Kendrick Lamar and Clipse shut down L.A. with “Chains & Whips” performance

Clipse have been no stranger to label drama throughout their career, but the controversy over their song "Chains & Whips" that consumed their former label Def Jam might have been the rap duo's most frustrating experience yet. The song features Kendrick Lamar, who along with Pusha T, has a history of beefing with Drake. Even though Kendrick had yet to launch his defamation lawsuit against Def Jam's parent company UMG at the time, the label did not want to release a song with the two rappers together. Rather than compromise, Clipse bought themselves out of the contract and released their album Let God Sort Em Out independently. It was a critical success with first week sales matching their 2001 debut Lord Willin'.

The Cindarella Story continued over the weekend at Clipse's show at Novo in Los Angeles. The first song on the setlist was, as always, "Chains & Whips," only this time Kendrick was on hand as a surprise guest. He performed his verse for an understandably ecstatic hometown crowd before giving Pusha T and Malice the props they deserve and ducking offstage. It feels like it's rare to see artists who deserve to win doing so at this scale, so the footage is a solid way to start the week. Watch the "Chains & Whips" performance with the entire live set above via Stereogum.