June 14, 2025
Detroit is the last U.S. stop on SZA and Kendrick Lamar’s Grand National Tour before heading overseas to Europe.
In a fusion of Hip-Hop mastery and R&B brilliance, Kendrick Lamar and SZA turned Ford Field into a powerhouse of music, energy, and visual spectacle on June 10. The stop of the Grand National Tour saw the two artists, both fresh off wins at the BET Awards the night before, deliver a near three-hour set that balanced personal artistry with collaborative chemistry, bringing a sold-out Detroit crowd to their feet.
Though billed as co-headliners, the night leaned heavily into Lamar’s domain, showcasing the Compton rapper’s signature lyrical prowess and bold creative direction to tell the story of the streets.
Lamar shared the spotlight generously with “Snooze” singer SZA, who matched his presence with her own set that marked her distinct artistry and messages of transformation and love.
Lamar aptly opened the show with “Wacced Out Murals,” the first song in the “GNX” album and one that gives reference to Detroit legend Anita Baker.
A crowd of nearly 50,000 fans screamed along to the lyrics: “Ridin’ in my GNX with Anita Baker in the tape deck, it’s gon’ be a sweet love.”
A striking visual theme ran through Lamar’s portion of the show, with the centerpiece being a black 1987 Buick Grand National Experimental — a callback to the vehicle that brought him home from the hospital as a newborn and now serves as a symbol for his latest album and tour aesthetic.
The car was featured prominently throughout the set, tying together past and present in a cinematic, storytelling experience.
Lamar proceeded to dive into a set that included fan-favorite tracks.
Most notably, Lamar’s performance was unfiltered and raw, delivering his bars with pinpoint clarity without reliance on vocal backing tracks.
“Reincarnated” and a fiery, seven-minute version of his Drake diss “Euphoria” stood out as clear high points for newer fans of Lamar.
For older fans, Lamar indulged with tracks like “King Kunta,” “HUMBLE,” and a “m.A.A.d City” rendition that paid homage to Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love.”
In a playful twist, Lamar bridged the gap between his and SZA’s solo acts by incorporating video segments portraying a fictional legal deposition.
The Compton rapper took artistic jabs at his ongoing feud with Drake, which has escalated into real-life legal action from the Toronto rapper suing Universal Music Group (UMG) over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us.
Of course, no moment rivaled the crowd’s reaction to “Not Like Us,” Lamar’s popular Drake diss track turned the stadium into a unified chorus. When the line “A minor!” echoed from the speakers, nearly 50,000 fans shouted it back with force, closing out his set with a bang.
SZA held her own and then some. Her set was visually rich and emotionally textured, blending soulful vocals with theatrical elements to tell the story of transformation through relationships.
With dancers surrounding her, SZA simultaneously delivered a magical set while grounding her performance in personal expression.
Highlights from her set included a rock-leaning section anchored by “Scorsese Baby Daddy,” “F2F,” and a rendition of “Kitchen.”
“Kill Bill” and “Low” offered a juxtaposition with darker themes, while “BMF” and “Kiss Me More,” her collaboration with Doja Cat, injected pop fun into the mix.
The duo joined forces mid-show for “All the Stars,” the Oscar-nominated title track from Black Panther.
Slowing the concert down for an emotional moment, the stadium lit up with cellphone lights as Lamar and SZA performed to the audience from opposite sides of the stage.
Lamar and SZA’s alternating sets complemented each other. Lamar’s grayscale grit softened by SZA’s technicolor warmth and both came together in the show’s finale to perform their shared tracks.
SZA and KDOT’s chemistry has been honed over years of collaboration and it was on full display in the final stretch of the night.
After the hype performance of “Not Like Us,” the show wound down gently with “Luther,” which has held the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s R&B chart for a groundbreaking 13 weeks.
The Detroit show of the GNX tour concluded with “Gloria,” a closer that gave the crowd one last emotional hit before the two stars exited the stage together in the Grand National Buick.
Detroit wasn’t just a backdrop for the concert, it was an unspoken collaborator. Home of Motown, techno, and countless reinventions, the city has always carried a reputation for resilience and innovation, themes that echoed in both artists’ discographies.
For many, the show wasn’t just entertainment. It was a display of how softness can be strength, how every experience is powerful in the way that it is retold — and that art can protest and entertain at the same time.
Detroit was the last U.S. stop before the Grand National Tour took a month-long hiatus ahead of its European leg.
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