On Feb. 28 I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see my favorite female R&B artist, SZA, in concert during her North American tour. After scoring some close tickets for cheap, and driving with my best friend to Washington D.C.’s Capital One Arena on a limb in the pouring rain, I finally got to see one of my favorite artists since middle school.

Her album SOS has been charting since the day it came out and is continuously breaking records, like being top 5 of the billboard and surpassing a couple of records held by older artists like Usher. The concert was truly amazing and one for the books, with a packed-out stadium and hundreds of fans watching as she rocked that stage.

To see SZA evolve into such an amazing artist from selling out small festival gigs to the Washington D.C. Capital One Arena, it’s truly been a ride for her and her fans as well. She spent fifteen weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Continuing to sit on top with songs like “Open Arms,” “Gone Girl,” “Seek and Destroy,” and many more, she has not only proven herself to be a great artist but a talented performer. Selling out big arenas and continuing to shatter milestones, she is quickly becoming the new face of R&B.

I got there right on time, halfway through the opener (Omar Apollo), to settle into my seat. Omar Apollo played many songs, including his newest hit “Evergreen.” The opener quickly came to an end and the stage team started to set up for the SZA’s set.

She came out sitting on the diving board to start off the concert, and started with “PSA” as the crowd went wild. She came across the stage dancing and full of energy and with the whole crowd singing along. I couldn’t resist but sing at the top of my lungs and take a few videos and pictures myself.

She played other songs off SOS like “Seek and destroy,” “Notice me,” “Forgiveness, etc,” but then she started playing songs off her CTRL album. This is when the crowd really got crazy.

I remember when CTRL came out. I had it on repeat and so did all my friends. From that point to finally seeing her perform songs like “Broken Clocks,” “Supermodel,” “Garden,” and “Drew Barrymore” was truly an experience I’ll never forget.

I don’t like to compare CTRL and SOS because they’re so different, but both albums set a platform for black girls to be expressive and open about their lives.

In her songs, she talks about being carefree and loving herself in her 20s and it’s so relatable. She not only sets a platform for herself but for others that look just like her.

This is what attracts her fans; she is so open and expressive about going through life as a young black woman, and this is really what makes her music so good. To not only be able to relate to her, but feel understood, is why artists like her are so important.