Kendrick Lamar was spotted back in his hometown on Saturday amid his ongoing feud with Drake.
The 36-year-old hitmaker — who recently called his rival rapper Drake a pedophile in his new diss track — made his first public appearance since the clash as the surprise commencement speaker at Compton College.
‘I wanted to come out here just to tell y’all how much I appreciate y’all. I’m proud of the city of Compton, I’m proud of Compton College, most importantly I’m proud of the graduates out here,’ the Like That singer opened his speech.
‘I know what it takes. You had a lot of hardship, not only in your house, in your communities, but most importantly, within yourself, and that’s the toughest thing to overcome,’ he continued.
‘We still growing day by day, brick by brick, making sure that we develop, not only in physical form but in the spiritual as well,’ he said to the graduates.
Kendrick Lamar was spotted back in his hometown on Saturday amid his ongoing feud with Drake
‘I’m proud of the city of Compton, I’m proud of Compton College, most importantly I’m proud of the graduates out here,’ the Like That singer opened his speech
‘Seeing y’all out here, it is not only a representation of the world, but it’s a representation of me. When I walk out in these cities, in these countries, I can be proud and say, “This is where I’m from,”‘ the Compton native expressed.
The HUMBLE hitmaker went on to address this generation of graduates and explaining that they have the future of the world at their fingertips.
‘Some people tell us, “his generation, they don’t have what it takes, Gen Z,”‘ the rapper explained.
‘We talk about it all day. They try to pull us down and say we don’t know what we’re doing. They wrong, though.
‘You know why, because not only y’all have what it takes, but y’all have something even bigger. Y’all have the heart, y’all have the courage to be independent thinkers,’ he went on.
Lamar encouraged the graduates to take success into their own hands, saying: ‘Now it’s all about taking these resources and taking what you learned and applying. It’s as simple as that.
‘You’ll have hardships, you gonna have tribulations as you had coming up here, but guess what? You have someone special in your corner and all around you and that’s God, period. Every step of the way,’ he finished.
The surprise public appearance marks the rapper’s first since the very public feud with Drake.
You had a lot of hardship, not only in your house, in your communities, but most importantly, within yourself, and that’s the toughest thing to overcome,’ he continued
The surprise public appearance marks the rapper’s first since the very public feud with Drake; Drake seen in 2022
The two men have released ‘diss tracks’ against each other over last several weeks. Last month, Lamar shocked fans when he shared the cover for his track Not Like Us, which featured Drake’s mansion covered in markers for a sex offender app.
The two men have released ‘diss tracks’ against each other over last several weeks.
Last month, Lamar shocked fans when he shared the cover for his track Not Like Us, which featured Drake’s mansion covered in markers for a sex offender app.
The Canadian rapper’s home was also subject to a drive-by-shooting and multiple intruders trying to gain entry into his Toronto mansion while allegedly playing Lamar’s music.
At a press conference in early May, Inspector Paul Krawczyk said there is no known evidence at this time that any of the occurrences are related to Drake’s viral feud with Lamar, and the motive for the shooting remains unclear.
