If Lamar was playing tug of war with himself, SZA largely had one story to tell — that of spiritual rebirth after endless emotional abrasion. Most of her visuals were about the cycle of life and death, often through the lens of insects, and toward the end of the night she emerged, sylphlike with wings, for the run of songs that best capture the way she extracts joy from drama: “Shirt,” “Kill Bill,” “Nobody Gets Me.” SZA’s songs generally benefit from the sort of up-close intimacy that would allow each word to hit like a gut punch, and at times, they got lost in the vast empty air of the stadium.
Lamar worked to stay grounded, starting with his attire. He was dressed in utilitarian chic — a camouflage jacket and long shorts, or patched denim, with distressed work boots. (The only contrast was the large diamond encrusted “X” pendant dangling from his neck.) While SZA’s stage artwork emphasized the natural world, Lamar’s veered to the hyperreal — faux newspapers with screaming headlines, a winking neon collage by the Los Angeles artist Lauren Halsey. The stage itself was simple: huge screens at the back, some steps for Lamar to sit and ponder on, and a diamond-shaped runway out into the crowd that occasionally served as a platform for the stars and their dancers.
Lamar’s set list right-sized the role of the Drake beef in his career arc — important and perspective shifting, but not dominant. It also highlighted his subtle shift in the wake of the beef, particularly following “Not Like Us”: his move toward anthemic songs packed with grit and triumphalism. They were the heart of “GNX,” and in many ways were crucial to the success of his Super Bowl halftime show in February.
Not all the allusions to Drake were hostile, though. Lamar performed “Poetic Justice,” from 2012 — friendlier times — which in its original release was a collaboration with the Canadian star. And SZA performed just a touch of “Rich Baby Daddy,” a 2023 Drake song on which she appeared alongside Sexyy Red.
For artists like Lamar and SZA, careers are long, and yesterday’s collaborators can become today’s antagonists, or vice versa. But watching the two interweave through the night also made clear how competing visions of vengeance — stern versus anxious — can also land neatly side by side, or even be the same.
Grand National Tour
Continues Friday at MetLife Stadium, and runs through Aug. 6 in Stockholm; grandnationaltour.com.
