"He sees himself while he’s performing"—SZA raves about Kendrick Lamar, claims she is “really excited to learn” from rapper in their upcoming tour

SZA lavished praise on Kendrick Lamar during her recent appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Friday, March 21, 2025. The SOS hitmaker will co-headline The Grand National Tour with K Dot to promote the latter's sixth studio album, GNX.

During the interview, the duo gave fans a hint of what to expect from their performance at the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX halftime show at the Caesar Superdome. The performance, which amassed record viewership numbers, featured SZA joining headliner K Dot for two songs, Luther and All the Stars.

During her discourse with Jennifer Hudson on her show, SZA described her Super Bowl performance as the "best 30 seconds" of her life. Speaking about her upcoming tour with Lamar, she highlighted her penchant to learn from the GNX hitmaker.

"I am really excited to learn from him. I learn the most I feel like by observing," she said.

The songstress stressed the importance of observing the various nuances of Lamar's showmanship during the tour and replicating that. For instance, she talked about watching "how he carries himself" and "how he emotes" during performances.

“To watch him perform is to witness something magical," SZA added.

SZA also shared a tip given to her by Kendrick Lamar which ended up making a difference in her performance onstage.

“One time he gave me the pointer of pretending to watch myself from above. He sees himself while he’s performing, and it actually changed a lot for me. It was weird, when I was watching myself from afar, I was like, ‘This not what I want to see, I want to see something different. I want to turn up.’ Then I just started, like, invoking a completely different energy and spirit within myself,” she explained.

SZA and Kendrick Lamar have collaborated on several musical numbers in the past. Previously, they worked together on All the Stars - the Black Panther anthem that was nominated for Best Original Song at the 91st Academy Awards. The two have also worked together on the song Doves in the Wind from SZA's 2017 album Ctrl and on the 2014 song Babylon.

Kendrick Lamar waxed lyrical about SZA during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show press conference

Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show - Source: Getty

Kendrick Lamar spoke about SZA during the Super Bowl LIX halftime show press conference on February 6, 2025. The Meet the Grahams hitmaker likened her growth as an artist with himself and spoke about her songwriting process.

"For me, personally, watching her career and where she comes from, it is amazing to see. I get to finally see how certain individuals get to see me come up in a process. From day one, I have seen her coming to the studio, writing songs, throwing away songs, writing another song, and throwing away songs. Writing songs is hard," he reflected.

The Grammy-winning rapper continued:

"I just stood there and I saw it. So to see it now magnified like...she always had it, man. She always had it. I am just honored to be next to her talent."

Kendrick Lamar and SZA's Grand National Tour will commence on April 19. It was initially scheduled to be a North American tour but received a giant boost on February 11 when the European leg of the tour was announced. The European leg will span multiple countries like the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Sweden.

Here is the complete list of tour dates and venues for The Grand National Tour: