Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar is one of the biggest stars in Hip-Hop and almost certainly one of the biggest stars in modern popular culture. If you haven’t heard of Kendrick Lamar (a difficult feat in itself) 30 seconds with an internet search engine will quickly tell you why he was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most Influential people in the world.

At the time of writing, Kendrick Lamar has been awarded an astonishing twelve Grammy awards; he’s also the only rap artist to ever have been awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Music. The accolades don’t stop there though! Every one of Kendrick’s albums has been awarded minimum Gold certification for sales, whilst his smash album DAMN. has (at the time of writing) been awarded triple-platinum certification.

Amongst the roster of iConnectivity artists, Kendrick Lamar is a real heavy-hitter!

Lamar is signed to American independent label, TDE (that’s Top Dawg Entertainment in case you didn’t know) whose in-house Musical Director is Dion Friley. Dion’s a big advocate and ambassador of iConnectivity interfaces, employing them with a host of TDE artists including SZA, SchoolboyQ, SiR and of course, Kendrick Lamar.

Dion utilises a wide range of iConnectivity interfaces on tour with TDE artists, including the PlayAUDIO12, the iConnectMIDI2+ and others. One interface, in particular, represents a real favourite of Dion’s:

The iConnectMIDI4+ is the Heartbeat of the DAMN Tour. It gives me the redundancy of having two computers, and it’s flawless. It does everything I need, it’s the one thing which is a dominant factor in my setup and I can’t do without.

Dion uses an iConnectMIDI4+ as the hub and control centre for all the MIDI and timing events which form a huge part of Kendrick Lamar’s live shows. Every time-critical event is controlled via MIDI commands.

Dion uses an iPad running the Lemur app, which allows him simple and effective show control. From the lighting commands to video cues and even the stage lifts Kendrick rides as part of the show, they all rely on the power of the iConnectMIDI4+.

Dion is also one of a wave of Musical Directors who is singing the praises of the PlayAUDIO12. Whether it’s forming the backbone of a TDE artist’s main playback rig, or filling in on fly-shows and TV appearances for heavier and less portable systems, the PlayAUDIO12 is backing a host of acts on TDE.

With the PlayAUDIO12 you’re packing power.

Dion’s not wrong; in just a half unit rack space the PlayAUDIO12 offers twelve audio outputs and 8 virtual ports of MIDI, along with life-saving redundancy switching; all built into one compact box.
It’s one of the reasons so many artists, including Kendrick Lamar, are choosing iConnectivity.