Rap star's youth appeal

Hip-hop king Kendrick Lamar is an "absolute behemoth" his fans say, and will have no trouble filling Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium in July.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper attracts a different demographic than some of the other big name acts to perform at the stadium in recent years, but Dunedin Venues chief executive Terry Davies says that is a strength.

"What we like about Kendrick is that he's a different genre that we've had little experience with."

It was great news for the city, he said, and a chance to engage a younger audience.

Mr Davies said he expected, based on previous concert statistics, upwards of 60% of concert-goers would come from outside Dunedin for the July 17 concert, contributing to a total economic impact for the city of $30million to $40million.

Live Nation Australasia president Michael Coppel, the promoter of Lamar's tour, said the Dunedin venue was chosen because its large capacity helped cover the cost of bringing major shows to the South Island.

Lamar's other New Zealand concert is at the Spark Arena in Auckland on July 19. That venue has a capacity of about 12,000.

The capacity of Forsyth Barr Stadium is about 40,000.

"The venue, city and university have been very supportive of past concerts and we're looking forward to a great outcome with Kendrick Lamar," Mr Coppel said.

Lamar won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, for his album DAMN, becoming the first non-jazz, non-classical musician to do so.

He has 12 Grammy awards to his name, alongside 13 billion Spotify streams and over six million album sales worldwide.

Otago Daily Times music reviewer John Hayden and rap fan called Lamar an "absolute behemoth".

The artist crossed generational and artistic lines because the things he talked about were "universal", he said.

Lamar’s third studio album To Pimp a Butterfly was part of the musical inspiration for David Bowie’s final album Blackstar.

"If we’re going to do a mural of Ed Sheeran then I think we need to erect a statue of Kendrick," Mr Hayden said.

Mr Hayden's sentiments were supported by most people who took part in an ODT.co.nz poll, with almost two thirds of the 1900 who took part supporting Dunedin having a mural of Lamar.

Dunedin City Council events special projects co-ordinator Tammy Jackman said the council would work with Dunedin Venues to promote the concert and opportunities for local businesses to cater to concert-goers.

As the concert was a one-off event, there would not be the same level of surrounding activity as when Ed Sheeran performed three shows over Easter weekend.

Ms Jackman declined to comment on whether Lamar would get his own Dunedin mural, such as Sheeran.

Lamar fan and Dunedin musician Christian Tucker (19) said it was "crazy" the artist was coming to Dunedin and he had been buzzing since he woke to the news yesterday morning.

The singer was a "huge inspiration" to him as a rapper, he said.

A fan of Lamar's since 2011, the Otago University law student said he tried yesterday to contact his idol and his promoters to see if he could be the opening act for the July concert.

"I spent the morning doing everything to make sure I could be there."

There would also be plenty of other students lining up to see Lamar, Otago University Students Association events manager Jason Schroeder said.

He expected an "incredibly positive" response to the news.

"Outside of Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar is the most relevant artist we've had for students at Forsyth Barr Stadium."

The concert would coincide with the association's Re-Orientation events, and Mr Schroeder said the organisation had been working closely with Live Nation.

 - By Jack Conroy