SZA announces free Jersey show at end of immersive Prudential Center homecoming concert

The next one is on SZA.

Maplewood-raised singing star SZA announced at the end of her Sunday, Oct. 1, concert at the Prudential Center in Newark that she will perform an upcoming free show in New Jersey.

“I'm going to do a free show in Jersey, like I did in New York, in my real home,” said SZA after Sunday’s performance.

SZA performed a free concert on Sept. 8 at the Navy Yard in Brooklyn. The show was announced 24 hours in advance on Instagram when free tickets were made available to the public for the intimate performance.

SZA, aka Solána Rowe, also announced a free show in Philadelphia on Sept. 27 from the stage of the Wells Fargo Center. Details of that show have not been released yet.

In Jersey, it's a hometown thing.

“When I grew up here, this didn't exist,” said SZA, referring to the Prudential Center, which opened in 2007. “This wasn't a (blanking) thing. So what's crazy is every part of my life has shaped me and made who I was is from this place. I'm talking about fighting bitches in the street, people talking (blank) … summer school.”

SZA, 33, attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, and later on she worked in area strip clubs to support her music career, including Nardone's, down the street from the arena on Routes 1-9 in Elizabeth.

Since then, she's become one of music's hottest stars. Her latest album, “SOS,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in December, and it broke the record for the largest streaming week for an R&B album in the United States.

“SOS” spent 10 non-consecutive weeks on top of the chart, and became the first R&B album to spend its first seven weeks atop the chart since Newark native Whitney Houston's “Whitney” held the top spot for seven weeks in 1987.

“I'm trying to explain to you what this means — this is actually my home,” SZA said. “My mother's here, my neighbors are here, my best friends from home are here. So this really, really means a lot to me, and I have to really express a thank you and I really appreciate that.”

It was a love fest with the arena's lights on after the show's credits rolled. SZA picked audience members out of the crowd to come backstage with her and hang.

“I was talking to you the whole night!” said SZA to one fan.

More: SZA brings her hits and musical magic to New Jersey homecoming show at Prudential Center

More: 50 Cent brings hip-hop classics, lasers and more to dazzling Final Lap show in Holmdel

Sunday's show was part of the SOS Tour, which tells of despondency, a watery soul immersion and rebirth, all set to SZA's intimate yet expansive R&B music. The elaborate multi-video screen staging included a life-sized boat, a giant anchor and a raft, which SZA sailed over the audience on a wave of ambient lasers.

The show, and SZA, dazzled, thanks in part to her fluid moves and her four backup dancers. One wish was for more clarity on her vocals, which seemed high and pinched in the sound mix. While there were recorded backing vocals, a live band joined her on stage.

You couldn't help but get swept up in the waves of emotions and hits, including “Blind,” “Drew Barrymore” and “Kill Bil.”

“I'm a nervous person, I'm a shy person since I was a child — my entire life,” SZA said. “So being on stage is so (blanking) good for me. And when you give me mad energy, you keep me alive and help me. I love you all so (blanking) much! Thank you for raising me — good night!”

Subscribe to app.com for the latest on the New Jersey music scene.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Prudential Center events: SZA announces free show in New Jersey