"Duo headlining a stadium tour is crazy" — SZA's manager Terrence ‘Punch’ Henderson addresses Kendrick Lamar and his client's Toronto show

Singer SZA's manager, Terrence 'Punch' Henderson, has reacted to Kendrick Lamar and his client headlining a show in Toronto. On December 4, 2024, Henderson took to X to share his thoughts on SZA's collaboration with Lamar. He wrote:

"Duo headlining a stadium tour is crazy."

Henderson's comments came after Kendrick Lamar announced the dates of his North American Grand National Tour with SZA on Tuesday, December 3. The duo is set to headline a show at Toronto’s Rogers Centre in June 2025, which will also be their only show in Canada. They will perform in over 19 stadiums throughout their 2025 tour. The tickets for their show in Toronto will go on sale on December 6, 2024.

SZA (originally Solána Imani Rowe) has collaborated with Kendrick Lamar seven times so far, including for the popular track All The Stars. The two toured together for the first time in 2018 for Top Dawg Entertainment’s Championship Tour. The singer was also featured in two tracks on Lamar's latest album, GNX, Luther and Gloria.

Rowe has been managed by Terrence Henderson since 2013. The latter also serves as the president of Top Dawg Entertainment.

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Terrence Punch Henderson shares his experience of managing SZA

66th GRAMMY Awards - Show (Image via Getty)

In a 2023 interview with Variety, Terrence Henderson shared his experience managing popular R&B artist SZA for 11 years and counting. Henderson, who is also the president of Top Dawg Entertainment, had an integral role in shaping the singer's sophomore album, SOS (2022).

Speaking about his experience of working with SZA, Henderson said:

“I don’t think she’ll ever feel 100 percent confident in the songs. She’s her own toughest critic. So my job is to come in and reaffirm that this record is amazing and this is why.”

Terrence Henderson first met Rowe in 2011 while she was working at a merchandise booth at Kendrick Lamar's CMJ showcase in New York City. The manager has believed in the R&B artist's potential since then and eventually signed her in 2013.

Henderson had a major part in the success of the singer's sophomore album, SOS, which broke multiple records. The album was the longest-running No. 1 album on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart.

Speaking to Variety, Henderson revealed that he would meet SZA in the morning of recording days and chalk out ideas. The singer would then record her music alongside her sound engineer. However, she was never satisfied with her outcome and continued to make minor adjustments to her music even after it was released to rave reviews.

SZA took a bigger role for Henderson after Top Dawg Entertainment's flagship artist, Kendrick Lamar, left the label in 2022. Speaking about their successful professional partnership, Punch said:

“As you grow with someone, you learn as you go. As long as the communication is alive, we can continue to stretch out what needs to be stretched.”

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When Terrence Henderson called out MTV VMAs for not nominating SZA as the 2023 Artist of the Year

Despite having a successful 2022, SZA was not named by MTV in its 2023 Artist of the Year nominations. The decision upset her manager, Terrence Henderson, who removed SZA's performance from the event.

However, Top Dawg president confirmed that the decision was not the singer's as she's a "sweet person" and "not for all of the nonsense and the politics." Their feelings were "different" in this case, he further noted.

Shortly after the nominees were announced, Terrence Henderson called out the decision in his interview with The Hollywood Reporter in September 2023. Explaining his decision to remove the singer's performance from the 2023 MTV VMAs, he said:

“I figured, why go perform and do this if she’s not going to be respected to the highest level? So it was my call to actually pull out of the performance.

“Obviously, she had one of the best years, if not the best year, of any artist at this point. I don’t see why she wouldn’t be nominated for artist of the year. It just really didn’t make any sense to me. It’s disrespectful," Punch said.

He added that MTV "couldn’t clearly answer why she wasn’t [nominated for artist of the year]," which further disappointed him. The company only said it was because she was nominated for "other awards."

Henderson also pointed out that some of the nominees who MTV included did not have an album turnout.

“Why wouldn’t she be nominated for artist of the year? Even with the other artists that were nominated for artist of the year, some of them were even off-cycle. They didn’t have an album out. I mean, no disrespect to them or anybody else; everybody’s great and all of that, but still, you can’t discredit what SOS has done and is currently doing," Henderson said.

Doja Cat, Shakira, and Nicki Minaj made it to the nominations that year but did not have an album release in that time frame. Taylor Swift eventually won the award.