After a Five-Year Musical Hiatus, SZA returns with the release of her new album, S.O.S

American singer/songwriter Solána Rowe, known as SZA, released her highly anticipated third studio album Dec. 9, titled S.O.S.  

SZA’s breakout album in 2017, Ctrl, was her last released project, establishing her name in the R&B realm of the music industry.  

The captivating Crtl album helped her achieve numerous awards and nominations, including the album going triple platinum, winner of Best New Artist (2018) at the BET awards, nomination for Favorite Album (2018) at the American Music Awards and won her first Grammy alongside Doja Cat, for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (2022) for their hit song “Kiss Me More.” 

SZA has collaborated with notable artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Rihanna and Maroon 5, and has also worked with smaller artists such as Doechii, providing features in songs throughout the past five years while being on her musical hiatus.  

Fans have been expecting a new album since SZA stated “[the album] is coming very much soon, I just recently finished it up in Hawaii,” back in April of 2022 at a backstage interview at the Grammys.

After waiting five years since her last album, SZA took to Instagram to officially announce her new album release date, Dec 9., and was on Saturday Night Live debuting “Blind,” a single from her new album. 

With the release of her album, the song list displayed the featured artists on her new album such as Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott and Don Toliver. 

With 35 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, five years since her last album, it is no secret that fans were ready for new SZA music. 

After the release of S.O.S., SZA was the #1 most streamed artist globally on Spotify, surpassing Bad Bunny.  

Additionally, after the album release, SZA declared her spot becoming the only female artist in history to have 23 songs chart within the Top 30 of Apple Music in the US simultaneously. 

“SZA’s music has always spoken to me on a deeper level and makes me think critically about my life; where I’m at as an individual and where I want to go,” said 22-year-old avid SZA listener Abbey Krueger. “I think she is so inspiring, and I love listening to her story through her music. I love her new album because it exposes a new version of SZA we’ve never seen before.” 

SZA never chose to neglect creating music, but rather intentionally contributed the proper amount of energy to deliver quality into her new project.  

“I appreciate [my fans] patience, but constantly trying to people-please and fulfill expectations instead of just thinking about what you need can deter you from your true path,” SZA recently told Complex. “And the next thing you know you’re somebody that you never signed up to be. Even with this album, I just wanna be better than my last project to myself. I wanna be a better writer. I wanna be a better artist, musician… a better thinker. I just wanna do things that make myself proud and interested.” 

The day of the album debut, S.O.S. collected 67 million streams on the Global Spotify chart, becoming the biggest album debut of all time by a black female artist on the Spotify platform.  

“I feel like I relate to so many of the lyrics,” said 21-year-old SZA fan Michaela Alioto. “S.O.S. provided so many new sounds that we’ve never heard from SZA, so listening to it for the first time was surprising.” 

Although SZA has not dropped an album in five years, she is still accomplishing remarkable achievements beyond just making music.  

In 2022, SZA headlined at numerous music festivals, such as Day N Vegas, Outside Lands in San Francisco, and Austin City Limits.   

SZA has not only dominated the music industry, but she has also teamed up with Crocs to collaborate on creating her own pair, which sold out immediately; now are being resold on sites like StockX and eBay for upwards of $250.  

In coordination with her new album release, SZA and Crocs teamed up for a second time, releasing denim Crocs, a clog and fuzzy slipper on Dec. 6.