Kendrick Lamarhad an Austin crowd howling the hook to Alright before he even launched into a riotous rendition of the To Pimp a Butterflycut during a performance set to air on the second half of Season 41 of Austin City Limits.
The clip finds the Compton rapper at his breathless best, unspooling every rhyme and syllable into a thread for the bouncing crowd to hang on to. Lamar has an intuitive interplay with his band, and at the end, he teases a false ending before firing off onefinal round of the We gonna be alright chant.
Lamars hour-long ACL debut is scheduled to air on January 9th on PBS.The rappers episode will be thesecond of the second-half of Season 41, which begins January 2ndwith the Alabama Shakes and Vintage Trouble.
The new year will also boastACLepisodes featuring an acoustic set from Ryan Adams, as well as debut performances from Sleater-Kinney, Leon Bridges and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Benin, Africa musician Anglique Kidjo and the Tedeschi Trucks Band are also set to appear.
Austin City Limits airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on PBS.
Austin City Limits Season 41 Broadcast Schedule
January 2 Alabama Shakes / Vintage Trouble
January 9 Kendrick Lamar
January 16 Ryan Adams / Shakey Graves
January 23 Anglique Kidjo
January 30 Sleater-Kinney / Heartless Bastards
February 6 Leon Bridges / Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
February 13 Tedeschi Trucks Band