Review: Despite uneven pace, a masterful Kendrick Lamar exceeds the hype

Chicago Tribune

11 hours ago

Kendrick Lamar treated himself to a modest victory lap Friday at a packed Soldier Field. Strolling around a series of ramps and runways, the rapper flexed his muscles like a champion boxer proud of his title belt.
The somewhat muted display represented Lamar at his most physically ostentatious. Predominantly reserved and incredibly focused, the MC delivered knockouts with one dynamite delivery after another. Lamar's singular way with words nearly absolved the 160-minute show of its flaws — mainly, the decision to interweave his sets with those of co-headliner SZA into a continuous nine-act whole, and the irreconcilable contrasts that resulted.
In town on his 'Grand National Tour,' Lamar walked the talk. His boasts of being the greatest of all time? Hard to argue at this point. Lamar didn't need the compulsory glitter that complements most massive concerts. Yes, there were fireworks galore, blast-furnace flames, skyward-shot fireballs and mechanical platforms. Pre-recorded interrogation-themed vignettes doubled as preludes. Lamar would've been equally effective if he just had his microphone for his razor-wire voice and stage-spanning video wall to project conceptual imagery — pawn shop and corner liquor-store signage, three-dimensional digital sculptures, provocative collages, coded slogans — tied to songs.
Lamar also brought his black 1987 Buick GNX coupe along for the ride, using it as a recurring prop and occasional entrance-exit device. A 16-person dance team, a descent down a flight of stairs and a choreographed segment where the California native walked atop a long table while his ensemble sat on one side were about as theatrical as things got in his universe.
He focused on narrative devices, demonstrating an elite command of dynamics, syntax, tone, timing, tension and pitch. Aside from a blinged-out 'X' chain hanging from his neck, Lamar eschewed gaudiness and wore only two outfits. No hype men, no special guests, no gratuitous self-promotion. And no overt showboating, even with his voice. Mainly, a batch of biting songs and an effortless flow that often operated as the parallel of a world-class rhythm section.
With his current trek, Lamar joins Jay-Z and Eminem on the short list of hip hop artists who co-headlined stadium tours in North America. Though all three partnered with an R&B singer, Lamar planned an outing — the 39-date tour heads to Europe in July — more ambitious in scope.
He's regularly shattering records. In Seattle, he established the new mark for highest gross revenue ($14.8 million) for a single performance by a rapper. It's already a foregone conclusion that the 'Grand National Tour' will rank as the highest-grossing rap tour in history, adding to a series of feats that place the 37-year-old on the same global phenom platform as Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift.
Since winning the Pulitzer Prize for music in 2018 for his 'Damn' LP, Lamar has dominated. His 2022 'Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers' record drew widespread acclaim, gave him his fourth consecutive No. 1 album and spawned an international tour that included a headlining Lollapalooza slot. Turns out, he was only warming up. In spring 2024, Lamar engaged in a public feud with Drake, dropped four acclaimed diss singles (with 'Not Like Us' netting five Grammy Awards), released the chart-topping 'GNX' LP and spearheaded the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history.
Meet the former Chicago 'theater kid' who stages Kendrick Lamar
Given his winning streak, nobody would've flinched if Lamar framed his portion of the event as a celebration. Yet moments of sheer joy arrived sparingly, a balance in a greater storytelling arc involving introspection, anger, reflection, comfort, struggle, fear, confusion and spirituality. He even reshaped the buoyant Black Lives Matter anthem 'Alright,' trading its definite optimism for something far less certain, with the familiar refrain echoing as a question without a guaranteed answer.
Complications, critiques and conflicts filled his verses. On more than one occasion, Lamar appeared in intense conversation with himself — and prior guises of himself — in attempting to navigate deep-rooted internal strife.
