Stephen Colbert has lots of changes to get used to when he takes over for David Letterman next month, but he’s made sure that one face will be a familiar one: Kendrick Lamar’s. The hip hop star, who performed on the final episode of The Colbert Report, is slated to be Colbert’s first musical guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Lamar’s appearance, and Colbert’s debut show, will be on September 8.
“My last musical guest on [on The Colbert Report] was Kendrick Lamar, and I would love for him to be my first musical guest,” said Colbert at the Television Critics Association’s summer conference according to The Wrap. “In fact, he will be my first musical guest.”
For Lamar’s December 2014 performance, he performed an unreleased, unrecorded track which was written for the show. “It don’t even exist nowhere in the world,” said his producer Terrace Martin to Complex, “except on The Colbert Report.” The song was supposed to be “just a moment,” said Martin, and it can only be found recorded live on the show.
Since Lamar last appeared on Colbert’s show in December, the rapper (now 28 years old) has won two Grammys, released a number one record (To Pimp a Butterfly), and transitioned from an emerging artist to an established star.
Colbert’s Late Show debut will also feature superstar George Clooney as his first guest. “I wish I could have done better than George Clooney, but he’ll do for the first guest,” he joked to The Wrap.
We’re not sure what Lamar has in store for next month’s performance, but considering his last appearance on a Colbert-hosted show was a one-off, his fans will definitely want to put September 8 on their calendars.
