Hip-hop doesn't appreciate Kendrick Lamar enough.

The TDE juggernaut released the critically acclaimed To Pimp A Butterfly album in March that is as beautifully black as Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World, Claudia Rankine's Citizen and Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic. So it's unfortunate to read that he had to close out the show at midnight in a half-empty arena at Powerhouse. Last night (Nov. 2) during the New York City stop of Kunta's Groove Session Tour was different. Everybody was waiting for Kendrick.

The not-so-intimate concert was moved from Webster Hall to Terminal 5 last Friday, doubling the venue size and eliminating the viewing pleasure for a good amount of fans. Regardless of the unpleasantness, Kendrick put on a stellar show. The stage set up was a scene out of Michael Campus's 1973 The Mack; a leopard skin rug—that's most likely fake—a white loveseat and a neon sign that read "Pimps Only" hanging above. Jay Rock opened the show and performed for thirty minutes the tracks off his off new album (read: fantastic new album) 90059 and stage stealing guest verses from songs like "Money Trees."

By 10:15 p.m., K. Dot came out to a roaring crowd to perform "For Free? (Interlude)" with the crowd yelling in unison “This dick ain’t free.” It was mind-blowing. Backed by a stellar four-piece backing band, Lamar ripped through TPAB and good kid, m.A.A.d city hits like "Wesley's Theory," "Institutionalized," "Backseat Freestyle" and "Swimming Pools." The former XXL Freshman was constantly thanking the crowd, making it a point to shout out his "day one fans."  If there's any thought that TPAB is too dense to be performed in concert and not as catchy as Ggood kid, that notion was crippled yesterday. One of Kendrick's greatest talents is his ability to create a song. Fans screamed the chorus for songs like "These Walls" and "Hood Politics" just as loudly as "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" and​ "m.A.A.d city."

He took a break in between his set to address for about 10 minutes about meaning of music and why TPAB is important. "No matter how many people say we ain't one, this thing called music will unite us forever, god damn it," he said to the crowd. The audience was mixed with variety of ethnicities that age range was from 18 to 45 years old. There were also a ton of couples, which was pretty cool to see. Next up he performed "U," "King Kunta"—a girl suddenly fainted right during the set—"Momma," "i," "Blacker The Berry" and, of course "Alright." For almost two hours, Kendrick performed songs off Butterfly and you only hope the audience was able to absorb how special the night was.

More From XXL