S.O.S. [SZA Album]

SZA’s ‘SOS’ Enjoys Fifth Consecutive Week At No. 1 On ‘Billboard’ 200 Chart, Joining Elite Company

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SZA’s SOS party will continue for at least one more week. Her highly anticipated sophomore album arrived in December, shortly after she served as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and it became her first career No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart. SZA hasn’t relinquished the position since December 19.

Billboard revealed this week’s chart (dated January 21) with SOS sitting at No. 1 for a fifth consecutive week after moving 125,000 equivalent US album units in the week ending January 12. Nos. 2-6 on the chart remained the same from last week: Taylor Swift’s Midnights (No. 2), Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (No. 3), Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss (No. 4), Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (No. 5), and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (No. 6).

The publication put SZA’s fifth week in context, putting SZA in elite company.

“Only four albums have spent at least five weeks at No. 1 since the start of 2022: in order from most recent, SOS, Taylor Swift’s Midnights (five), Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (13) and the Encanto soundtrack (nine),” Billboard‘s Keith Caulfield relayed. “SOS is the first album to spend its first five weeks at No. 1 since Adele’s 30 ruled the list for its first six weeks (its total run at No. 1) from Dec. 4, 2021-Jan. 8, 2022.”

On Friday, January 13, however, SZA felt particularly proud of a different chart accomplishment: hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Songwriters chart for the first time in her career because 15 SOS tracks are charting on the Hot 100.

“I appreciate every milestone and accolade but THIS?” SZA tweeted. “As a writer [this] means so f*cking much to me. I aspire to be a better writer everyday thank you WOW.”

Also last week, SZA shared her cinematic, gory video for “Kill Bill.” She’ll take it all on the road for her SOS Tour, beginning in February with Omar Apollo as the opener.

SZA’s New Video For ‘Kill Bill’ Is As Bloody As You’d Expect

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SZA‘s new album S.O.S., the long-awaited follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Ctrl, has been No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for four weeks now. The track with the most success has been the mischievous, relentlessly catchy “Kill Bill,” which topped the charts as well. She teased a video for it at the end of December, and now it’s finally out.

Considering the cinematic, violent nature of the song (“I might kill my ex, I still love him though / Rather be in jail than alone,” she sings on the chorus), the video had to be intense. And it is. It kicks off with a round of many gunshots, not shot by SZA, though. However, she makes it out alive, and later procures a sword for a tumultuous sword fight. Inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, the video has a cameo from Vivica A. Fox, who was in the iconic film.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month, she said, “I love Vivica A. Fox’s character. I love Lucy Liu’s character. I even love Bill because he’s super complex. I feel like he doesn’t understand why he did what he did. He’s void of emotion, but he loved The Bride so much that he couldn’t stand her to be with anyone else.”

Watch the “Kill Bill” video above.

‘SOS’ Logged A Fourth-Straight No. 1 Week On The ‘Billboard’ 200 Chart And SZA Is Beside Herself

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Last week, SZA kept the SOS train rolling by dropping a different version of the album, including revamped singles “PSA” and “Open Arms.” She also cleared up the phantom rumor that she had beef with Taylor Swift, and ironically enough, SOS now has something in common with Swift’s Midnights: breaking records previously held by Adele.

SOS sits atop the Billboard 200 chart dated January 14, its fourth-straight week at No. 1 since debuting there on December 19. According to Billboard, SZA’s sophomore offering is “the first album by a woman to spend its first four weeks at No. 1 in a year, since Adele’s 30 ruled for its first six weeks (December 4, 2021 through January 8, 2022-dated charts) and is the first album by a woman to have four consecutive weeks at No. 1 since 30‘s six week-run at No. 1.”

When Swift’s Midnights debuted at No. 1 in late October, it moved the most first-week equivalent album units since Adele’s 30 in 2015. (Midnights remains at No. 2 on this week’s chart.)

SOS is also the first R&B album by a woman to have four weeks at No. 1 since February of 2008, when Alicia Keys’ As I Am notched a fourth and final nonconsecutive week atop the list (Feb. 16, 2008),” Billboard additionally relayed. “More strikingly, SOS is the first R&B album by a woman to spend its first four weeks at No. 1 in nearly 30 years, since Janet Jackson’s Janet. ruled for its first six frames (June 5-July 10, 1993).”

The feat is not lost on SZA.

“I don’t have sh*t to say but thank you to God my ancestors my family my team and ALL OF YOU THAT RIDE FOR ME ! ESPECIALLY CAMP [tent emoji]!!” SZA captioned an Instagram post on Sunday, January 8. “Y’all my family too [white heart emoji] we have so much more to come.”

She also tweeted, “4 weeks at number one is INSANE. Thank you God and thank you everyone for riding for me.”

As for what’s still to come, SZA’s teased “Kill Bill” video should drop any day now. Her SOS Tour is slated to kick off on February 21 at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, with Omar Apollo serving as the opener.

SZA’s ‘SOS’ Claims A Third Week At No. 1 And Joins Beyoncé In The Record Books

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SZA is starting 2023 on top: SOS, her highly anticipated and highly successful sophomore album, dropped on December 9, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated December 24, and she hasn’t relinquished the position.

