It’s been seven years since the R&B/hip-hop artist first came to the Corona Theatre in August 2017, which has since been renamed Beanfield, due to sponsorship. SZA has since reached the pinnacle of pop culture this past winter, with eight Grammy statuettes to back it up. It’s easy to see why the singer-songwriter was the star of Osheaga 2024, with two studio albums under her belt – two studio albums, Ctrl and SOS .
With such considerable commercial success comes the financing of a mega-production as we were able to observe on Sunday at Parc Jean-Drapeau: a series of ambitious tableaux with 3D sets and projections, from the gloomy underground gallery to a world of cuddly bears, including the flight of gigantic virtual insects or the deployment of Afrofuturist environments.
SZA has clearly worked very hard to become the athletic performer and accomplished dancer she has become—and clearly wasn’t at the time of her discovery. This is evidenced by the splits performed at the end of the song ” Open Arms” or the martial sparing with a machete, concluded by the throat-slitting of an android in the rendition of ” Snooze . “
Her musicians, including an excellent guitarist who was sometimes in the spotlight, were nestled in the sets and choreographies with six dancers enhanced the interpretation of several of the 27 songs in a tightly packed 85-minute program, including a few covers and quotes: Kiss by Prince, Rich Baby Daddy by Drake, Kiss me More (Doja Kat) and All The Stars , which she created with Kendrick Lamar in 2018 for the film Black Panther .
This ambitious show, to say the least, was supervised by 20 Something at the end of this scorching performance.
LIST of songs on the program
PSA
Love Galore
Play Video
Go Gina
Broken Clocks
All the Stars (par Kendrick Lamar & SZA)
Prom
Garden (Say It Like Dat)
Drew Barrymore
F2F
Forgiveless
Ghost in the Machine
Blind
Shirt
Kiss Me More (par Doja Cat )
Kiss (par Prince)
I Hate U
Snooze
Kill BillLow
Supermodel / Special
Play Video
Nobody Gets Me
Normal Girl
Saturn
Rich Baby Daddy (par Drake)
The Weekend
Good Days
20 Something