SZA Wins “Best International Artist” At The BRIT Awards

SZA beat out a crowded field to take home “Best International Artist” at the BRIT Awards this week. The St. Louis singer took home the award ahead of the likes of Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo, and Taylor Swift. In fact it, was a quiet night overall for Swift. Cyrus took home “International Song of the Year” for “Flowers”. However, it should be noted that Swift did not have a nomination in this category. Previously, Swift had topped SZA for “Album of the Year” at the Grammys.

Elsewhere, it was a rough night for up-and-coming rapper Central Cee. Despite entering the night with the second-most nominations (4), Cee came away with no awards. Furthermore, the rapper has been making a huge name for himself over the last 18 months. This has included reaching the heights of a potential collab with Drake.

Read More: SZA Visits Sesame Street, Shares Clip With Elmo & Old Tweet About Wanting To Join

SZA & Phoebe Bridgers Win Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Grammy

Furthermore, it’s already been a huge year for SZA in terms of award recognition. Alongside Phoebe Bridgers, she won the 2024 Grammy for best pop dup/group performance for their track “Ghost in the Machine”. The pair most notably won the award over Swift, who was nominated for her track “Karma”, which featured Ice Spice. “Holy sh-t THANK YOU @phoebe_bridgers!!!I F-CKING LOVE YOU B-TCH !! 🥹😩Thank you to @RecordingAcad!!!!!!! I’m so grateful 🥹🙏🏾 and thank you to every producer on this record especially rob and Carter 🥹🫡🫶🏾 love u gang . WE GOT ONE !! 🤞🏾😭,” SZA wrote on X after the award was announced. “Ghost in the Machine” peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.

However, aside from Swift and Spice, SZA and Bridgers have several other big-name contenders for the award. Cyrus had been nominated for her track “A Thousand Miles” with Brandi Carlisle. Lana Del Rey was nominated for her track “Candy Necklace” featuring Jon Batiste. Furthermore, Billie Eilish, who won for her song on the Barbie soundtrack, was nominated for her feature on Labrinth’s “Never Felt So Alone”.

Read More: SZA Reveals Which Of Her Songs Are Associated With Each Zodiac Sign

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SZA Isn’t Fazed Over Her Grammys ‘Album Of The Year’ Loss: ‘I’m Grateful I Won Three’

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Per usual, the Grammys have prompted discourse about the coveted Album Of The Year award. Many viewers were disappointed that SZA’s critically acclaimed sophomore album SOS didn’t win the award, however, SZA herself didn’t seem to be fazed.

On the night of the 2024 Grammys, SZA won three awards — Best Progressive R&B Album for SOS, Best R&B Song for “Snooze,” and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her Phoebe Bridgers collaboration, “Ghost In The Machine.” In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, SZA expressed her gratitude for winning those three awards, despite not winning Album Of The Year.

“I’m grateful I won three,” SZA said. “I could have left with nothing and I didn’t, and I’m grateful. My parents got to see it and I didn’t bomb on live television, and that was so scary. And I faced some really big fears and I’m just happy that it all went well, genuinely. And I’m happy for everybody.”

Also on Grammy night, SZA delivered a killer performance of the SOS fan favorites, “Kill Bill” and “Snooze.” She also shared a new song, “Saturn,” which is said to appear on her upcoming album, LANA.

When asked about the new album, SZA remained tight-lipped, noting that she doesn’t want the energy of the album to change.

“I’m just kind of here while energy is forming and I’m just trying to allow it to do what it needs to do, and my voice just follows whatever the frequency is,” she said. “So I feel like I want to allow it to finish shaping itself and form itself before I speak on it and possibly change the trajectory of what it could be. But I will say I’m in a beautiful space creatively and I feel just very new.”

SZA Reveals Which Of Her Songs Are Associated With Each Zodiac Sign

SZA is no stranger to discussing the zodiac signs, which ones she likes, and how their shifting alignment affects her. In fact, she’s one of the definitive astrology girls in popular music and often gets asked about it in interviews and online by fans. That was the case during another recent interview when she was asked which of her songs correlated with what signs. The answers she gave have her fans debating and some are even left offended by the choices.

Most of the songs she chose are from her newest album SOS with the exception of two from her 2017 album CTRL. CTRL opener “Supermodel” is her pick for Sagittarius while the Travis Scott-featuring cut “Love Galore” is assigned to Libras. Some of the most unique and standout tracks on SOS pop up on SZA’s list. The pop-punk flavored “F2F” is perfectly matched with Aries. The Phoebe Bridgers-featuring “Ghost In The Machine” turns up as her official Aquarius anthem. “Gone Girl” represents both Taurus and Virgo. But the most attention-grabbing choice was to not even give an answer for the Cancer sign. Check out her full list below.

