finessed my way into the pop out. this is what I thought of it

from the morning show on twitch
twitch.tv/open_mike_eagle

[@JoeFrankFilms]

If you appeared, played Haircut, and then left, I would’ve absolutely experienced spontaneous combustion.

[@westerlied]

This is so funny because when I was watching the video I was like "woah he's dressed like Open Mike Eagle"

[@blacklinkfirelink2304]

As to the Dr Dre aspect of this, I don't think Kendrick's angle of Drake being "problematic" was ever about enforcing any kind of moral code on hip hop. It was simple, petty "I'm going to air out your dirty laundry and highlight all your bad qualities to humiliate you." I don't think he was trying to be the hip hop police at all. People can definitely see that as hypocrisy, but I don't see it as inconsistent with his stated principles. He's been very explicit that he doesn't see himself as a moral guide for anyone, and that he reserves a lot of grace for "problematic" individuals, more than a lot of people are comfortable with. I don't think he's sweating the Dr Dre criticism at all, and a lot of complaints directed at him on that topic are kind of talking past him based on his stated values in songs like Mother I Sober. That song alone tells me this is not a topic he has avoided thinking about and asking hard questions of himself about.

[@peen2804]

exactly this very well said. hypocrisy is not even a part of the equation when it comes to diss tracks. its not" i better not say or do X or Y or i'll be a hypocrite" its "im going to say any and everything i can to destroy this fool". kendrick is not infallible and has never pretended to be at any point.

[@alifyre1996]

"we could take separate lyfts its fine" "not even free i'm bartering"

[@Mahan1372]

Regarding Dre, I think fans need to remember that you can still say you loved the show while pointing out the problematic parts. Hell, Kendrick himself said over and over that people need to stop tap dancing around these conversations. So, if anything, people are no longer tap dancing around it and are calling out shitty behaviour. Of course, healing and redemption is another big theme in Mr Morale, but if the victims of the individual who committed these crimes still feel like justice wasn’t served, then it’s not true redemption. Public statements made by Dre don’t hold the same weight if the victims still feel like they’ve been fucked over. TLDR: I loved the show and I love Kendrick’s music (he’s arguably my favourite artist ever), but putting him on a pedestal and pretending that we can’t critique his actions is going against one of the main points he’s trying to make in his messaging - that we need to stop putting artists on a pedestal and start having these tough conversations about problematic aspects of the music industry without getting shit on for pointing it out. P.S: this really makes me question though, where is the line drawn? Meaning, do artists and influential figures in other fields have a chance at redemption, or do we completely write them off and their contributions forever because of their flawed and sometimes terrible behaviours in their personal lives?

[@YerpDerp17]

Facts. The Dre critism is more than valid. If I had it my way he wouldn't have brought him out. There were PLENTY of west coast legends he could have brought out. Though I understand the significance of Dre coming out for Kendrick. But I wasn't at all feeling that. And victims of DV have every right to be angry or call it out. It just wasn't a good look for an event like this, let alone period. The ONLY issue I have with it is the selective outrage. I seen profiles on social media saying Kendrick is a terrible person for consigning Dre by having him on stage, only to have tweeted out how much they love Chris Brown and how he paid for his crime so we need to move on, not even a week earlier. So though the criticism isn valid, a lot of it is also agenda based, in order to defend Drake or belittle KDot. Because you are allowed to have those opinions but keep that energy for everyone else, not just the artists you happen to not like or whoever if in a rap beef with your favorite artist. Because at the end of the day if we are to truly keep that same energy for everyone, a very sizable chunk of our favorite artists are out of here. And I am cool with that if that's the standard we are keeping for everyone. But it comes off as a bit fake or performative when you claim to be outraged over DV, yet defend another person who also committed DV, but you just happen to like their music so you overlook it. lol

[@jacqulynsmither8770]

I am having a problem with the fact a person admit they were wrong and apologized for their mistakes are we not supposed to forgive them? Kendrick is not trying to be the moral police for the Rap game. Dr Dre means a lot to Kendrick and to many people in that LA audience.

