Singing in the Rain: Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Grand National Tour in Seattle
On May 17, 2025, Kendrick Lamar and SZA brought their joint Grand National Tour to Seattle, WA. The duo successfully sold out Lumen Field, home to the Seahawks and the venue for the Seattle stop of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
This show was my second time seeing Kendrick Lamar in concert, the first being at Climate Pledge Arena for The Big Steppers Tour. The Grand National Tour displays Lamar’s growth and staying power as an artist, showing a graduation from Arena tours to selling out stadiums.
The show consisted of a lengthy setlist where both artists performed an impressive mix of their beloved hits for longtime fans, as well as more recent tracks from their catalogs. The show was structured by being separated into acts following a DJ set from opener DJ Mustard. Each act features Lamar and SZA switching off, performing their own hits as well as their multiple collaborations. SZA also performed collaborations with other artists, namely Kiss Me More by Doja Cat and Rich Baby Daddy by Drake, a moment which particularly excited the audience given SZA’s public alignment with Lamar in the well-documented rap feud between Drake and the latter.
Act I consisted of five songs by Lamar; wacced out murals, squabble up, King Kunta, tv off, and ELEMENT.
Next, SZA took the stage for Act II, performing 5 of her own songs; 30 for 30 (which features Lamar), Love Galore, Broken Clocks, What Do I Do, and The Weekend.
Though the setlist was quite long for a concert, lasting about 3 hours with Act III alone consisting of 10 songs by Lamar, the tracks chosen were a fantastic mix of well-loved career hits and songs from the tour’s associated album GNX. Some songs were performed in alternate arrangements, for example, a slowed, softly vocalized version of Lamar’s hit m.A.A.d city.
My personal highlight of the show was when, in typical Seattle fashion, it began to rain. The rain did not deter Lamar or SZA, nor the fans. I felt especially prideful as a Seattleite when Lamar and SZA complimented the audience on our ability to continue showing out and singing along in spite of the downpour.
The aspect of this show, and the Grand National Tour as a whole that moves me the most is its theme of unity. Through this tour, Lamar places a great emphasis on the idea of bringing people together through the music, especially in light of the highly public conflict with rapper Drake.
Perhaps the most notable display of unity was the performance of Not Like Us, the smash-hit diss track against Drake. Although Not Like Us is regarded as a sort of hate anthem given the context
it was released in, Lamar’s power to bring people together in a context far beyond a rap beef through live performance is truly remarkable, and speaks to his reach as an artist. Thousands of fans in a sold-out football stadium shouting every lyric to a song about how much Lamar dislikes someone is a testament to the very idea of unity through song. The audience’s personal feelings about Drake were irrelevant, because the true intention behind the tour shone through successfully.