Kendrick Lamar starts tour with concert in Minneapolis

Hot on the heels of the surprise release of his sixth album, GNX, acclaimed rapper Kendrick Lamar announced that he will embark on a 19-city stadium tour on April 19 at US Bank Stadium. Lamar’s frequent collaborator SZA is also on the bill.

Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster. Cash App Card users have access to a presale that runs from 10 a.m. Wednesday to 10 p.m. Thursday.

It’s been an eventful year for Lamar, who has won 17 Grammy Awards over the past decade. In September, the NFL announced that Lamar would headline the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show in February. In 2022, Lamar appeared in the first halftime show dedicated entirely to hip-hop alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Mary J. Blige. The film received rave reviews and won three Primetime Emmy Awards.

In March, he reignited his long-standing feud with Canadian rapper Drake, and the two have spent time insulting each other since the release of their songs. Some have compared it to the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry from the 1990s. The general consensus is that Lamar is winning the battle, especially after Drake filed two lawsuits last week alleging that Lamar’s record label used illegal tactics to increase streams for Lamar’s single “Not Like Us” and that I paid label iHeartRadio to play the song.

California native Lamar began rapping as a teenager and broke through with his sophomore album, 2012’s Good Kid, MAAD City, which became the longest-running hip-hop album on the Billboard 200 charts. He curated the songs for the soundtrack to the 2018 film “Black Panther” and received an Oscar nomination for “All the Stars,” one of his many collaborations with SZA.

Born Solana Imani Rowe, SZA is known for her multi-platinum hits “Drew Barrymore,” “Love Galore,” “The Weekend,” “Good Days,” “I Hate U,” “Shirt,” “Kill Bill and “Slumber.” She is featured on two tracks from Lamar’s new album and is expected to release her third album, “Lana,” in the coming months.