This week in Single Ladies: SZA drops a new album after five years. Lizzo is named the top music artist on TikTok and Monaleo’s sings on “Miss U Already,” a ballad for a lost friend featuring, NoCap. SZA Drops Highly Anticipated Album, “SOS” SZA dropped her album SOS today, after five years since her last […]
SZA’s long-awaited sophomore album, S.O.S., is (finally) out now via RCA and Top Dawg Entertainment, and fans have been celebrating all day. They’ve marveled at her reimagining of Radiohead’s signature hit “Creep” on “Special,” fallen in love with the lush songwriting on her Phoebe Bridgers collaboration, “Ghost In The Machine,” and relived their emo glory days thanks to the pop-punk vibes of “F2F.” But, as it turns out, Ms. SZA wasn’t finished yet.
12 hours after the album’s release, SZA has shared the music video for her latest single, “Nobody Gets Me.” It’s a soul-searching breakup anthem on which she relatably questions the wisdom of walking away from the only person she feels truly understands her, and the video reflects that vibe. Shot in moody grayscale, the video sees SZA standing on a rooftop overlooking the city in one of her trademark, baggy, sports paraphernalia looks as she sings, “How am I supposed to let you go? / Only like myself when I’m with you.”
“Nobody Gets Me” builds on the momentum of her previously released singles, “Shirt” and “I Hate U,” but fans are already picking their favorite songs from the album, which already looks like like a worthy successor to her debut CTRL and a smash hit in its own right.
SZA’s long-awaited album SOS is finally out, following lots of delays and a little bit of drama. Fans can’t believe it’s finally here, and they’re reacting to everything at once on Twitter through hot takes, threads, and, mostly, memes. They’re loving the Phoebe Bridgers collaboration on “Ghost In The Machine“; they’re heartbroken by the powerful “Nobody Gets Me.”
There is one specific moment on the record that surprised many listeners — and that’s the unexpected pop-punk track “F2F.” Falling near the middle of the LP, the song starts off sounding nostalgic of early-2000s pop, which one user pointed out, writing, “sza recreating that feeling at the end of every early 2000s films when school is over and its time for summer break on f2f.”
sza recreating that feeling at the end of every early 2000s films when school is over and its time for summer break on f2f
It picks up toward the chorus and catapults into a pop-punk direction with brave, infectious guitars and self-deprecating lyrics: “I hate me enough for the two of us / Hate that I can’t let go of you enough,” she sings. This has led to viral tweets involving pictures of scene kids with piercings, colorful hair, eyeliner, and band t-shirts from the Myspace era. Of course, this isn’t all that surprising, considering the past couple of years have consisted of lots of mainstream artists switching to pop punk, like Willow and MGK.
Music releases tend to thin out as the end of the year approaches, but today (December 9), SZA made this a December to remember with S.O.S., her long-awaited new album. Today is also big for Phoebe Bridgers stans, as she features on “Ghost In The Machine.” When that news was revealed a few days ago, SZA couldn’t help but laugh at how positive the reactions were, sharing an audio clip of somebody screaming about it and writing, “Response to having phoebe on the albums been pretty positive lol.”
Bridgers hasn’t publicly said much about the song, although she did post about the track on Instagram this morning, writing simply, “Thank you.” She also shared an edited version of the album cover that added Bridgers to the image.
Elsewhere, a SZA fan listening to S.O.S. tweeted, “you aight white girl @phoebe_bridgers.” Bridgers responded, “no.” Somebody else replied, “beb I don’t think it was a question it was a statement [crying emoji].” Bridgers again answered, “no.”
SZA and Bridgers don’t really have a public history with each other before this collab, although this summer, some fans attending the Outside Lands festival were upset they had to choose between seeing Bridgers and SZA, since their set times overlapped.
Listen to “Ghost In The Machine” above and check out some reactions to the track below.
On the project’s title track, SZA says, “So classic, that ass so fat, it look natural, it’s not.” Later, at the start of “Conceited,” she sings, “I just got my body done, ain’t got no guilt about it / I just heard your opinion, I could’ve did without it.”