Read More: SZA’s “SOS” Becomes Longest Running #1 R&B Album

SZA’s Songs As The Zodiac Signs

Earlier this week SZA surprised fans by popping up at Isaiah Rashad’s Cilvia Demo 10th anniversary show in LA. The two performed a duet while on stage together, but that wasn’t the only thing that grabbed fans’ attention that night. There was also a flyer leaked from the event that revealed Top Dawg Entertainment plans on releasing new projects from all of their artists this year.

For SZA, many fans assume that means LANA. She first announced the deluxe edition of SOS last year but news has been slow since. Earlier today the first of those projects was officially confirmed when they announced Schoolboy Q’s new album. What do you think of SZA’s selections of which of her songs align with each zodiac sign? Do you agree with her choice for your sign? Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More: What Is SZA’s Best-Selling Album?

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SZA’s ‘Lana’ Album: Everything We Know So Far About The ‘SOS’ Deluxe

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Back in 2022, SZA released her sophomore album, SOS, five years after dropping her debut album, Ctrl. But it looks like fans won’t have to wait that much longer for the SOS follow-up. In an interview with Variety, SZA teased Lana, a special deluxe edition of SOS, which, since its inception, has evolved into its own body of work.

“It’s outtakes [from SOS] and new stuff, too — I added a couple of songs,” SZA said. “It’s like a whole new project. It’s called Lana — my name but, it’s the first tattoo that I ever got, when I was 13. It was 10 bucks a letter and I only had 40, so that that became my nickname for no reason. Lana is really just the B-side of SOS.

Here is everything we know about Lana so far.

SZA’s Lana Release Date

A release date for Lana has not yet been revealed, however, it’s looking like it may be imminent, as SZA has been teasing the record more and more.

SZA’s Lana Tracklist

SZA has not yet revealed the tracklist for Lana.

Features On SZA’s Lana

SZA has not yet revealed collaborators on Lana, but we may know soon, upon the tracklist reveal.

Singles From SZA’s Lana

No singles have been released from Lana yet.

SZA’s Lana Album Artwork

Last December, SZA took to social media to share what appeared to be multiple versions of the Lana album artwork. You can see the supposed artwork below.

All No. 1 Albums In 2023 On The ‘Billboard’ 200 Chart

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2023 has been an incredible year, with a ton of new music to soundtrack our favorite moments. Many different artists had their albums reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with the genres ranging from rap to country — and even some K-pop icons sprinkled in.

Here’s what to know about the albums that reached the top in 2023.

All No. 1 Albums In 2023 On The Billboard Hot 100 Chart

Earlier this year, 2023 kicked off with SZA’s SOS album reigning on the 200 albums chart. Her record spent eight weeks there throughout the year, giving her second place as the artist with the most.

Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At A Time was the album to spend the most weeks at No. 1 this year, with 16 in total spread across the year.

Another interesting part is that Taylor Swift had three different albums hit the top of the chart this year — Midnights, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and 1989 (Taylor’s Version).

Now, 2023 has closed with Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 as this year’s final No. 1 record.

Continue scrolling to see the complete list of all the albums that reached No. 1 in 2023.

SZA — SOS
Tomorrow x Together — The Name Chapter: Temptation
Karol G — Mañana Será Bonito
Morgan Wallen — One Thing At A Time
Taylor Swift — Midnights
Stray Kids — 5-Star
Lil Uzi Vert — Pink Tape
Taylor Swift — Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
NewJeans — Get Up
Travis Scott — Utopia
Zach Bryan — Zach Bryan
Olivia Rodrigo — Guts
Rod Wave — Nostalgia
Drake — For All The Dogs
Bad Bunny — Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana
Blink-182 — One More Time…
Taylor Swift — 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
Stray Kids — Rock-Star
Ateez — The World EP.Fin: Will
Nicki Minaj — Pink Friday 2

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

SZA Reveals She Struggles Controlling Her Temper

Earlier this month, SZA sat down for a very long conversation with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. The interview has been making waves for weeks now as the R&B darling gets impressively candid on a variety of subjects. She also revealed plenty of details to fans about her massive 2023. The year saw her riding the massive success of her album SOS to two massive hits in “Kill Bill” and “Snooze.” But despite all of her success, there is at least one thing she still thinks she can improve on.

