Kendrick Lamar u0026 SZA

Kendrick Lamar & SZA are taking over Europe’s largest venue for two unforgettable nights as part of their joint Grand National Tour.

A show of unparalleled ambition and intensity

On 15 and 16 July 2025, Plenitude Arena welcomed Kendrick Lamar and SZA for the very first time, for two evenings that can be called, without hesitation, the concerts of the year. As part of their joint Grand National Tour, the two giants of American music took over the largest indoor arena in Europe.

© Apolline Cornuet

Their first appearance at the Plenitude Arena

Kendrick Lamar and SZA were about to make their very first appearance at Paris La Défense Arena. An event in itself. But behind this debut at Plenitude Arena lay an even more powerful context: the Grand National Tour celebrates a decade of artistic partnership between two artists signed in the early 2010s to the Californian label Top Dawg. Choosing Plenitude Arena for the only French date of this joint tour was the most natural decision imaginable. When two of the most important artists of their generation finally share a stage, they need a setting worthy of the moment. Plenitude Arena was exactly that.

A GNX on Stage, Botanical Set Design and Nine Acts : the Show as a Total Work of Art

The Grand National Tour production at Plenitude Arena looked like nothing seen before. The centrepiece of the set design was, of course, the 1987 Buick Grand National Experimental (GNX) featured on the cover of the album GNX, from which Kendrick launched the show. A botanically adorned version of the same car, referencing the deluxe edition of SZA’s album SOS, accompanied her entrance.

SZA performed alongside a troupe of dancers and live musicians, while Kendrick moved largely alone across the stage during his own segments. The show unfolded across nine distinct acts, alternating between the two artists’ universes with cinematic precision. In the vastness of Plenitude Arena, each tableau took on an added dimension : the lighting, the giant screens and the stage effects turning each song into a standalone visual moment.

Two Artists at the Summit

Kendrick Lamar and SZA each represent, in their own way, the pinnacle of what American music is capable of producing. Just months before the Paris dates at Plenitude Arena, Kendrick had performed at the Super Bowl halftime show, one of the most-watched stages in the world. His albums good kid, m.A.A.d city, To Pimp a Butterfly and DAMN. redefined the contours of American rap across two decades. Not Like Us, his diss track released in 2024, had fractured the internet for weeks.

SZA, for her part, has established herself as one of the most singular and powerful voices in contemporary R&B. Her album SOS (2022) spent more than ten weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, setting a record for a female R&B album. Her tracks Kill Bill, Snooze and Good Days were on repeat across the world long before they rang out beneath the roof of Plenitude Arena.

80,000 Spectators, Two Nights, a Moment Plenitude Arena Will Not Soon Forget

Some concerts write themselves into the history of a venue. These two July 2025 nights are among them. Plenitude Arena, no stranger to the world’s biggest events, provided Kendrick Lamar and SZA with the perfect setting for the Grand National Tour and the 80,000 spectators across both nights experienced something unique: two artists at the height of their powers, in the largest indoor arena in Europe, delivering a show conceived as a statement.

Not Like Us detonating across Plenitude Arena, luther and gloria closing the evening with unexpected tenderness, the GNX on stage, SZA and her dancers taking over the floor. These are moments etched into the collective memory. A show of this scale, in a venue of this size, is an experience in a category of its own.