![\"Kendrick](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/live-sza-kendrick.jpg\")
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Kendrick Lamar<\/a> made a surprise appearance at Top Dawg Entertainment\u2019s annual Christmas Concert and Toy Drive, joining frequent collaborator SZA<\/a> for a performance.<\/p>\n In Los Angeles on Thursday (December 18), the likes of Doechii<\/a>, Isaiah Rashad<\/a>, Jay Rock<\/a>, Lance Skiiiwalker, Ray Vaughn, and Zacari performed at the fundraising gig hosted by Lamar\u2019s former label, TDE.<\/p>\n While he\u2019s no longer signed to them, he showed support by joining the \u2018Good Days\u2019 artist at the charity concert to take on two of their recent collaborations \u2013 performing \u2018Luther\u2019 from Lamar\u2019s latest album \u2018GNX<\/a>\u2018, and \u201930 For 30\u2019 from SZA\u2019s \u2018SOS<\/a>\u2018 deluxe reissue, \u2018Lana<\/a>\u2018.<\/p>\n The former track recently made it onto Barack Obama\u2019s annual list of his favourite films, books and music of 2025<\/a>, and has been a hit for the two this year, having been given a live outing at Lamar\u2019s Super Bowl Halftime Show<\/a> back in February.<\/p>\n The surprise moment came only days after the two wrapped their \u2018Grand National Tour<\/a>\u2018, a massive stadium run that concluded with back-to-back shows at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney on December 11.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/WO1vbjcR4R<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 media (@entplus_) December 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u2014 Okayplayer (@okayplayer) December 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n NME<\/em> was at the London stop of the trek<\/a> and gave the show four stars. \u201cBasked in a hazy white glow, they deliver versions of \u2018Luther\u2019 and \u2018Gloria\u2019 with breathtaking tenderness,\u201d wrote Kyann-Sian Williams.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a rare moment of collective softness after a sprawling, disjointed spectacle \u2013 proof of what the show could have been if the music had been allowed to breathe, to speak for itself. In London tonight, two stars collide, but even greatness can struggle to find the perfect balance.\u201d<\/p>\n In other news, SZA recently slammed President Donald Trump<\/a> for using her music in an ICE video for \u201cfree promo\u201d.<\/p>\n On December 9, the White House posted a video promoting deportations using her track \u2018Big Boys\u2019. The singer wrote the viral novelty song for her appearance as musical guest<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Saturday Night Live<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>in 2022.<\/p>\n Hitting out at its use in the video, she criticised Trump and the White House<\/a> for \u201crage baiting artists for free promo\u201d, calling it \u201cPEAK DARK\u201d.<\/p>\n She went on to hit out at the \u201cinhumanity\u201d and \u201cshock and aw[e] tactics\u201d of the White House, adding that it was \u201cEvil n Boring\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The post Watch Kendrick Lamar join SZA for surprise reunion at TDE Christmas concert<\/a> appeared first on NME<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kendrick Lamar made a surprise appearance at Top Dawg Entertainment\u2019s annual Christmas Concert and Toy Drive, joining frequent collaborator SZA for a performance. READ MORE: Kendrick Lamar and SZA live in London: a sometimes jarring, often unmissable clash of worlds In Los Angeles on Thursday (December 18), the likes of Doechii, Isaiah Rashad, Jay Rock, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-art"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-25 17:18:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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![\"\ud83c\udf84\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/72x72\/1f384.png\")
![\"\ud83c\udfb6\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/17.0.2\/72x72\/1f3b6.png\")
Kendrick & SZA going 30 for 30 at #TDECHRISTMAS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OOMha59c1R<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n