Just days after the release of his third No. 1 album DAMN., Kendrick Lamar was seen sitting front row at the L.A. Clippers game. The “Humble” artist said hello to the crowd after realizing he was on the jumbo screen and then commenced to watching the game. But what fans didn’t notice was the brief interaction between box-braid Kenny and LAPD Commissioner Steve Soboroff.
Soboroff who alleges to be good friends with the “DNA” artist snapped a photo with the Compton native. The idea of Mr. Duckworth and Los Angeles’ top cop taking pictures together, much less being friends, comes as a bit of a shock as Kendrick has made his gripe with the police known on several songs. TMZ caught up with Soboroff and said the picture was no PR stunt and that the two actually respect one another.
“Do I support anti-police sentiment and speech?” Soboroff questioned. “No, of course not. He expresses through his art form his feelings, and I respect that. And I think he respects – or I hope he would respect – how seriously we take community policing and understanding people’s views.”
Soboroff says because they’re such good friends, Kendrick even helped him buy tickets for his sons to attend his upcoming concert at the Staples Center.
“I consider him a friend, and I think he considers me a friend,” Soboroff said.