Kendrick Lamar made a surprise appearance at Top Dawg Entertainment’s annual Christmas Concert and Toy Drive, joining frequent collaborator SZA for a performance.
READ MORE: Kendrick Lamar and SZA live in London: a sometimes jarring, often unmissable clash of worlds
In Los Angeles on Thursday (December 18), the likes of Doechii, Isaiah Rashad, Jay Rock, Lance Skiiiwalker, Ray Vaughn, and Zacari performed at the fundraising gig hosted by Lamar’s former label, TDE.
While he’s no longer signed to them, he showed support by joining the ‘Good Days’ artist at the charity concert to take on two of their recent collaborations – performing ‘Luther’ from Lamar’s latest album ‘GNX‘, and ’30 For 30’ from SZA’s ‘SOS‘ deluxe reissue, ‘Lana‘.
The former track recently made it onto Barack Obama’s annual list of his favourite films, books and music of 2025, and has been a hit for the two this year, having been given a live outing at Lamar’s Super Bowl Halftime Show back in February.
The surprise moment came only days after the two wrapped their ‘Grand National Tour‘, a massive stadium run that concluded with back-to-back shows at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney on December 11.
— media (@entplus_) December 19, 2025
Kendrick & SZA going 30 for 30 at #TDECHRISTMAS pic.twitter.com/OOMha59c1R
— Okayplayer (@okayplayer) December 19, 2025
NME was at the London stop of the trek and gave the show four stars. “Basked in a hazy white glow, they deliver versions of ‘Luther’ and ‘Gloria’ with breathtaking tenderness,” wrote Kyann-Sian Williams.
“It’s a rare moment of collective softness after a sprawling, disjointed spectacle – proof of what the show could have been if the music had been allowed to breathe, to speak for itself. In London tonight, two stars collide, but even greatness can struggle to find the perfect balance.”
In other news, SZA recently slammed President Donald Trump for using her music in an ICE video for “free promo”.
On December 9, the White House posted a video promoting deportations using her track ‘Big Boys’. The singer wrote the viral novelty song for her appearance as musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 2022.
Hitting out at its use in the video, she criticised Trump and the White House for “rage baiting artists for free promo”, calling it “PEAK DARK”.
She went on to hit out at the “inhumanity” and “shock and aw[e] tactics” of the White House, adding that it was “Evil n Boring”.
The post Watch Kendrick Lamar join SZA for surprise reunion at TDE Christmas concert appeared first on NME.
