Kendrick Lamar made his hometown proud as the Compton native and singer SZA’s Grand National Tour took over Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium on Wednesday night.
The first of three shows at the venue was appropriately kicked off by a DJ set by L.A. native and record producer Mustard.
At around 8:05 p.m., the nearly three-hour show began with a video montage of the two headliners, featuring Lamar’s famous Buick GNX. Moments later, a black GNX appeared with the artist performing “wacced out murals,” from his 2024 surprise album “GNX.”
From there, he quickly jumped into his high-energy track “squabble up,” and the party began. The Angeleno had returned home.
“King Kunta” and “ELEMENT,” immediately followed before SZA joined him onstage for their collaboration “30 for 30.” Later on, they peformed their other collaborations.
From there, SZA took the stage and covered her early hits like “Love Galore” and “Broken Clocks,” from her 2017 album “CTRL.”
As the pair took turns taking to the stage, a video was played in between at times, showing each artist in an interrogation room of sorts answering questions about their careers.
Each artist’s set has a specific theme. Lamar’s was his hometown, showcasing L.A. culture, famous landmarks and even home videos. SZA came through with an earthy-like ethereal feel, complete with the appearance of insects. The look is inspired by her album “Lana.”
During the longer set of the “One of Them Days” actress, she revealed she needed help from one of her best friends. Suddenly, the sold-out crowd was surprised by a blonde Lizzo and the pair performed their 2023 collaboration “Special.”
Lizzo later posted a video of the performance on Instagram.
“BABY’S FIRST STADIUM PERFORMANCE— I love u @sza u r THEE DIVA!” she wrote.
The show comes a little over a year following Lamar’s hip-hop beef with Drake. However, the Pulitzer Prize winner still performed “Poetic Justice,” his collaboration with the Toronto rapper. SZA also performed her verse from Drake’s 2023 single “Rich Baby Daddy.”
This didn’t prevent Lamar from performing his diss track “euphoria” and his verse off of the song that started it all, “Like That.”
At just before 10:45 p.m., it was the moment the entire crowd waited for.
The 17-time Grammy winner is asked in the interrogation room about May 4, 2024, the day Lamar dropped the ultimate diss that would end the battle. After a brief chuckle on-screen, the entire stadium turned black and the whisper “I see dead people” echoed through the speakers and the crowd erupted.
This is the first time he’s performed the hit in Inglewood since last year’s Juneteenth Pop Out show at the Kia Forum just next door. Unfortunately, he performed it once, unlike the five times he did at the Forum.
Finally, the SZA arrives back onstage as the two perform their songs “Luther” and “Gloria.”
The Grand National Tour isn’t leaving Southern California just yet. There are still shows at SoFi on May 23 and May 24.
