When SZA and Doja Cat won a GRAMMY for their joint effort on the ebullient "Kiss Me More" in 2022, Doja underscored exactly what makes SZA brilliant. "You are the epitome of talent. You're a lyricist," she said. "You're everything."

Eight months later, SZA debuted her second album, SOS, solidifying her status as a force in the industry. SOS spent 10 weeks at No.1 on the Billboard 200 — the most a female artist has spent dominating the chart in nearly seven years.

A SZA song often feels as if someone peeked in your diary during those times where you're unabashedly crazy — like the fully ovulating character itching for attention on SOS's "F2F" — and instead of calling someone you shouldn't, you hurl it out on the pages. Her music unexpectedly strikes your heart with how acerbic the lyrics are, until you feel it burst with a memory your brain has tried forgetting. SZA flourishes in the uncomfortable, and it's why she's taken the world by storm.

As a result, SZA has spent a majority of 2023 playing arenas around North America and Europe on the SOS Tour, kicking off a second U.S. leg in September. Throughout the 90-minute show, SZA deluged fans with a glorious performance that frames her journey with a mesmerizing visual feast — and proves she's one of the most vulnerable voices of her generation.

Below, explore five ways SZA's tour underscores how she flawlessly cemented herself as the industry's most poignant storytellers.

She Brings Personal Journeys To The Silver Screen

What makes SZA's SOS Tour such a feat is the intricate storytelling weaved through every inch of it; the set list chronicles her simultaneous uninhibited fury and palpable loneliness in the voyage to forgiveness.

Every part of SZA's concert felt intentional. True to form, she tightly and creatively translated her discography into an ambitious five distinct parts — representing the versions of SZA that live on in her all at once, all of which were completely relatable. 

First was the version of SZA where she blithely accepted surface-level interpretations of life and love. She began the show balanced precariously on a diving board and overlooking a projected version of the ocean, before her pre-recorded shadow leapt into the unknown. As she blended flawless choreography with joyous jumps during "Ghost In the Machine" — and a middle finger flip — the stage is completely empty, underscoring the rawness of her naivete. 

The set then transformed smoothly into the "CTRL Fishing Boat," with SZA the Siren helming the ship to protect herself against the world during coming-of-age tracks from her 2017 debut, CTRL, like "Garden (Say It Like Dat)." Climbing onto a floating stage and traversing across the arena, SZA showered the crowd with flower petals as she sang painfully insecure songs like "Special" — offering herself as a source of solace, even when recalling moments when others made her hate herself.

SZA stood up in the suspended lifeboat and put her mic away for a few moments to hear the enormity of the crowd dutifully chanting the chorus: "I wish I was special." It proved itself to be a cathartic moment for both artist and audience — unfurling the hurt behind an ex who made them feel like a "loser," but then finding unity in those all-consuming moments of self-flagellation. 

Once she returned to the stage, it appeared submerged underwater, complete with a gargantuan anchor. It was a fitting metaphor for the vitriolic narrative of "Kill Bill": What if you do drown? What if you don't make it out of the storm and can't see beyond the fact your former fling has moved on? What happens now? When she belts "I did it all for love!" she throws her hands in the air, surrendering herself to the anguish and then flipping it to agency. 

Then, in a fitting performance of SOS' vivacious lead single, "Good Days," SZA is on top of the diving board once more, but this time, the skies are clear. Staring at the reflection of herself in the water meant having to confront even the ugliest parts of her own story, even in front of an audience — and she did it with unparalleled equanimity.

Through it all, SZA herself becomes both the hero and villain of the story — someone we root for when she realizes why she jumped in the first place, someone to scream at when she can't help but revert back to her old ways.

She Isn't Afraid To Strip Down Emotionally (And Literally)

The show also highlighted that SZA has drowned out the noise of negative comments of the past — like accusations of procedures and panned live performances — with her most powerful form of protest yet: barrelling through them head on. She acknowledges all of it in an incendiary performance of the album's titular intro, clad in all black, and brazenly throws it back to the haters. Negative comments were no longer allowed to register in SZA's universe — especially when she was too busy giving one of the most masterful performances of her career. "That ass so fat, it looks natural. It's not!" she searingly screamed, and grasped her derrière to drive the point home. 