“My biggest priority now is being an emotionally regulated person with healthy relationships,” she explains at the beginning of the segment. That’s in line with something else she says in the interview about fame. She feels like the sensation of being famous is unnatural and wants to escape it. The singer also goes on to explain how she’s also praying to control her temper. She wants “to be slower to anger, like I literally pray, like oh, you know, may I be slower to be anger, may I be calm, like filled with love and kindness.” Check out the full interview below.

Read More: SZA’s “SOS” Becomes Longest Running #1 R&B Album

SZA On Being Quick To Anger

SZA concluded the segment by saying that she just wants to be a better person. “and not in like the idea of what a good person is, I want to be honest enough to create boundaries, healthy boundaries and I want to be honest enough to say no,” she claims. The new interview sheds plenty of light on what the R&B darling may have been up to privately in the past few years. There was a 5-year gap between the release of SOS and her previous album CTRL.

Earlier this month there was discussion online about SZA’s hit “Snooze.” Fans were discussing the list of songwriters involved in the track. That was until Punch from her label Top Dawg Entertainment had to weigh in. He clarified that she did, in fact, write every word of the song herself. What do you think of SZA’s perspective on controlling her temper and being less quick to anger? Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More: What Is SZA’s Best-Selling Album?

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SZA Reveals That She Started Making Music To “Prove A Point” To A Specific Person

SZA’s undoubtedly one of the leading figures in R&B, and music at large, right now. Although CTRL put a massive spotlight on her name, the release of S.O.S. transformed her into one of the biggest stars of the year. With several accolades to her name, SZA’s success was a result of years of hard work. However, what truly motivated her was that she had to “prove a point.” During a recent interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, she shared a bit of her mentality when she began pursuing music. 

“Some people choose music as a career, and they feel very certain about what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, but I was never quite certain, and I really only did music to prove a point,” she said around 26:19 mark. Zane Lowe pried further into who put that battery in her back to ensure that this path worked for her. “When I started making music, it was to my ex-fiancé because he was paying for everything. My food, my clothes, where I lived, and he was eight years my senior, so I was so co-dependent,” she revealed.

Read More: SZA’s “Kill Bill” Among Bill Nye’s Top Songs Of 2023

SZA Reflects On Career Beginnings

SZA continued to explain that her ex-fiancé’s success pushed her further into music, which she said she was “randomly good at.” “And he was so talented, and like, he’s a designer — so brilliant. His ex-girlfriends were all lawyers and businesswomen and artists that went to [Rhode Island School Of Design], and all these things, right? And you know, I’m a college dropout. I’m still bartending at the strip club, so it’s giving — like, I felt like a lacked value,” she added. “So, when I started trying to make music, it was this thing that I didn’t have to try at but was randomly good at because I’ve always written poetry and always felt emotional.”

Clearly, she was destined for this success from the jump. From her early days with TDE to her current status as the most nominated artist at the 2024 Grammys, SZA has undoubtedly had a spectacular year. Most recently, she began teasing LANA, the deluxe edition of S.O.S. Although she shared cover art pieces for the deluxe, she has yet to confirm a release date. 

Read More: SZA Claims The Title Of Variety’s 2023 Hitmaker Of The Year

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SZA’s ‘Lana’ Deluxe Album: Everything To Know Including The Release Date, Tracklist & More

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SZA announced that the deluxe version of her album, SOS, will be titled Lana. Given the massive success of the record already, fans are excited to see what else she has in store.

“It’s outtakes and new stuff, too — I added a couple of songs,” SZA previously shared to Variety. “It’s like a whole new project. It’s called ‘Lana’ — my name but, it’s the first tattoo that I ever got, when I was 13. It was 10 bucks a letter and I only had 40, so that that became my nickname for no reason. ‘Lana’ is really just the B-side of SOS.”

Here’s everything to know about the extended release.

SZA’s Lana Release Date

SZA’s Lana deluxe album does not currently have an official release date. Her reps confirmed that it was still TBA as of Monday, according to the publication.

SZA’s Lana Tracklist

Right now, the tracklist for SZA’s Lana is still unknown too.

Features On SZA’s Lana

There are also no features at this moment for Lana — although that might change when the official tracklist gets revealed.

Singles From SZA’s Lana

SZA has yet to release any singles from the deluxe version. Her previous SOS singles included “Kill Bill,” “Good Days,” “I Hate U,” “Shirt,” “Snooze,” and “Nobody Gets Me.”

SZA’s Lana Album Artwork

Earlier this week, SZA put out three possible options for the cover art for Lana on social media. Complete with a Parental Advisory tag, one finds SZA in a pig pen and posing, one is her doing a cute pose in a white outfit on a chair, and the other is her outside in a leaf-themed outfit. Check out all three below.

