Kendrick Lamar is riding high a year after his brilliant album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, and this fall, he joined the rap show of the year: Kanye West’s striking multimedia spectacle, Yeezus. The tour hit New York City recently, with shows at both Barclays Center in Brooklyn and Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Kanye’s stage set-up is something to behold—masks, rock formations, a character playing Jesus—and Kendrick held it down in the opening slot. Photographer Ari Marcopoulos was there to document the scene around Kendrick backstage on opening night in Brooklyn.