The 80,000-strong audience at Roskilde last night have Kendrick Lamar to thank for showing them what it’s really like to be at a raw, hardcore hip-hop concert.

Straight out of Compton, the 28-year-old rapper out his tunes to a boisterous crowd gathered around the Orange Stage.

If you’re anything like me, your knowledge of Lamar’s music is likely limited to billboard top 100 classics like ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)’ and ‘F**kin’ Problems’ – regulars on radio and party playlists for a while now.

But last night was really just one big learning experience for me, as I cheered on in awe to a dozen new tracks I hadn’t heard before.

‘Backstreet freestyle’ and ‘Bitch, don’t kill my vibe’ transformed the crowd into a mass of ghetto wannabes, with booties popping left, right and centre.

Kendrick the crowd-pleaser
To Lamar’s credit, he really knows how to get the audience going. He jumped around the stage like a crazed lunatic for the duration of his performance, and his energy is infectious.

My only criticism is that I believe he almost peaked too quickly. He played the large majority of his well-recognised songs within the first half an hour. It was a back-to-back hip-hop hit medley that seemed to lose its energy a little towards the second half.

Either way, the audience (and admittedly myself included) loved it, and last night’s performance was a reminder of why Lamar is at the top of the hip-hop hierarchy.