Kendrick Lamar Performs with National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center

From Compton to the Kennedy Center—Kendrick Lamar brought To Pimp a Butterfly to the nation’s capital on Tuesday. Backed by the National Symphony Orchestra, he performed songs off his chart-topping album during the historic evening.

According to Rolling Stone, he started off his set with the first-ever live performance of “For Free?” yelling “This dick ain’t free!” as a compelling opening salvo.

From there, he continued with songs like “The Blacker the Berry,” “These Walls,” and “u,” and had the audience on its feet during an encore performance of “Alright.”

Kendrick is kicking off a tour on Oct. 27, playing eight shows titled “Kunta’s Groove Sessions” in cities around the U.S. See a full list of dates here.

Watch highlights from K-Dot’s Kennedy Center performance below.