Kendrick Lamar and Sza bring storms and celebrations on the stadium scene

A little over a year ago, Kendrick Lamar had a comfortable perch like one of the most popular artists in hip-hop, and also the most pious. Then came his longtime quarrel with Drake, who turned into a referendum on ethics in hip-hop (and life). This has led to the emergence of Lamar as a creator of Hymns Tsk-Tsing, who have transformed into his album the leaner and most nasty to date. Then came a promotion performance to one of the biggest world stages: the part-time show of the Super Bowl in February.

The aberrant song of this album, “GNX”, is the Sza duo “Luther”, which reigned at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks. It is both gentle and dour, a love song that romantizes the obstacles that bother as much as the affection itself.

Despite the success of “Luther”, Lamar and Sza are not necessarily partners in natural duo; These are two complementary styles but do not overlap with sentimentalist. Lamar treats the memory as if it were a moral act, and Sza expresses a kind of agitation to look back. They have shared a record company and collaborated several times in the last decade – some good songs, some great, all in light with themselves.

This added a layer of complexity to their current exit, the great national tour, which came to the Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, Thursday evening for the first of the two performances. Even if the overall number of songs tilted a little in favor of Lamar, it was essentially a co-chief event: Lamar, his popularity on his peak, on tour for the first time, while Sza takes a victory tour for “SOS”, his beloved album 2022.

For almost three hours, Lamar and Sza exchanged scene control, some songs at the same time, a vanity that gave the speed and unpredictability of performance. Sometimes they put the spotlight with a tender duo, small spoons of heat in the middle of the high energy presentation and daringly produced. (Others have already adopted this compromise approach: Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Charli XCX and Troye Sivan.)