According to Billboard, SOS has logged its third consecutive week at No. 1 on the chart dated January 7, with 128,000 equivalent album US units earned during the week ending on December 29. The publication additionally relayed, “SOS is the first R&B album by a woman to spend three weeks at No. 1 since Beyoncé’s self-titled effort also spent its first three weeks atop the list in 2013. (R&B albums are defined as those that have hit Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.)”

Last week, SZA teased a video for “Kill Bill” to reward her fans for making the track her first career No. 1 on Billboard‘s Streaming Songs chart and second career Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart No. 1.

Elsewhere on this week’s Billboard 200 chart, Taylor Swift’s Midnights remains at No. 2 for a fourth-straight week. The album had previously spent five weeks at No. 1, including a record-breaking debut. Michael Bublé’s Christmas comes in at No. 3, with Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (No. 4) and Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (No. 5) rounding out the top 5.

SZA Thanked Her Fans After Achieving Career Milestones With ‘SOS’ And ‘Kill Bill’

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SZA has been in Hawaii to celebrate the overwhelming success of SOS, which finally arrived on December 9 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Her sophomore album is currently spending its second consecutive week atop the chart, prompting SZA to reflect.

First, SZA posted an Instagram carousel featuring a series of selfies, a Wolf Of Wall Street screengrab, Billboard‘s article announcing SOS‘s second consecutive week, plus aggregate sites relaying that the album is “the first album by a Black female artist to spend its first two weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 since Beyoncé” and that SZA joined Taylor Swift as the sole female artists to ever chart at least 20 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously.

“Lol instagram randomly deleted my post last week .. but APPARENTLY ITS STILL TRUE THIS WEEK,” SZA captioned the post. “number 1 two weeks in a row .. God is incredible. I won’t repeat it all ,but thank you everybody for supporting me and speaking power n love into me. It’s 9:43 in Hawaii . I couldn’t ask for anything more . Life is beautiful and what it should be.”

Then, last night (December 28), SZA doubled down on her gratitude on Twitter.

“I just wanna say the way y’all been riding for me and genuinely wanna see me win / get my first number one means SO much …community is everything and I couldn’t do any of this w out YALL,” she tweeted alongside heart, salute and “SOS emojis with the #KillBill hashtag. “THANK YOU I LOVE AND APPRECIATE YOU.”

The SOS track “Kill Bill” debuted at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and sits at No. 7 this week. The song also became SZA’s first-ever No. 1 on the Billboard Streaming Songs chart.

SZA fans will be properly rewarded during next year’s SOS arena tour, beginning in February. Omar Apollo will serve as the opener. See the dates here.

SZA’s ‘SOS’ Owns No. 1 For A Second Consecutive Week Despite Her Fear Nobody Would Like It

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SZA can exhale. During an interview with Rolling Stone last week, she shared that she “never thought in a million years that people would like” SOS, her sophomore album, before its highly hyped December 9 arrival. Well, SOS became her first career No. 1 album last week with 318,000 first-week equivalent album units, per Billboard, and Barack Obama probably contributed to those numbers.

SZA held firm at No. 1 on the new Billboard 200 chart dated December 31 for a second consecutive week. According to the publication’s Luminate data source, SOS netted 180,000 equivalent US album units in the week ending on December 22.

Tracks “Kill Bill” and “Nobody Gets Me” also debuted at Nos. 3 and 10, respectively, on last week’s Billboard Hot 100. “Blind” came in at No. 12, with “Low” at No. 17, “Love Language” at No. 21, “Seek & Destroy” at No. 24, “Snooze” at No. 29, and “Used” featuring Don Toliver at No. 30. Elsewhere on the Billboard charts, “Kill Bill” notched SZA her first career No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and second career No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

This week’s Billboard 200 top five is rounded out by Taylor Swift’s Midnights (No. 2), RM’s Indigo (No. 3), Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (No. 4), and Michael Bublé’s Christmas (No. 5). Drake and 21 Savage’s record-setting Her Loss collaborative album fell out of the top five to No. 6.

SZA will take SOS on the road with opener Omar Apollo for her first-ever arena tour beginning February 21, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio.

SZA’s Perhaps-Unexpected Pick For ‘GOAT’ Is ‘The Realest B*tch Alive’ For Multiple Reasons

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The first lady of Top Dawg Entertainment is having a stellar year. After earning her first No. 1 album on the Billboard charts, singer SZA avoided the sophomore jinx. Earning praises from rap superstar Drake, SOS was a new creative exploration that eventually paid off for the New Jersey native.

The five-year break didn’t deter fans from jumping into the 23-track project. In fact, the hiatus grew their love for the songwriter even fonder. Despite SZA not having the chance to collaborate with Bad Bunny, Frank Ocean, and Billie Eilish, the features that did make the cut, including fan-favorite Phoebe Bridgers, there’s still one artist “PSA” singer might love to join forces with.

