” Lamar said.

“Not knowing that many years from that day, I would be in Rwanda. Not only am I touching people back in my community but I’m touching people right here. That’s special for me. There was one individual that I met at the meet and greet today, and we shared the same experiences. He was telling me how I inspired him, and I was telling him how (US rapper) DMX inspired me. No matter where you are around the world, if you mean what you say no matter where you – you will feel that love.” 

“It’s my appreciation to you [the crowd], you give me the courage to get up on this stage. Every individual here has truly inspired me and I’m sure everyone on my team feels the same way." 

Lamar’s palpitating visual performance opened with a dramatic collapse of the backdrop with a silhouette of the African continent, titled Compton in bold type font at the centre. Compton, California, is Lamar’s hometown. Each act, four in total, was introduced with a change in backdrop. 

Lamar was accompanied by 19 dancers  consisting of steppers dressed in monochrome black suits and white T-shirts and ballerinas in all white performed all sorts of choreographic sequences throughout the set. The songs Lamar performed spanned across his four albums Good Kid, M.a.a.d City, How to Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN and Mr Morale & The Big Steppers.   

His wardrobe remained unchanged with an all-black suit with gold metallic embellishments across the blazer shoulders, sleeves and applied on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ cap, with a distinct ‘pgLang’ brooch at the centre.

Lamar along with US production company pgLang have partnered with Global Citizen on a special five-year project that advocates for change on key issues that are affecting Africa which include food scarcity, access to economic opportunities, climate change and health funding.  

An integral part of the stage design was multicoloured giant straw baskets, transformed into lampshades that hung above the stage, holstered high or lowered throughout the evening. Designed by the women of Rwandan NGO Nyamirambo Women’s Centre in Nyamirambo, Kigali, the traditional Agaseke baskets, which represent peace, are made of sustainable materials from a plant of which the fibres are then harvested. The baskets are dyed in different colours which gives them their vibrant appeal. The women artisans are part of the programme that provide education and vocational training to women to better their employability and skills.  

“A big element of this partnership and campaign is about creating social and economic impact at the grass roots," said Liz Agbor-Tabi, vice president of policy and advocacy at Global Citizen.

“We had a similar engagement in Ghana last year and we saw that generated almost more than $15m (about R283m) into the economy. From hotel to transportation, production elements and a lot of it went to our local entrepreneurs and we envision that we will see a similar ripple effect here in Rwanda.”

Hoping to generate traction and revenue from the music experience, the Norrsken Kigali House, a greenhouse co-working space created with entrepreneurs in mind, hosted African designers and artisans in the fashion and luxury goods activation in its stunning Pergola outdoor facilities. 

South African menswear designer, Shaldon Kopman of Naked Ape, told Sowetan that the fashion landscape in Rwanda has greatly grown since his first visit in 1999, and every visit since then. 

“It’s fantastic to see how this landscape has changed and developed – from its architecture and how well constructed the places are. When we talk architecture, it's all part of fashion. It’s a wonderful inspiration for local upcoming individuals who are interested in the arts and design. It’s a wonderful environment to be in,” said Kopman.