SZA “Wrote Every Word” Of “Snooze” Punch From TDE Reveals

Just over a year ago, SZA finally returned with SOS, the long-awaited follow-up to her critically acclaimed breakout album CTRL. The album included some singles that had already connected with fans like “Good Days,” “I Hate You,” and “Shirt.” In the wake of the album’s release the track “Kill Bill” became the biggest of the bunch sticking around in the top 10 of the Hot 100 until deep into 2023. But eventually, it was surpassed by another song from the record which itself sits in the top 10 over a year after the album’s original release.

That song is “Snooze” which has racked up more than 650 million streams on Spotify alone since the album dropped last year. But earlier today, a twitter user raised some questions about the songwriting credits on the track in a now-deleted tweet. Before they got the chance to erase the post though, Punch from TDE made a quote tweet clarifying things. “lol. Y’all gotta chill. SZA wrote every word. Leon made the beat with Babyface and a couple others,” he explained. Check out his tweet and the various fan responses below.

Read More: SZA Loves Creed & Nickelback, And You Should Too

Punch Explains Who Wrote SZA’s “Snooze”

Earlier this week, SZA began teasing a deluxe edition of SOS coming soon. The new version is called LANA and she first announced it earlier this year. The project doesn’t have a confirmed release date yet. But the various teases she shared on Instagram seem to indicate that it could be close. The deluxe edition of her previous album CTRL wasn’t released until 2022, a full 5 years after the album originally dropped.

Earlier this month, SZA spoke on one of the most controversial elements of modern music, leaked songs. She didn’t hold anything back promising fans that any tracks of her that got leaked wouldn’t ever be officially released. While she hasn’t been subjected to nearly as many leaks as some other artists, SZA was still frustrated by the possibility. What do you think of Punch’s response to a fans questions about who wrote SZA’s “Snooze?” Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More: SZA’s “Kill Bill” Among Bill Nye’s Top Songs Of 2023

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SZA Teases “Lana” Deluxe Album: What We Know

SZA is one of the hottest hip hop/R&B acts on the face of the Earth right now, with her 2022 album SOS continuing to bring in accolades and drive incredible sales. The deluxe edition of the album, titled Lana, is expected to drop in the near future, with the “Kill Bill” singer initially claiming the project was slated for a Fall 2023 release. While SZA has remained highly cryptic with the details of the upcoming project, there are a few key pieces of information that we have confirmed thus far.

SZA Has Shared Over Half A Dozen Possible Covers For The Project

SZA took to Instagram to share a series of images, each highlighted by a caption reading simply “LANA.” The images, which range from shots of the singer flanked by farm animals or camping out surrounded by nature, are a far cry from the cover image of SOS. On the SOS cover, SZA can be seen overlooking the crashing waves of a treacherous and choppy sea beneath her, from a vantage point atop a long diving board. The image invokes themes of solitude, loneliness, and misunderstanding, each representing central themes of the album’s content.

If these new cover variants exist to provide fans with an understanding of the themes present on Lana, the album will likely focus on concepts such as growth, fertility, and tapping into the natural spaces around oneself. One image in particular sees SZA standing in a lush green field, draped with vines and leaves in place of her usual flowing locks.

The Album Will Contain Brand New Music

Though Lana was first billed as a deluxe outing for SOS, it seems the project has grown into a full-length creation all its own. SZA recently explained that the album began as a simple compilation of B-sides but now contains a host of new music that she has worked on since the release of her last studio album over one year ago.

When she first discussed the project back in August, SZA referred to Lana as a 7-10 track outing, which would be less focused on being a cohesive body of work and geared more toward releasing songs that couldn’t find a home on the 23-track run of SOS. As she continued working on the project, it seemed as though SZA’s perspective on Lana had changed, with the singer telling Variety, “I can’t tell if now’s the time to be careless, or consistent” back in September.

The Album’s Title Carries A Special Significance

When SZA first announced Lana as a deluxe title for SOS, many fans wondered who or what the title could be referencing. Apparently, SZA, whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe, has taken on Lana as something of an alter ego. According to the “Gone Girl” performer, this stems from a tattoo she got when she was 13. Apparently, some friends were providing tattoos for $10 per letter, and SZA had $40 to spend, resulting in her choosing Lana for no particular reason.

Beyond that, the tracklist, release date, and features for Lana have all remained unconfirmed, leaving fans with very little information to parse through. Of course, SZA’s latest photo dump of potential Lana covers seems to have signaled significant progress on the project, meaning a release could be just around the corner.

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