Kendrick Lamar and SZA's ride-or-die camaraderie and wicked humor take center stage at SoFi Stadium

Who knows if Kendrick Lamar volition beryllium for a ceremonial deposition successful Drake’s ongoing defamation suit against Universal Music Group, aft Lamar flambéed him connected “Not Like Us.” But astatine SoFi Stadium connected Wednesday, Lamar and his co-headliner SZA had a large recurring spot imagining what mightiness happen.

In a fake video montage played betwixt acceptable changeovers, Lamar responded to mock-questioning like, “When you said you privation the enactment to die, was that a metaphor oregon are you serious?” and “Don’t you deliberation disappearing is simply a signifier of attention-seeking?” by blowing him disconnected and phoning successful a large bid of takeout. SZA past lighted up an tremendous associated successful the lawyer’s office.

The pair’s Grand National Tour is simply a triumph of the unbothered. Wednesday’s acceptable — the archetypal of a three-night SoFi basal — was a bountiful, meticulous three-hour amusement that centered connected the camaraderie betwixt 2 of the astir important acts successful modern music. They had a wicked consciousness of wit astir the show too. At 1 point, SZA seduced a giant, slicked-up praying mantis dancer. If lone we each had the aforesaid leeway erstwhile deposed.

Lamar, coming disconnected a brace of Grammy wins for “Not Like Us” and a gleefully petty Super Bowl halftime show, is astatine possibly the highest of his career. So it’s worthy noting however inspiringly egalitarian this hometown amusement was — a hierarchy-free divided with erstwhile TDE labelmate SZA, often afloat meshing their sets unneurotic for their on-record collaborations. The format brought caller vigor and knowing into their catalogs, each portion the brace gassed each different up arsenic virtuoso unrecorded performers.

Kendrick Lamar and SZA astatine the 2016 Grammys.

(Lester Cohen / WireImage)

On Wednesday, SZA arguably made the astir of the stadium-sized opportunity. SZA is simply a powerhouse vocalist and philharmonic omnivore with a stoner’s comic timing (most precocious seen successful the charming drama movie “One of Them Days”). But she’s present honed her stagecraft to beryllium connected par with immoderate popular royalty. Between “Snooze” and “Crybaby,” she was lifted connected wires, revealing a gauze bid successful the signifier of a chrysalis, to spellbinding effect. It took immoderate existent mettle to past execute her ballad “Nobody Gets Me” midair.

A astonishment cameo from Lizzo paid alms to their agelong friendship, and a bawdy portion of her verse from Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy” proved she tin ain adjacent a nemesis’ worldly with her charisma. When she spun “Garden (Say It Like Dat)” into “Kitchen,” the dancers’ delightfully goopy, insectoid costumes and monolithic ant sculpture felt similar H.R. Giger taking mushrooms connected a lukewarm day successful Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area.

When she and Lamar shared the stage, arsenic connected the Oscar-nominated “All the Stars,” “30 for 30” and their respective solo cuts “Doves successful the Wind” and “LOVE.,” determination was an alchemy betwixt 2 superfans, their carnal beingness crossed the diamond-shaped catwalks reinvigorating this long-beloved music.

At this point, Lamar’s lawsuit for being the champion rapper live is afloat closed. Of people helium is. Even if you thought the rubric was a small wobbly aft the knotty, skeptical “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” the acid-bath of “Not Like Us” and the L.A-embodying astonishment merchandise “GNX” slammed the statement unopen arsenic it spun disconnected deed aft hit. Who other could marque a pitch-perfect indictment of the existent American governmental clime onstage astatine the Super Bowl halftime show, portion needling his astir loathed force and spinning disconnected memes with conscionable a speedy grin successful bootcut jeans?

At SoFi, a fewer miles from his aged Compton backyard, helium drew from that monumental catalog and recontextualized it for this club-ready, venom-streaked era. The show’s format covered much than 50 songs betwixt the 2 artists, truthful adjacent erstwhile helium lone got to a verse oregon two, determination was ever thing caller oregon bracing. Here, “m.A.A.d. city,” 1 of his hardest and cruelest thoroughfare cuts, became a meta-R&B fig that made the opus adjacent much eerie. On “Humble.,” helium was flanked by pistillate dancers posing successful vicious geometric forms, physically embodying the ego-check of the song’s chorus.

The Drake flame-war worldly was delicious fun, from the shots-fired kickoff verse connected “Like That” to the relentless, merciless taunts connected “Euphoria.” But the “GNX” segments, similar the Tupac-conjuring “reincarnated” and the ice-cold “peekaboo” (and, obviously, the large Mustard-y howl of “tv off”) made the lawsuit for however this medium volition proceed to uncover caller textures and resonate successful L.A. lore. There wasn’t country for a five-times-reprised “Not Like Us” similar astatine his history-making 2024 “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends” set. But erstwhile helium did play it, it was little astir his archenemy than astir L.A., a metropolis with a caller opus successful the canon, a definitive “Us” who were each alike successful screaming it.

It felt poignant that Lamar and SZA reunited again for the set’s closers, the unexpectedly relentless Hot 100 fixture “luther” (now astatine 13 weeks astatine No. 1) and “gloria,” Lamar’s bait-and-switch astir his analyzable narration to his ain penning process. With SZA arsenic his Greek chorus, helium ended the nighttime connected a enactment astir however each this relentless enactment was worthy it to get astatine existent self-understanding. An state that volition ne'er fail, nary substance who retired determination is deposing you.