During the piano-laden 'Reincarnated,' he linked his past lives to those of John Lee Hooker and Billie Holiday before zooming back on his present self and its battle for freedom from the devil. As he transitioned into a rendition of Baby Keem's 'Family Ties,' the terms 'Respect' and 'Or' interchangeably flashed on the screen between 'Money ' and 'Power.' Crouching on the hood of his vehicle, a predator ready to strike at any prey that neared, he spat the rhymes to 'Man at the Garden' as mantra in a seeming attempt to convince his toughest critic — himself — he deserves the spoils of this life and the one that could follow.
'This is not a song / This is a revelation,' Lamar declared on 'TV Off.' He took those words to heart, whether toppling enemies with scathing aggression ('Euphoria'), repping his hometown in deceptively laconic fashion ('Dodger Blue') or blending slang, onomatopoeia and pop-culture references into a bass-booming banger ('Squabble Up'). Lamar's lyrical swagger and rhythmic control defied limitations. He treated phrases like shifting puzzle pieces.
Precise and transparent, and garnished with a hint of raspiness, his hydraulic voice cut through every mix. He switched frequencies akin to an analog radio tuner, raced ahead and then cruised along as if behind the wheel of a souped-up car. Lamar dodged and dashed syllables, sliced and syncopated cadences, cleaving language into staggered patterns that danced, taunted, bounced and attacked. He let the rhythm hit 'em with every opportunity.
If only he'd played a single, uninterrupted set and sustained a constant momentum. Lamar's decision to perform snippets of multiple songs also fell short of the intended mark. Potent cuts such as 'King Kunta,' 'Backseat Freestyle' and 'Swimming Pools (Drank)' came across as teases or afterthoughts.
But those were minor missteps compared to the unevenness of Lamar and SZA's traded-off sequences. Both would have been better served with standalone programs and collaborating once within each segment.
SZA made for a fine duet partner on the six songs they performed together. She countered his coarser tendencies with smooth softness on fare such as 'Love' and the heartfelt ballad 'Luther.' Her soulful voice proved up to task on her own material, too. But the similarities between her and Lamar's approaches, along with the sharp divide in their overall musical styles, created a whiplash effect and stunted pacing.
SZA also went overboard with production, pyrotechnics and costume changes. Despite a few standout moments during which she asserted independence ('The Weekend,' a cover of Rihanna's 'Consideration'), she more often was subservient to scenery and symbolism. Indulging in garden motifs, the singer mingled with dancers dressed as insects, straddled a giant grasshopper and, for the acoustic-based 'Nobody Gets Me,' hovered above the stage wearing a pair of wings that transformed her into a sprite. Background visuals reinforced her obsession with bugs and grasslands, which worked to clever purpose during the revenge fantasy 'Kill Bill.'
Unfortunately, many of the vocal and emotional subtleties that SZA showed on a prior tour stop at the United Center faded here. Perhaps in an effort to compensate, the 35-year-old St. Louis native opted for the opposite spectrum. Embracing big melodies and sugary choruses, she trumpeted exaggerated slickness and puffy drama on a healthy number of tunes. With a guitarist by her side doing little else than striking the poses of bygone hair-metal pretenders, SZA sang from her knees and brought back '80s pop rock.
In another context, maybe the throwback succeeds. But on a tour on which Lamar stands as the equivalent of an undefeated prizefighter with no close suitors, a bold visionary taking hip-hop and dialect places seldom explored, the disconnect is too severe.Setlist from Soldier Field on June 8:
Kendrick Lamar
'Wacced Out Murals'
'Squabble Up'
'King Kunta'
'Element'
'TV Off' (Part I)
Lamar and SZA
'30 for 30'
SZA
'What Do I Do'
'Love Galore'
'Broken Clocks'
'The Weekend'
Lamar
'Euphoria'
'Hey Now'
'Reincarnated'
'Humble'
'Backseat Freestyle'
'Family Ties' (Baby Keem cover)
'Swimming Pools (Drank)'
'Sweet Love' (Anita Baker cover) into 'M.A.A.D. City'
'Alright'
'Man at the Garden'
SZA
'Scorsese Baby Daddy'
'F2F'
'Garden (Say It Like Dat)'
'Kitchen'
'Blind'
'Consideration' (Rihanna cover)
'Low'
Lamar and SZA
'Doves in the Wind'
'All the Stars'
'Love'
Lamar
'Dodger Blue'
'Peekaboo'
'Like That' (Future/Metro Boomin cover)
'DNA'
'Good Credit' (Playboi Carti cover)
'Count Me Out' into 'Don't Kill My Vibe'
'Money Trees'
'Poetic Justice'
SZA
'I Hate U'
'Go Gina'
'Kill Bill'
'Snooze'
'Open Arms'
'Nobody Gets Me'
'Good Days'
'Rich Baby Daddy' (Drake cover)
'BMF'
'Kiss Me More' (Doja Cat cover)
Lamar
'N95'
'TV Off' (Part II)
'Not Like Us'
Lamar and SZA
'Luther'
'Gloria'