Top Dawg Entertainment’s leading R&B singer and lyricist SZA’s sophomore LP ‘S.O.S.’ has turned out to be one of the biggest projects of 2022 within two weeks. The 23-track LP features guest appearances by Houston’s iconic emcee Travis Scott and his Cactus Jack labelmate Don Toliver, pop star Phoebe Bridgers and a posthumous feature from Wu-Tang Clan’s legendary emcee Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
The highly anticipated record comes against the backdrop of the ‘All the Lights’ R&B singer’s reservations about releasing any more music.
I feel like music, in this capacity, I don’t see longevity,” SZA said. “I like to create, I like to write, I like to sing, and I like to share. But I don’t know if chasing after superstardom or whatever I’m supposed to be doing right now is sustainable for me or for anybody. I’mma take a good swing at it, and I’mma give ’em my absolute best.”
Perhaps, SZA – real name Solána Imani Rowe – is referring to the immense that the artists have begun to face because of a massive paradigm shift in the ways the music is consumed. SZA is renowned for releasing some of the finest records such as ‘Doves in the Wind’ f/ Kendrick Lamar & ‘Love Galore’ f/ Travis Scott and more.
The fact that SZA’s album went number one even though she expressed such reservations establishes her vast influence in global R&B and Rap music.
‘S.O.S’ by SZA surpassed a billion Spotify streams within just one day of release and moved an equivalent 318,000 album units. Notably, this is the fifth biggest debut by an artist on Billboard Top 200 this year and follows the opening weeks of following the opening weeks of Taylor Swift’s Midnights (1.578 million), Harry Styles’ Harry’s House (521,000), Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (404,000) and Beyoncé’s Renaissance (332,000).
Listen to ‘S.O.S.’ by SZA here if you haven’t yet.