In another bold move, she allowed a camera backstage to record and project to the entirety of Barclays Center her stripping down to her undergarments in order to change costumes. Before diving into admissions of a hellish situationship that helped her come to terms with sex as a source of power on "The Weekend," she poured a water bottle on herself as the initial beats of the song played, rendering her white dress nearly see-through — taking the intimacy of the show and her own command of her sexuality to the next level. 

There's a direct throughline when SZA sings her most blistering work — her delivery is drastically different than what is offered on the studio-recorded versions of the song. While she doesn't offer much commentary throughout the run of the concert, her lyrical professions of desire, loneliness and fear often speak for themselves. 

During the beloved "Normal Girl" — a track that served as an attempt to answer exactly why she can't somehow, someway stop feeling out of place in all avenues of her life — she modulates her vocals to deliver a simultaneously sad and sanguine version, smiling towards the end and taking a few moments to collect herself when the emotions ran high. 

She Serves In Sickness And In Health

A few days ahead of her New York shows, SZA canceled her Toronto show because she had gotten sick and could not sing. And as she admitted towards the end of her Brooklyn show on Oct. 6, she was still "not feeling good." Yet, any evidence of illness was undetectable.

SZA managed to take her audience through her self-destruction and subsequent evolution, giving every performance her absolute best, no matter what. From sharp vocal performances to agile choreography, it was clear she was determined to put on a show. 

Even so, she made it a point to indulge in fan-favorite moves. Fans banged along their heads with her to the thunderously punk-kissed beat of "F2F" as she ran up and down the boat on stage and delivered a flawless "I f— him because I miss you!" with shameless finality. Drop-splitting to the ground during "Low," she activated her fierce vocals, never missing a beat as she writhed around on stage.

She Makes Her Show A Moment To Let Go

SZA's music isn't always an easy listen — and that is entirely by design. As a result, there's a space for everyone on the tour; songs like "Good Days" for those who have been therapized and healed, and "Kill Bill" for those who may or may not be plotting against their ex. 

Because of SZA's ability to make every second feel like revelatory magic, the show quickly felt more like a diaristic get-together rather than a stop on a tour. "Is everybody o-f—king-k?" she said, regularly doing quick check-ins before starting a track. 

Naturally, there were rarely people seated in the entire arena. And just about every fan was belting out lyrics (or Szalations, as fans would refer to it) and matching her energy beat-for-beat. Crooning her revelatory songs about simultaneously growing older, yet never wiser, she got on her knees and adeptly belted in one of her best vocal performances of the night with "Drew Barrymore," taking her earpiece out to hear fans dedicatedly repeat every single line along with her. 

She Celebrates Her Fans

Despite the fact that she still felt under the weather, SZA bounded the stage for a few minutes after the end credits for her show rolled — but in her signature IDGAF manner, clad in a fuzzy robe and slippers. 

SZA was determined to continue her tradition of choosing the most dedicated fans to bring backstage and meet her. She was eager to honor people like the fan who proudly waved a sign all night, declaring they've already been to four of her SOS Tour stops. Cautious of getting anyone sick, she promised the fans she picked at her Brooklyn show that they would receive merchandise and free tickets to her next show instead. 

It becomes more and more apparent as SZA's fame grows boundless that she fiercely understands her music's core purpose in the industry — to be a vessel of comfort for her fans. Despite the romantic underpinnings of track "Nobody Gets Me," as she performed it atop the floating lifecraft, she emphasized the line "Nobody gets me but you," while pointing down to the crowd.

The magic of SZA's music is that she manages to capture the emotions most are afraid to fully feel. Her biting words and brutal honesty make contending with vulnerability feel a little less like drowning and more so like floating. 

SOS and the accompanying tour wasn't a cry for help; it was a signal to all those ready to reminisce on and rewrite the reality of growing up. If there's one thing SZA proves with her SOS Tour, it's that she understands how to cultivate a space for vulnerability to bloom — and for everyone to feel a little less lonely. 

5 Takeaways From Drake's 'For All The Dogs': Grudges, GOATs & Groans