Although the singer has publicly declared her love for “About Damn Time” time singer Lizzo on numerous occasions, her musical “GOAT” (greatest of all time) is someone outside the boundaries of genres. During an interview with EW, SZA revealed her GOAT is actually, Björk.

When asked about an interpolation of Björk’s “Hidden Place” appearing in her song “Forgiveless,” SZA replied, “I’ve always loved Björk. She’s the GOAT to me. From the way she was beating up reporters to the way she emotes in her music, she’s just the realest b*tch alive.”

The interviewer, Owen Myers, goes on to ask how SZA discovered Björk’s music, to which she answered, ” [An] iPod I found had a bunch of music, and her music was on there. But I had already been listening to it because we did dances to it in high school. I was part of a company called Special Dance, and we did a dance to ‘Jóga.’”

SZA is undoubtedly a woman of eclectic taste.

Drake Revealed What He’s Listening To At The Moment And SZA’s ‘Incredible’ Sophomore Album ‘SOS’ Made The List

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It seems like the five-year wait has paid off for singer SZA. Rave reviews for her sophomore album, SOS, continue to pour in from fans (we really like it, too). Ditching the “sad girl music” label she had been bestowed. On the now-No. 1 album, SZA explores relationships with a fresh new perspective as a songwriter.

In a recent interview with the online casino Stake, rap superstar Drake shared admiration for the 23-track body of work. However, as the “Rich Flex” rapper peered through the live chat, he noticed one question continued to pop up. “I know one of the questions was ‘what have I been listening to,” said Drake.

The rapper then proceeded to list off a few artists, including Lilah and Baby Drill, before disclosing, “And I’ve been listening to the new SZA, listening [to SOS], [it’s] incredible.”

This should come as no surprise that Drake is a fan of alternative R&B, as he constantly refers to himself as a “certified lover boy.” But, given Drake and SZA’s history, some fans were taken back by his response. But fear not: after their brief fling ended in 2009, the former lovers remained cordial.

Recently, the singer shared that even though Drake “has a Regina George quality to him,” they are in good standing.

“We’re cool. And we’ve always been cool,” said SZA, “It’s never been weird. It didn’t come completely out of the blue when he let me know. I didn’t know it was a song with 21 [Savage] or anything like that. But anytime he’s ever mentioned me, it’s always been positive. He’s never said anything negative about me. I’m grateful for that. I think highly of him… He’s King Drake.”

SOS is out now via Top Dawg Entertainment. Get it here.

SZA Clarified Which Relationships Her Albums Are About Because The Internet Is Annoying

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No wonder why SZA waited so long to put out her new album — she deals with a lot of bullsh*t. She recently had to point out how many songs on S.O.S. aren’t sad so people would stop writing off the LP as “sad girl music.” Now, she’s explaining herself again because haters are criticizing the content of her lyrics.

On Twitter, the singer wrote, “Sos is me singing about relationships from 6 years ago . Ctrl was about relationships from high school n college . Reflection is a part of growth . Reflection is good .”

It’s unfortunately not a surprise that her ruminating on past relationships is receiving unwarranted criticism; female musicians are constantly attacked for writing about relationships, something men rarely or never have to deal with. Many (men) have accused her of being “toxic,” when really they should just be grateful that SZA was so vulnerable and transparent with the world on this record.

The good news is that S.O.S. is getting a loving reception from those who are actually her fans, despite her previous worry that they would hate it. “I never thought in a million years that people would like it,” she said on a recent podcast. “My dad’s visiting right now, with my mom. Everybody came down to make sure I didn’t lose my mind if the album went bad once it came out. And now we’re just hanging out, ’cause it didn’t go badly!”

SZA Used Songs From ‘SOS’ To Push Back On Claims That She ‘Only Makes Sad Girl Music’

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SZA just unveiled SOS, her first No. 1 album and long-awaited follow-up to Ctrl. The record has a lot of people emotional, even Lizzo posted her teary-eyed reaction to it. From blends of her signature, R&B ballads to the songwriter’s venture into rock, on the track “Ghost In The Machine” featuring Phoebe Bridgers, many fans find the album to be extra poignant. However, SZA is tired of her material being immediately classified as “sad girl music.”

In a new tweet, the singer wrote, “Ignoring songs like ‘SOS,’ ‘PSA,’ ‘Conceited,’ ‘Low,’ ‘Forgiveless,’ ‘Seek N Destroy,’ ‘Notice Me,’ or ‘Ex Pack,’ to pretend I only make sad girl music is dumb,” later adding, “Forgot ‘Good Days’,” in the replies.

Despite its downtrodden lyrics, even the pop-punk anthem “F2F,” has a catchy, upbeat sonic texture that doesn’t feel sad at all.

SZA was very nervous upon the release of this LP. On a recent podcast appearance, she said she “100 percent did not think” she would become so famous. She also didn’t think her fans would enjoy S.O.S.: “I never thought in a million years that people would like it,” she said. “My dad’s visiting right now with my mom. Everybody came down to make sure I didn’t lose my mind if the album went bad once it came out. And now we’re just hanging out ’cause it didn’t go badly!”