SZA

SZA (pronounced “Sizza” /ˈsɪz·ə/) was born on November 8, 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri, as Solána Imani Rowe. Soon after, her family relocated to Maplewood, New Jersey, where she would grow up.

She is the honorary first lady of the powerhouse record label, Top Dawg Entertainment. She describes her genre of music as “glitter trap,” though it fits most closely with R&B.

SZA independently released her first EP, See.SZA.Run in 2012. She also independently released S, her second EP and first installment of the self-titled acronymous trilogy “SZA,” the following year.

She signed to TDE after a chance encounter with Terrence “Punch” Henderson, co-founder of the label, while selling merch at a Kendrick Lamar show. In 2014, she released her third EP, Z, her first under TDE and the second installment of the “S-Z-A” trilogy.

SZA is known to listeners of Isaiah Rashad, due to their collaborations on songs such as “Ronnie Drake” and “West Savannah.” She has also worked on several songs with her other label mates: ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, and Ab-Soul.

On June 9, 2017, SZA released her debut solo album, Ctrl, which features Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, James Fauntleroy, and Isaiah Rashad. The album earned five Grammy nominations in 2018 for Best New Artist, Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best R&B Performance for “The Weekend,” Best R&B Song for “Supermodel,” and Best Rap/Sung Performance for “Love Galore.”

In 2018, SZA collaborated with Kendrick Lamar on Black Panther: The Album with the song “All The Stars,” which would end up peaking at #7 on Billboard. The song was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance, and Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2019 Grammys. The song was also nominated for the Original Song category at the 2019 Oscars.

In 2021, SZA collaborated with Doja Cat on the song “Kiss Me More,” which was the first single released from Doja Cat’s album Planet Her. The song ended up peaking at #3 on Billboard, was nominated for Record of the Year & Song of the Year, and won Best Pop Duo/Performance at the 2022 Grammy Awards.

On December 9, 2022, SZA finally released her long-awaited sophomore album, SOS. Three singles were released before the project was out: “Good Days” as the lead single in December 2020, “I Hate U” the SoundCloud hit that went viral on TikTok before its official release, and “Shirt” in October 2022, which she sung live at SNL, where the album date was announced in the background of her performance. The rest of the singles were the chart-topping “Kill Bill” and “Snooze,” which spawned an acoustic remix featuring Justin Bieber to finish the era.