One thing SZA has talked about previously is her relationship with weight loss, like in 2017 when she defended Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” lyrics about stretch marks. She said, “How is that misogyny if he’s supporting positive body image? I think that’s so weird, and it’s reaching. If you want to support women, you should support all shapes of women. I used to be 200 pounds, and I have stretch marks all over my body. I find more comfort and solace with Kendrick reinforcing that I’m beautiful. I don’t really feel anything misogynistic from that.”
Listen to “S.O.S.” and “Conceited” below.
S.O.S. is out now via Top Dawg Entertainment. Get it here.
It may be a while before we hear SZA’s remix to Lizzo’s “Special,” but her new album, SOS, features a song of her own called “Special.”
On “Special,” SZA looks back not-so-fondly on lost love. She recalls the many things she changed about herself in order to please this person.
The song opens with a sweet, simple strum of a guitar, as she recalls comparing herself to a “girl from the Gucci store” who “never wore any makeup and owns couture.”
As the song reaches the song’s chorus, SZA sings, “I wish I was special / I gave all my special / away to a loser / Now I’m just a loser.”
Though there’s no direct or clear sample, the song sounds similar to Radiohead‘s “Creep,” notably the song’s pre-chorus, on which, Thom Yorke sings, “I wish I was special / You’re so f*ckin’ special.”
Both songs are somewhat self-deprecating in nature, but SZA is aware that the song’s subject wasn’t worth her time. Lyrics like “regret that I changed me / I hate that you made me / just like you” show SZA’s reaching a coming-of-age in her early 30s, moving on from the insecurities she lamented in her debut album, CTRL.
Check out “Special” above.
SOS is out now via RCA Records and Top Dawg Entertainment. Stream it here.
SZA‘s new album has everyone in their feels. On her debut album, CTRL, SZA faces the insecurities and uncertainties that come with growing up. SOS sees a more mature version of the R&B songstress who has made the conscious choice to let go of things that weren’t serving her. On one of the album’s standout tracks, SZA has second thoughts about parting ways from someone.
On “Nobody Gets Me,” SZA details memories of a past relationship, including tumultuous vacations, wild sexcapades, and an almost marriage. Though it seems like she was the one who made the choice to end the relationship, the song features her wondering if she made the right choice.
“It’s too late I don’t want to lose / What’s left of you / How am I suppose to tell you / I don’t wanna see you with anyone but me / Nobody gets me like you / How I’m supposed to let you go / Only like myself when I’m with you / Nobody gets me, you do,” she sings on the song’s chorus.
It’s a message that is poignantly specific, but painfully relatable.
Check out “Nobody Gets Me” above.
SOS is out now via Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA Records. Stream it here.
SZA is in full-on album mode. Her long-awaited sophomore album, S.O.S. is set to arrive this Friday (December 9). As she does her media run to promote the project, the TDE star appeared in an interview with HOT97 on Tuesday (December 6).
Subsequently, she revealed that she hoped for more features to be present on the project. “Sometimes people turn in their verses and sometimes they don’t. A lot of people just like, did not turn in their verses. But I’m grateful for who did,” SZA confessed.
However, the 33-year-old decided not to name any names.
SZA Reveals Tracklist
The tracklist and album cover were revealed on Monday (December 5). The 23-track LP is set to have four features. Additionally, the songs with Don Toliver and Phoebe Bridgers will serve as first-time collaborations between them and SZA.
Furthermore, Travis Scott will make an appearance on the 20th track, “Open Arms.” These two have joined forces in the past, for 2017’s smash hit “Love Galore” off of Ctrl. The song is now Grammy-nominated.
A posthumous appearance from Wu-Tang legend Ol’ Dirty Bastard will also appear on the album’s outro, “Forgiveness.”
“I talked to his estate. It really just came from a piece of documentary footage. He was freestyling in the background of the footage so I took the audio. It’s cool,” the “Broken Clocks” singer told Nessa of HOT97 in the interview.
The album is backed by four singles, “Good Days,” “I Hate U” and “Shirt.” The fourth and final single, “Blind” was recently premiered during the singer’s second SNL performance.
CTRL Deluxe
Earlier this year, the St. Louis native dropped a deluxe version of her debut album, Ctrl. Its release coincided with the project’s five-year anniversary. Consequently, seven new tracks appeared on the deluxe, including an alternate version of “Love Galore” with previously unheard vocals.
Are you excited for S.O.S. to arrive later tonight? Comment down below who else you wish would’ve been a feature.