Kendrick Lamar & SZA

Walking up to the entrance of Villa Park on Thursday afternoon provided an interesting sight; on one hand, there was a sea of oversized American football jerseys, fitted with jean shorts and sneakers. On the other, the sight of durags, dreadlocks and baseball caps. These were two completely different sets of fans, and yet, they were all there to see the same two artists. Arguably two of the biggest artists in the world as of now.

California-based rapper Kendrick Lamar is currently amidst the commercial peak of his career. After a five year hiatus that stretched through a global pandemic, he released the much-anticipated “Mr Morale and the Big Steppers” in 2022, before recently following it up with the surprise drop of “GNX” in November last year. This is in similar vein to R&B singer SZA, who released her sophomore album “SOS” in 2022, five years on from her initial debut “CTRL”. In December last year, she released the reissue of “SOS” titled “Lana”, adding an additional 19 tracks to the album. Both artists had seen exponential growth as a result of these releases, though in Kendrick’s case, a much-publicised feud with Toronto-based rapper Drake has certainly helped him. The release of the diss track “Not Like Us” in May last year was seen by many as THE moment of 2024 - 5 Grammy awards and 1.5 billion Spotify streams are just some of the eye-watering commercial numbers associated with the song. Ultimately, this all culminated in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl half time performance in February, amassing the most viewers for a halftime show in history with 133.5 million people tuning in. With all the eyes of the world and all the talk on social media being about the performance, this provided the rapper the perfect opportunity to announce the European leg of his “Grand National Tour” with SZA the next morning, including two shows at London’s “Tottenham Hotspur Stadium”.

Going back to Thursday night, the attention turned to what the two were capable of delivering across a near 3-hour set. After an energetic opening DJ set from frequent collaborator and producer Mustard, Kendrick Lamar took to the stage, rising up from below whilst seated in a Buick Grand National. After a mellow opening to the show with “wacced out murals”, there was a degree of confusion as to why the show didn’t immediately begin with some energy. After all, the standing circle in the middle of the stage was dubbed the “Energy Floor”, with tickets coming in at over £200 a pop. However, any doubts were immediately squashed with the fantastic “squabble up”, containing the first of many pyrotechnic drops for the night. This continued to flow nicely through more of Kendrick’s high octane songs, including “King Kunta” and the first half of the fan-favourite “tv off”. As the Buick Grand National once again emerged from the stage, the co-star of the evening SZA emerged, being bathed in large bushes and vines. The duo then performed their most recent collaboration “30 For 30”, before SZA had the stage to herself for a few songs of her own. Upon Kendrick’s return to the stage, it was almost as if the producers of the show had an energy dial and cranked it up to eleven. Kicking off Act III with the first of the standalone Drake diss tracks “euphoria”, Kendrick then passed through many of his biggest hits including “family ties”, “Alright” and “HUMBLE”. However, it was when his collaboration with cousin Baby Keem played, the 2021 single “family ties”, that the stadium almost reverberated as if it had been struck by an earthquake. Even from the nosebleeds, the collective jumping and moshing from the fans below, combined with the booming Villa Park speakers, created a vibration across the area and down to central Birmingham. 

Unfortunately, where Kendrick provided energy, SZA’s reappearance to the stage felt like it provided the complete opposite. Those in the stands for Kendrick swiftly took their seats, and many on the floor used it as an opportunity to grab a pint or go to the bathroom. I’m sure they didn’t mean to disrespect SZA in any way, but it did feel that the show catered better to Kendrick’s desires and his music. After all, when he embarks on the Australia and South America legs of the “Grand National Tour”, he’ll be doing these on his own. SZA’s set including two of her songs from “Lana” as well as a cover perhaps didn’t help with the lack of energy either. Thankfully, both returned back on to stage together to perform more of their collaborations. This is where the show felt the strongest; there is an undeniable chemistry on stage between the two, backed up by some incredible songs. Perhaps the best of these is their 2018 collaboration from the “Black Panther” movie “All The Stars”, during which Kendrick and SZA were atop rising platforms accompanied by equally impressive fireworks and flames lighting up the darkening sky. SZA then accompanied Kendrick on his song “LOVE.” where she fills in for Zacari’s verse, yet again highlighting how great of a performer she can be when given the right tools.

Kendrick Lamar’s return to the stage meant one thing only: the return of the energy. As he continued to play through some of his greatest hits, he also flexed the insane catalogue of collaborations he has amassed in the last year, whether it’s his most recent one with Playboi Carti “GOOD CREDIT”, or the diss that started it all on “Like That” with Metro Boomin and Future. Fortunately, this time when SZA returned to the stage, she had saved a massive selection of her own greatest hits for what was her last section of time on stage that night. These included 7 of her top 10 most streamed songs on Spotify, which begs to wonder why she didn’t spread them out evenly across her set earlier. Nevertheless, it meant that moments such as “Kill Bill”, “Good Days” and “Kiss Me More” went down an absolute treat with the near 40,000 people in the crowd. At one point, SZA is lifted up during “Nobody Gets Me”, though due to the restricted nature of the stage, she stays put in the centre and doesn’t move, compared to other flying stunts done by Beyoncé and P!nk. That for me summed up how I felt about SZA’s contribution to the night; there were moments of magic where it was evident how great of a performer she is, but either through her choice or simply through no fault of her own, she didn’t quite soar to the stars and reach the heights of her own “SOS” tour.

As the encore beckoned, Kendrick returned for three more of his most energetic songs, playing the first half of “N95” and the second half of “tv off”, with the iconic “Mustaaaaaard” line delivered with the producer himself joining Kendrick on stage. Last, and certainly not least, came the time for “Not Like Us”, and even with many of the gigs I’ve been to, I’ll be hard pressed to find a crowd that was louder than Birmingham was for that song. Whether it was the passionate delivery of the song’s now iconic lines or the fireworks shooting up to the sky for one last time, this felt like the perfect song to conclude this gargantuan show. Except it wasn’t. Instead, SZA returned one last time to join Kendrick for both of their “GNX” collaborations, “luther” and “gloria”. The latter track felt like an anticlimactic way to close out a show like this (I feel as if “All The Stars” being played here instead would have been a more fitting conclusion) but as Kendrick and SZA enter the Buick Grand National one last time and descend from the stage, you’d be silly to disagree that they didn’t justify the extortionate ticket prices. In a concert climate where it’s becoming more and more common to pay triple digit prices for 90 minute shows, a concert combining two of the biggest musicians on the planet spreading over the length of a blockbuster film definitely felt justifiable. This show was a blockbuster film in itself. Perfect? Absolutely not. Far from it. But there’s no denying it’s a heck load of fun.