Kendrick Lamar performs during the 50th Festival D'ete De Quebec at the Plaines D'Abraham on July 7, 2017 in Quebec City, Canada.
Ollie Millington/Redferns
On Sunday (Aug. 7), rapper Kendrick Lamar brought his traveling pop-up shop to Los Angeles’ Downtown district, taking over sneaker store Blends to stage a six-day opportunity for local fans to get their hands on merchandise exclusive to the shop.
Patrons arrived as early as 2 AM to be the first in line for the Damn. Pop-Up Shop, which is paired in tandem with the tour stops for his current Damn. Tour. Of the 15 cities where Lamar planned to stage a temporary store, New York and Los Angeles are the only ones to last longer than a day, with the former running from July 20-23 and the latter until Aug. 11.
While the line stretched for more than five blocks in L.A., staffers were busy prepping, steaming and rearranging the merchandise right up until the doors opened an hour later than expected at noon. Some of the clothing had already been available on the TDE website, including a maroon hoodie brandishing the word “DAMN.” and a black cap with the words “What happens on earth stays on earth” stitched on the front in the shape of a circle.
The merchandise included a yellow version of the “earth” hat, various sweatshirts, windbreakers and cotton shorts—all brandishing different designs inspired by Lamar’s latest album, which played on Sonos speakers stationed around the room. Some items appeared exclusive to the shop, including a green hat with “Los Angeles” written on the back.
Across the country, the rapper’s pop-ups have been met with hundreds of fans permitted to enter in small groups. Lamar kicked off his tour in Phoenix, Ariz. on July 12 and will conclude the trek on Sept. 2 in Miami, Fl. His fourth studio album Damn., which released in April, became his third consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 603,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.