Give SZA a second, give her a minute! Rolling Stone can share an exclusive preview of the singer’s Apple Music Live show, with her rendition of “Kill Bill,” which will premiere tonight at 10 p.m. ET on Apple TV+ and Apple Music.
“Kill Bill” was one of the most-streamed songs of 2023 for SZA. It also earned her nominations for both Song and Record of the Year, along with Best R&B Performance at the 2024 Grammy Awards, where she’s set to perform on Sunday. (She’s up for a total of nine awards.)
“I love connecting with people in the crowd when I feel like it’s really me and you right now,” she told Zane Lowe about touring for SOS. “And I go eye to eye with so many people during this show, and it’s something about tour that it makes the love real, and tangible.”
The singer also reflected on the fact that New York crowds can be not-so-welcoming. “They’re very likely to deadpan you,” she said. “When the crowd is turned up, even if I was in another space, it snaps me into reality because the gratitude and the pouring of energy — it just reminds you, it makes you laugh, and it’s just like, oh, everything’s OK. I’m going to be OK. And when they’re more excited, it just makes me feel like I can’t wait to just give you everything that you want.”
Rolling Stone ranked SOS — featuring songs such as “F2F,” “Seek & Destroy,” and “Snooze” — as the Number One album of 2023. “SZA seamlessly contorts disparate genres around her raw emotion and gifted verbiage with the sense of control she pined for on her first record,” read a review of the LP.
With tonight’s performance, she joins a long list of musicians who’ve joined Apple Music Live this year, including Ed Sheeran, Brent Faiyaz, Burna, Boy, and most recently, Peso Pluma, who closed his first U.S. tour in Anaheim.
“SZA was one the most streamed artists of 2023 with only her second full-length album; we are elated to finally bring her SOS tour to Apple Music Live,” said Apple Music’s Global Head of Hip Hop and R&B Ebro Darden when they announced the performance. “The show is, of course, incredible, just like her music, her songwriting and her desire to give us, the fans, so much amazing content. Here’s to an even more successful 2024 for her.”