Following a dominating performance together at this year's Super Bowl, the almighty dream team of Kendrick Lamar and SZA are currently on their Grand National Tour, playing a marathon set that highlights each of their extraordinary careers as voices and talents of their generation, an all-star caliber show that firmly highlights why they're the best at what they do. As the GNX rose center stage and the screens began to take us on our journey, Kendrick Lamar hit the opening bars of "wacced out murals" and MetLife Stadium proceeded to explode with unmatched excitement. Going straight for the bangers, Kung Fu Kenny wasted no time in hitting us with "squabble up" and switched it into "King Kunta" with the funked out bass line carrying some solid weight before flipping that into "ELEMENT." While it felt like Kendrick came out swinging for the fences, it was a even more amazing when SZA rose from the ground and they went into "30 for 30" while the whole building cheered on with unfiltered enthusiasm. Of course SZA then laid to waste her set, matching the energy of her tour mate and then some, as she hit the notes and flexed on her skills to remind everyone that she can rap just as well as she sings and sings just as well as she raps. Tonight, her voice was fire and she was making sure there was no doubt that she has what it takes to be a stadium-level performer. Dance numbers bounced between both artists and the choreographed numbers were equally impressive and enhanced each track with the added details and elaborate stagings that helped to take these already major tunes and bring them to unimaginable settings. SZA's commitment to the bug bit remained strong and at one point had her riding an ant named Anthony on stage while dancers in praying mantis costumes meandered behind her. Switching between lounging in elevated acres of lush green pedestuals and leading her troop of dancers around the stage, SZA was in all out entertainer mode and led with such a force and unwavering stream of confidence that she has worked hard to earn and now commands with such devoted respect and admiration. Her joy as she delivers these tracks is ever present as well and only adds to the authenticity of her performance. Leading squads of dancers but also running the stage on his own, Kendrick's onslaught of hits had the crowd already exploding out of their seats. The raw, visceral flow of "reincarnated" sparked emotions before "HUMBLE" nearly leveled the building and when Baby Keem hit the stage, there was another massive roar from the crowd. SZA crushed "Scorsese Baby Daddy" and got the crowd once again to hit a near-rave moment before bringing out a guitarist and bass player to wail through an unreal rendition of "F2F" that had SZA in ultimate rock goddess mode, whipping her hair will nasty solos filled the stadium and fireworks lit up the sky. It was her biggest superstar moment of the night and she lived every second of it. Getting the whole building to whisper peekaboo was a real treat and the switch-up into "Like That" turned things upside down. With flames shooting into the air, Lamar was pulling out all of the stops of a major show, also laying down his authority as the most major rapper in the business, the untouchable king who can look millions of people in eye and call his competition a pedophile on live tv. Watching him lay down these flows on such an epic scale is a site to see. Riding a glowing orb, like a jungle-gym mixed with Daft Punk's pyramid, SZA slammed into "I Hate U" and once again had everyone screaming along. "Kill Bill" was another untouchable anthem and soon she grew wings onstage which led her to take flight and soar back and forth before settling into "Good Days" for a serene and slight comedown instance. Throughout the night, video clips of Kendrick and SZA being interrogated by the police appeared on the screens to serve as transitions between their respective sets. Lamar answered questions about avoiding the spotlight as a means to gain attention and SZA instructed the officers on her to pronounce her name while lighting a blunt. It seemed like a nod to the ridiculous scrutiny that Black people are put through by corrupt forces and that alone seemed like enough of a purpose for these skits to make appearances. However as we made it to the end of the night, K Dot was proposed a new question by those on the other side of the camera. "Where were you on May 4, 2024?" the officers asked to which Lamar returned a sinister grin and denied any recollection of the night in question. Of course once the audience connected the date to the famous release of the worldwide smash "Not Like Us," everything clicked and the tension hit an all time hight. Subtly throughout the night, Kendrick had been teasing the moment, dropping the first half of "tv off" early in the night got the crowd going and then subliminally he lead us to it all along. When the screens went black and we dove back into "tv off," the rush of adrenaline surging through the building was climaxing and when the beat hit, the stadium erupted. As the capacity crowd collectively lost their mind with the reigning world champion diss track blaring, it felt like a monumental and surreal situation. An absolute moment of timeline and a feeling of belonging to the zeitgeist. To see an audience radiate such joy and celebrate so triumphantly was something to behold and an unforgettable experience. Thinking that the ongoing murder of Drake is happening at this level each night of the tour is rather unfathomable, but something that truly must be experienced while still at the height of its power. At just about three hours with very little down time, the Grand National Tour certainly ranks as one of the best collaborative tours in recent time and operates as a cultural touchstone that many will be looking back on for years and decades to come as a defining moment in time.
No comments:
Post a Comment