[@Mahan1372]

@@jacqulynsmither8770 I can see it from your perspective as well. After thinking about it for a while, I do understand why Kendrick brought him out because it fits what he was trying to do with this concert, which was mainly bringing the west coast together. I was just seeing a lot of comments shitting on anyone who even mildly criticized Kendrick for this, and that’s mainly what I had an issue with. Like, we can still have a civil discussion about this, like what you’re doing now, but yeah I see both angles tbh. I do agree though that people took this way too seriously at times, in the sense that they thought Kendrick was the morality police who was supposed to take the whole industry down. This was mostly about west coast unity, and at the end of the day, it was just a rap battle. Kendrick himself had said many times that he’s not our saviour, so I don’t really expect him to be a saint. I just think there should be room for both perspectives to co-exist! That’s what productive conversations are and I do think they can be beneficial if they don’t turn toxic. Acknowledging that Dre did those things might be a good thing, so that we can bring awareness to the fact that stuff like this can be a problem, but it doesn’t mean that we have to now cancel Kendrick either. All that said, I appreciate your comment and I do see your point :)

[@Mikeybandz]

If it was up to OME he would just have Kendrick play all of his most uncomfortable songs and have 11k people feel weird

[@sandenson]

Imagine FEAR. or Sing About Me live

[@pristinedecision1877]

32:22 OME is definitely a psycho LOL. I would have loved to have seen Meet the Grahams as well but that would definitely cause some sort of generational blight on humanity if performed in front of an audience of that size.

[@AgonalRhythm]

Cursed ritual for sure

[@ImpendingRiot83]

‘Limp Bizkit music video on top of the World Trade Center’ level omen right there

[@bernard12324]

kendrick def wouldve fw you OME dont cut ya self short

[@matttrogdon2618]

That cartoon hook/munsters thems shit got me💀

[@nononoleavemebe]

I was thinking he was dressed like you the whole time lmao, you're valid

[@alifyre1996]

"when you go outside you have to wear clothes" not necessarily mr eagle thats your choice

[@megan-mr9vk]

bro doxxed himself for kendrick and honestly worth it

[@fireballninja01]

Kenderick’s outfit is actually a reference to one of Tupac’s

[@SonicTheo]

doesn't make it much better but Dre did apologize in 2015

[@classica1fungus]

What more can the man do? We need to learn to forgive people when they make mistakes give them grace

[@YerpDerp17]

@@classica1fungus Eh, its not our place to tell actual victims of these sorts of crimes to forgive or essentially get over it. If some man beat my daughter there is NOTHING they could do or say, or no amount of time that passes where I would forgive them or overlook it. I get what you're saying, and if these were victimless crimes I would fully agree. But when there are victims who suffer their whole life from what someone did to them, I a mnot going to sit up here and tell them they must forgive them so I myself can mess with their music guilt free. I think its tone deaf af. Now you can overlook it or forgive them, that's your choice. But you can't nor shouldn't expect others to do the same. Especially people who have legit suffered from DV.

[@TamiaPeach]

@@YerpDerp17I get your point, but WE ARE NOT THE VICTIM. Even if she is holding onto it does not mean that everyone else has to as well.

[@lexicon1913]

Abuse ​@@classica1fungus is not a mistake. And atonement is the minimum. Restitution is the minimum.

[@classica1fungus]

@lexicon1913 if someone does something wrong, they deserve forgiveness if they want to change period

[@_glia]

beautiful critique of the spotlight dot gave dre

[@brendansutton5201]

Definitely agree about Dre. I fully believe that people can reform and change but it does not look like he's really don't much of that. Kinda sucks that so much of this beef was about morals and trying to expose one another, when it really just be just about rap, with those convos held separate

[@classica1fungus]

How has he not changed though? He hasn't caught any more cases in 30+ years. He grew up in a very cruel environment, we shouldn't assume to know the circumstances when that happened

[@Phished123]

yeah, obv its hype in the moment, and for Kenny to get that cosign from a legend publicly on such a big stage, in retrospect it just feels gross 100 percent. It just muddies the water so much like OME said.

[@SmokinAcesProd]

Watch The Defiant Ones documentary

[@TamiaPeach]

I respectfully disagree. To continue to demonize a man that made a mistake over 30 years ago, with no further incident is why our culture hasn’t moved forward in so long. Redemption is possible, even for people like Drake, Dre, etc. Kendrick alluded to that in the songs when he suggested therapy. Secondly, a one-time incident of assault is very different from ongoing, continued/repeated predatory behavior. If he brought Diddy onstage, I could see the point. But people really have to let the Dre thing go.

[@classica1fungus]

@TamiaPeach beautifully stated, my thoughts exactly. Just didn't have the patience to type it all lol.

[@punkwonder]

That's dope about the cameras. Watching the livestream at home, I was definitely thinking the camerawork was hella good - even cooler that they weren't in the way

[@SmokinAcesProd]

Yes sure we are going to act as though that Dre / Dee Barnes situation didn’t happen in 1991, that it hasn’t been known about while we were all enjoying Eminem, 50 Cent, Snoop, The Chronic, etc. AND that The Defiant Ones didn’t have Dee Barnes on there talking about the incident and her experiences WHILE Dre called himself an idiot and apologized🤔🤔🤔

[@Corndadthepop]

I think brick body complex wouldve fit just fine.

