4 memorable moments from Kendrick Lamar and SZA's Toronto concert

CBC

16 hours ago

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The great rap beef of 2024, Kendrick Lamar versus Drake, still appears to be alive after the first night of Kendrick Lamar's two-date run in Drake's hometown of Toronto at the Rogers Centre — an arena that Drake has never headlined.
When Kendrick Lamar and SZA announced the Grand National tour back in February, fans immediately noticed the rap titan and R&B superstar would make a stop in the Canadian rapper's city and made jokes about Drake sabotaging the show. And although Drake was physically absent from the venue, his presence was certainly felt before and during the concert, where CBC Music was on hand to witness it all.
Near the beginning of the show, Lamar asked, "Toronto, you ready to party?" and party he did, showing off his dexterous flow and exuding swagger, proving to the thousands in the crowd that he is a rapper at the top of his game. The audience energetically screamed along the whole way through, during career-spanning songs such as Backseat Freestyle, DNA, tv off, Alright, Money Trees and more. And despite no special guests (Justin Bieber recently performed Snooze with SZA at the Los Angeles stop) or wild surprises, the show was a blockbuster production: Lamar and SZA performed like athletes, tapping into their stamina to rap, sing, dance and prance across the stage, accompanied by flaming pyrotechnics, fireworks and a small army of backup dancers.
From the crowd's reaction to Lamar's diss tracks to a heartwarming duet with SZA, these are the four moments from the concert that we can't stop thinking about.
1. Several Drake diss tracks made the crowd go wild
From rapping his feud-igniting verse on Like That — the song where Lamar tells J. Cole and Drake, "Motherf--k the big three, n---a, it's just big me" — to gliding across the stage while rapping "I like Drake with the melodies, I don't like Drake when he act tough" on Euphoria, Lamar kept a number of Drake diss tracks on the setlist.
The most anticipated moment was easily Not Like Us, the Grammy-sweeping, chart-topping Drake diss that dominated last year, which was performed near the end of the concert and sent the crowd into a frenzy. Lamar didn't skip a beat, rapping, "Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young/ you better not ever go to cell block one," and " Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles."
As the song ended, he stood still under the spotlight for several minutes as the crowd began to chant "Kendrick, Kendrick," over and over again, before chanting "One more time," hoping for a repeat of his L.A. concert last year, where he performed the song five times. While standing for long enough that he appeared to potentially be entertaining the idea, Lamar did not play Not Like Us again, and instead, SZA returned to the stage to join him in singing their love song, luther.
2. SZA's semi-apology to Torontonians
The audience went wild after SZA said, "Toronto, I owe you!" in reference to her previously cancelled concerts in the city. In October 2023, the Grammy winner infamously postponed her show at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena just minutes before doors opened, citing illness.
"I only want to give you guys 100 per cent, and that's what you deserve, and I won't give you any less than that. I promise you I will come back to Toronto and make it up," she said in a video shared at the time.
The show was rescheduled for December 2023, but was later cancelled.
3. All the Stars lit up the venue
Lamar and SZA performed several of the tracks they each feature on during the lengthy set, including 30 For 30, Doves in the Wind, gloria and luther — however their hit All the Stars created one of the most magical moments of the night. As the two performed the Black Panther song across from each other on the stage's catwalk, the crowd held up their phones with their flashlights aglow, creating a sea of stars from the floor all the way up to the nosebleeds. It was one of the most unifying moments of the night that didn't involve dissing Drake.
4. Several Drake features remained on the setlist
In the years prior to Lamar and Drake becoming foes, they appeared on a few collaborations together, including Buried Alive Interlude, A$AP Rocky's F--kin' Problems and Poetic Justice, the latter of which Lamar had performed during other shows on the tour. Poetic Justice remained on the setlist for the Toronto show, although it was a condensed version with only Lamar's parts. In a slightly melancholic moment, it reminded the crowd of simpler times — in this case, 2012, which was when it was released — more than a decade before the two rappers were adversaries.
SZA also nodded to Drake with a dance-filled segment of his 2023 song Rich Baby Daddy, which she features on. She sung the song's chorus, which mentions him by name: "Shake that ass for Drake (yup), now shake that ass for me," and then her dancers (who were dressed as insects) gyrated and twirled.