Chance the Rapper joins SZA at New York 'Ctrl' tour stop

SZA is a powerful whirlwind of energy, love, and chutzpah. The singer’s Ctrl debut has been heralded since it kicked off during the summer, and while watching her on stage you can’t help but draw comparisons to another singer whose fame skyrocketed when she dropped her own Control: Janet Jackson. Now, before anybody starts debating or tweeting comments, just relax. Both SZA and Janet are absolutely their own artists, they have two very distinct styles of singing and performing, but like Janet did with Control, SZA has come into her own. People are recognizing that the New Jersey native is not just at the top of her game and the game, but that she’s poised to be one of the voices of her generation. The TDE sngbird is going to be at the forefront of her craft for decades to come.

2017 has definitely been an MVP caliber year for SZA with Ctrl being certified gold, “Love Galore” and “The Weekend” both going platinum, her tour selling out in every city, Grammy nominations rolling in and, if you read some of these critics’ list, Ctrl being dubbed album of the year.

Last night, SZA came to New York’s Irving Plaza and fans didn’t even give her a chance to put her feet of the stage before they started singing. As soon as the lights came on to reveal the band, the crowd started shooting lyrics like bullets at the O.K. Corral.

SZA, however, could never be drowned out at her own show. She’s commanding, he vocals are piercing and harmonic live. “Maybe I should pray a little harder, Or work a little smarter,” She sand on “Anything.” “This time baby promise I have learned my lesson.”

Ironically, she sang about someone possibly not knowing she was alive towards the end of the record. But after this year that can never be questioned again. She’s impactful.

“I’ve been waiting to get here long as fuck,” she told the crowd later in her set. The spectators yelled loud in response. The roars were even more booming when Chance The Rapper casually walked onstage and hugged her to perform throwback fan-favorite “Child’s Play.”

“I crowd surf in a cypher,” Chance rapped. “Scuba in my shower, take an Uber to my neighbors / Used to pay the piper, till Peter picked it better / Now the first thing you should tell is where the hell is all the paper / But memories keep coming back/ All the nights that we used to laugh / Wanna know how I used to was, how I used to was.” They sang together: “Memories keep playing back, all the nights we used to love / Just wondering how we used to was, how we used to was.”

Watching SZA, however, is all about the future. You know she’s going to captivate us for years to come. She closed with a flawless one-two combo, making fans strain their vocal chords to keep up on her two biggest songs to date: “Love Galore” and “The Weekend.”

From the opening “You say you got a girl” lyric, the fans were singing fervently like they were auditioning for Diddy’s and DJ Khaled’s new show.