[@Corndadthepop]

No lie, I got my comment in before you said it by like three seconds.

[@JamsandTea]

Even if inconsistency is something you’re okay with, it’s just hard to be on board with someone who clearly stands for a kind of common, communal good, in a very ‘human’ way, whatever that means- and Kenny continually brings it on himself. Kodak, Dre, like I get it. I really do. I understand the point Kendrick is trying to make with their inclusion, but it’s as though Kendrick is allergic to having anything outside his music speak for him and it leaves fans in the dark. I feel like it’s kind of our job to be skeptical because Kendrick wants us to be. He’s been on this ‘when shit hits the fan will you still be a fan’ shit since TPAB. It’s clearly no accident. It just… muddies the water in ways that feel like Kendrick might be mucking up his own messaging. Theres obviously a lot of variables to this but it’s just kinda hard to watch it all transpire like this. Side note: thanks for talking about your experience at the show, it’s rare I get to hear from performers about inside baseball stuff at all so it was nice hearing someone talk about that while still feeling like they’re connected to earth. Be it in song or on here, your voice is always nice to listen to man

[@SKULLKR3W]

I bet Kendrick does circular breathing to rap the way he does

[@nononowhyno]

ziggu starfish raps wouldve torn the house down imo

[@juggadadjones3966]

I agree man when I think of la rap I think of you

[@kasim613]

mysterious benefactor dope

[@karmmy365]

Hit up that mysterious benefactor for a Kendrick feature. Put Armand Hammer and RAP FERRERIA on it too and get Quelle to produce it.

[@darrylemooreii4424]

Did not know you lived that close to me man lmao

[@trdiopn5737]

Appreciated the critique

[@82seno]

does anyone have a timestamp where the actual review of the concert starts?

[@whyisthomyorke]

Yess I totally agree about the rapping over vocals I think sometimes it throws people off more than just freestyling if they mess up! At the end of the day it’s about entertainment but it makes sense I’m sure people were so nervous performing at this level so they did the backing vocals on some of their acts. I won’t say they’re not real rappers if they can’t rap live I just think it’s not ideal

[@juggadadjones3966]

You da man ome

[@justsehlim]

You wheeled, and then dealed

[@CautiousKieran]

agree 100% on dre

[@Jonathan-a-az]

I'm loving these OME uploads on youtube. Hope to see more on here, as I'm not across the other platforms so much.

[@TheTriangleOffense47]

0:27 best offer ever tbh, if I worked at the Forum I would’ve accepted

[@BackstageFlyer]

Damn, kudos to OME for bringing up how Dre coming out plus his drink or w.e being promoted (though it made sense financially), put a slight stain on the narrative vs Drake. If Drake had a bit more skill he might’ve been able to make these contradictions stand out in a song but yea; I also felt the same about Kodak being on the album.

[@alifyre1996]

i love that you love your music than his

[@cleekersneaker]

I saw Serena and Venus play tennis when they were kids at the Great Western Forum. That's a memory.

[@Corndadthepop]

If it opened with rapping over vocals then that got weened out over time it might have been because it was the sort of less experienced cats out first and maybe they were worried about making sure everybody hits their bit. Its def easier to hit your spot even if you're getting crowded. Im not a rapper but ive done a fair amount of karaoke and ive been annoyed at having to compete against the singer of the song but i just got louder and having the singer sing their bit did help when it was a song i didnt know through and through. I know its gonna sound corny talkin about karaoke but its the closest experience i have to performing for a crowd aside from singing with a friends band at a party but thats no pressure really. Not that karaoke has a lot of pressure but i was a weird karaoke perfectionist and i always tried to do songs that stretched me and were a bit of a performance.

[@karonr0]

KDot had an outfit own similar to P

[@alifyre1996]

I SEE THAT you lookin like kdot my son LOL

[@lordthanaton9320]

My nigga, I passed on 300 floor tix... 5hen they doubled... so sad. Should l da just bought them when I had them.

[@Magic7ball]

Stereolab

[@juggadadjones3966]

😂😂😂😂

[@alifyre1996]

I had no idea about the dee barnes thing thank you ome

[@TamiaPeach]

To continue to demonize a man that made a mistake over 30 years ago, with no further incident is why our culture hasn’t moved forward in so long. Redemption is possible, even for people like Drake, Dre, etc. Kendrick alluded to that in the songs when he suggested therapy. Secondly, a one-time incident of assault is very different from ongoing/continued/repeated predatory behavior. If he brought Diddy onstage, I could see the point. But people really have to let the Dre thing go. We were not the victim and Dre not Kendrick really owe us anything. The same way Will Smith doesn’t owe us an apology for slapping Chris Rock.

