STEPPERS ON SCREEN: PARIS MEETS NYC AT AMAZON’S K.DOT EVENT

On 12/12, Amazon Music and Amazon Prime Video hosted a screening of Kendrick Lamar Live From Paris: The Big Steppers Tour in downtown Manhattan, followed by an onstage roundtable discussion with co-directors Lamar, Dave Free and Mike Carson. Waitresses in high-waisted, pleated miniskirts roamed a Soho lounge near the intimate Roxy Cinema theater serving champagne to invited media and a few paid ticket-holders, everyone patiently awaiting a 7:00 screening time while songs like “N95” played softly like cocktail music. Noshing on mushroom-burger hors d’oeuvres, gathered guests wondered whether to expect Kendrick Lamar in the flesh or via Zoom, and if we dared hope for new music anytime soon to follow up 2022’s acclaimed Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Available for streaming since November 2022, Kendrick Lamar Live: The Big Steppers Tour is a contender for Best Music Film at the 2024 Grammys. Most of the screening’s attentive audience of music lovers probably also sat through Beyoncé’s Renaissance and/or Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour film. Representing a recent renaissance (no pun intended) in live concert movies, the three movies approach their assignment in different ways. The Big Steppers Tour features no backstage footage or voiceover insights into the process behind his six-continent, $110-million grossing world tour.

Instead, spectators in the 118-seat theater watched the same show Parisians saw at the Accor Arena of Paris’s 12th arrondissement back on 10/22/22, when the movie was filmed. The date also coincided with the 10th anniversary of Kendrick Lamar’s major-label debut, good kid, m.A.A.d city (TDE/Aftermath/Interscope).

So: Why Paris?

“We were just copying Jay-Z and Kanye,” Kendrick explained to laughs after the screening, his mouth full of popcorn. (Dave Free and Mike Carson appeared virtually onscreen, while moderator Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins volleyed questions to Kendrick Lamar live in the flesh.) “That shit holds a special place for us, because we was on a little boat or something shooting [the videos for] ‘Backseat Freestyle’ and ‘God Is Gangsta.’ To go back and shoot on the anniversary of good kid, that’s special.”

Kendrick Lamar Live: The Big Steppers Tour eschews the commentary seen in the Beyoncé and Taylor tour films, and frankly, some talking-head context would’ve been welcome. We hear the voice of British actress Helen Mirren peppered throughout (“you’ve once again let your ego get the best of you”), playing Kendrick’s therapist as she did in the visuals for “Count Me Out.” But some insider commentary on his real-life therapeutic breakthroughs would have been nice.

Still, the movie brings all the grandeur of his 2022-23 arena tour, which is plenty. Like the live show, the film gambles heavily on Kendrick Lamar’s star presence. At one point, he’s even enclosed in a glass box during a faux diagnosis for Covid, performing solo. His staccato, militaristic choreography may recall the “S1Ws” of Public Enemy fame, but it’s all him striking poses—he’s only occasionally surrounded by a troupe of dancers.

“Mannerisms—that was, like, the main theme from the jump,” he says. “I always go back to our favorite videos of my favorite artists: Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott. I used to be just engaged on screen and watching their videos and I used to be like, ‘Damn!’ What always made them such a magnet was their natural ability to move. Going into this, I think the first initial idea was always mannerisms and Dave figuring out how to capture that. At the end of the day, the artist is the art just as much as the music. You have to be able to express yourself in a way that people may not understand but they definitely feel it.”

As everyone spilled out into the icy evening, some grabbing leftover promo stickers, talk turned to upcoming projects like Lana and Vultures (from SZA and Kanye West, respectively). We may have a while to get served some new Kendrick Lamar music. But we can all cue up The Big Steppers Tour for some reminders of Mr. Morale genius while we wait.

Miles Marshall Lewis is the author of (among many other things) the 2021 book Promise That You Will Sing About Me: The Power and Poetry of Kendrick Lamar.