Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Schoolboy Q and more announce massive full-label tour
When a new tour is announced featuring two of the artists in The A.V. Club’s five best albums of 2017, it’s cause for us to get excited. But when that same tour includes other great musicians, including the guy who rapped, “Missus Piggy want her Biggie back…I’ma keep on eating till my ankles fat”? Perfection.
Top Dawg Entertainment announced yesterday that it was launching “TDE: The Championship Tour,” a massive North American tour including nearly every artist on the label, including Kendrick, SZA, Schoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, SiR, Lance Skiiiwalker, and more still to be announced. The tour begins May 4 in Vancouver and continues across the continent until closing night June 16 in Pittsburgh, PA. No word yet on whether or not there might be some special performances at the concerts involving tracks from the upcoming Black Panther soundtrack curated by Lamar and TDE CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, but in our minds T’Challa basically descends from the ceiling every night when Kendrick Lamar performs that great new song.
Tickets are going on sale this coming Friday from Ticketmaster, starting at noon local time for the venue of your choosing. (But if you’re determined to score advance tickets, there’s another of those American Express deals where members in select cities can buy early-bird tickets now through Thursday at noon.) The full list of dates is below, along with asterisks for the cities featuring the American Express presale option. We do not, as of yet, have asterisks next to the cities where Schoolboy Q will perform “Hands On The Wheel,” but hopefully it’s everywhere.
TDE: The Championship Tour 2018
May 4—Vancouver, BC*—Rogers Arena
May 5—Seattle, WA—White River Amphitheatre
May 6—Portland, OR—Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
May 8—Oakland, CA*—Oracle Arena
May 10—Los Angeles, CA*—The Forum
May 13—San Diego, CA—Mattress Firm Amphitheatre