13 Best Moments From Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s Grand National Tour Kickoff In Minneapolis

Kendrick Lamar & SZA – who are currently sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 for the eighth week with their “Luther” collab from the former’s GNX album – kicked off the most anticipated tour of 2025 in Minneapolis on Saturday (April 19) night at the U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Grand National Tour’s start saw the TDE tandem deliver a generous, well-paced setlist for what is the co-headliners’ first all-arena trek. Instead of one full-length set followed by another, they alternated stage time every 5-7 songs, which kept the energy and the curiosity factor high for fans, who seemed to be fairly evenly split over which artist they were more excited to see (at least based upon cheers, cell phone videos and bathroom breaks).

It was a smart move. In terms of performance style, color palette and stage design, Lamar and SZA occupy very different worlds: his rapping is intense and unrelenting, her singing is expressive and relaxed; his visuals are muted and grey-toned, hers warm and green; his staging was stark and lonely, hers was imaginative and inviting. If Kendrick’s stage show is a masterclass of a laser-focused vision, SZA’s is a revelation of creative energy. But instead of seeming jarring, those contrasts feed off each other beautifully, adding up to a whole that is so much more than the sum of its parts – and since those individual parts are already very good on their own merits, that’s saying something.

Just two months prior to the tour’s opening night, Lamar headlined the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show during Super Bowl LIX, which drew 133.5 million viewers – a new record. His critically acclaimed, much-memed set saw him bring out SZA for support, emphasizing the longstanding respect and artistic chemistry between the TDE labelmates. Both together and separately, Lamar and SZA have notched a lot of wins: In addition to winning a frickin’ Pulitzer, Lamar is a six-time Billboard Hot 100 topper with 22 Grammy wins, while SZA is a three-time Billboard Hot 100 topper with five Grammy wins. Simply put, these are two of the hottest artists on the planet today, so expectations were as high as the U.S. Bank Stadium’s angled ceiling for this show.

Here are some of the best moments from the Grand National Tour’s kickoff in Minneapolis