One night I was scrolling on YouTube for something to watch and I stumbled on an analysis of SZA’s discography. Now I wouldn’t have called myself a huge SZA fan, I was only familiar with her most recent album SOS. After watching the video all I can say is I’ve changed.
Why have we stopped talking about SZA? She is one of the most talented artists in recent years and while she only has a couple albums there’s so much to dissect. She has such a unique sound, you can spot her on any track. But the more I listened to her, the more I discovered she didn’t always start out that way.
While Ctrl and SOS dominated the charts especially with the rise of popular TikTok audios, SZA’s sound was very different from what we all know now. On Spotify shuffle a song called “Julia” (named after me I guess) came on and it had such an interesting beat. I was so into it and you wouldn’t believe my surprise when I looked at the artist, and it was none other than SZA. From her 2014 album Z it was very upbeat with a lot of pop influences and not as whisperful as SZA’s vocals now. You can listen to the different combinations SZA already had in her earlier music, with a lot of Pop and Indie mixed in with the R&B.
I listened to the entirety of Z and that’s what made me want to write this article. She can do it all! Not only did she make a path into the R&B scene but she has been able to add her own uniqueness to it. As a lyricist too she is able to tell stories within her music and relate to her fans. Not many artists can easily speak and relate to their fans but that’s what makes SZA special. Along with that, her songs have amazing production and can be so catchy. Kill Bill, Blind, Low, Seek & Destroy, literally all of SOS is in my head constantly.Â
Her vocal range, relatability, production and lyricism all combine to create something so magical. Ok I’m done fangirling.Â
But seriously, if she decides to release another album (which she better) just know that the world will break.Â
