AzChike was the only featured rapper on Kendrick Lamar’s GNX to perform with him in Los Angeles last week.
The West Coast rapper collaborated with Kendrick on album cut “Peakaboo,” and was a surprise guest during the third and final night of the Grand National Tour in Los Angeles. The 22-time Grammy winner is co-headlining the tour with SZA, who’s also featutred on two GNX songs.
On Monday (May 26), AzChike recalled on TikTok how the performance came to be.
Around the 1:30-minute mark of the first TikTok, AzChike predicted that Kendrick would bring him out “all three days” of the L.A. shows. “So I’m thinking ahead,” the rapper said, detailing a $10,000 outfit he wore during the set.
Az then explained that he sent Kendrick a voice message saying that he was “pulling up all three nights.” “If n***as don’t invite me, I’m crashing all three,” he joked.
As the concerts approached, Az recalled being “sad as fuck” that he wasn’t contacted to perform. “And I’m only sad ‘cause this is all I do,” Az said, adding that his “coping mechanism” was “cleaning up.”
Days later, Kendrick hit Az back and told the rapper to come to the Friday and Saturday shows. This excited the rapper, who thought “hope was alive” to perform.
Az texted Kendrick’s at 7 A.M. that Friday for details, at which point J Real tried to negotiate a performance on his behalf. “J Real is the real MVP of this story, I really love dude,” Chike said.
While the rapper attended the second show and caught “big inspiration” from Kendrick, J Real saw Chike, who was “locked in” and studying Kendrick during the show. But he decided to ask for a performance slot again, believing that the moment would be once-in-a-lifetime.
“I’m telling him like, ‘I need this, bro,’” Chike said. J Real replied to Chike again, saying he was “the only one this makes sense for.”
After getting two missed calls while in the shower, Chike was called by Tim Hinshaw of Free Lunch, who told the rapper that rehearsals would be at 3 P.M. that day.
“I’m like, ‘Oh shit, it’s happening. But long story short, I had to put in work for that shit, bro,” he said. “I fought to be on that stage. That shit didn’t come easy.”
A follow-up TikTok showed Chike detailing the rehearsal and saying that while he “wasn’t in the plans,” he was “seen” by Kendrick and the tour crew. “They understood what that performance meant to me,” he said.
Also featured on GNX were other West Coast rappers like Roddy Ricch, Lefty Gunplay, Hitta J3 and Dody6.