[@GustoFormula]

"That is why our culture hasn't moved forward in so long". How? I have never heard about this until now, he's barely being demonized. Aside from the most atriocious cases people who get "cancelled" just lay low for a while and then keep doing their thing

[@lexicon1913]

I'm going to assume you're younger than Gen X, not in a disrespectful way. Dee was not Dre's only victim. Everyone in NWA before the split and after were notorious for how they treated their families and women. Nobody is demonizing the man who has buildings in his name. He was never canceled. He's booked and busy and thriving. AND to say abusers area making mistakes is to downplay the nature of a toxic pattern. Commenting on why he's toxic is not demonizing him and critical thinking is not pejorative.

[@TamiaPeach]

@@lexicon1913 I’m in my mid 30’s, so not Gen X, but not a youngin either. I get what you’re saying, and even if it was more than one person, including a partner, it was still a long time ago. Patterns are only patterns if they continue. Between then and now, no other abuse has been reported, yet people are still calling for him to “apologize” to us as if he owes us that. It’s the people he hurt that he owes restitution to, and if he’s given them that, then the rest of us should move on. But we don’t know anything about these people’s personal lives, so how could we know what happened behind closed doors?

[@TamiaPeach]

@@GustoFormula I mean when people make mistakes, we automatically demonize them and call for their “punishment”. Like the girl who claimed to see the baby on the highway. Every black person on the net was saying to lock her up, as if she was trash for something as simple as lying. We are too quick to throw our own people away while worshipping everybody else.

[@stevescotthiphop]

I think most rap fans have a conflicted view of Dre. The fact that he beat a woman he didn't know in public means he's probably beaten women in private. On the flip side, he's also helped lift hip hop to new levels for 40 years Love Kendrick, but I've also had questions of his moral compass. I've long been conflicted with the juxtaposition of using an album to promote a documented woman beater to make the point that people deserve redemption, only to turn around and portray himself as judge, jury and executioner in different instances

[@wheatthicks]

You got two tickets and let one go to waste?????!!!??!!??!???!

[@charlesstayduhar3083]

I could see an argument for the rapping over vocals thing when it comes to the lesser known performers. Maybe if you've been at it for not a very long time you don't have the breath control or stamina on stage to do every single bar exactly as it is in the recording. Glad Kendrick didn't do it though

[@classica1fungus]

I personally don't think someone should have to apologize for something they did 30 years ago, and be treated as if they just did it last week. That was a life time ago P.S. love your coverage top notch as always! You rule

[@dasupremegentlelad4321]

Agree only if they.dont have the same views as before . Some people can do stuff long time ago and still belive it was OK or don't care.

[@classica1fungus]

Btw great video, love your coverage sir

[@classica1fungus]

​@dasupremegentlelad4321 well he hasn't had any other cases since so id say he changed his ways, but that's an assumption

[@SonicTheo]

he did apologize in 2015

[@classica1fungus]

@@SonicTheo well hells bells, the man shouldn't be shunned from showing his face. We must learn to forgive

[@alifyre1996]

People get mad when you analyze the subtext wrong My bad man, you coulda made it main text, sung your own song

[@johncarle7807]

If you didn’t yell out “project blowed” Atleast 25 times, I have no respect for you anymore……..

[@freddie5ive]

That dre part was kinda silly. He's acting like anyone genuinely engaged with any of the lyrics in that battle. It's not hipocrisy or disingenuousness or not being consistent or whatever because kendrick never said "hey stop saying i beat my wife, i don't beat my wife" he doesn't care about any of that lol

[@catregime]

Kenny didn’t blur the line, he showed us exactly what he thought/thinks abt women getting beat…and that is that he does not care at all. The moment you work with a guy like Dre you make that statement.

[@musicmucker]

I'm kinda mindblown hearing about people rapping over their own vocal tracks. That sounds impossibly corny to me. I guess I really am too old and out of touch with what kids are doing these days.

[@wheatthicks]

That’s how 90% of rappers have performed for at least the past two decades.

[@TheNinja94a]

@@wheatthicksI mean I’m gen z and I still think it’s bad etiquette. It’s like the live performance version of showing up to a radio show to freestyle and reading off your phone.

[@wheatthicks]

@@TheNinja94a I didn’t say it’s good or bad. I said it’s common.