SZA - Wikipedia Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Special pages Search Search Appearance Donate Create account Log in Personal tools Donate Create account Log in Contents move to sidebar hide (Top) 1 Early life and education 2 Career Toggle Career subsection 2.1 2011–2014: Career beginnings and EPs 2.2 2015–2018: Ctrl and breakthrough 2.3 2019–2023: Collaborations and SOS 2.4 2024–present: Lana and Grand National Tour 3 Artistry Toggle Artistry subsection 3.1 Influences 3.2 Music 3.2.1 Genre 3.2.2 Voice 3.3 Songwriting 3.3.1 Writing process 3.3.2 Analyses 3.4 Collaborations and features 3.5 Fashion 4 Reception and legacy 5 Public image and views Toggle Public image and views subsection 5.1 Social media use 5.2 Music leaks 5.3 Generative artificial intelligence 5.4 Philanthropy and activism 6 Personal life 7 Discography 8 Filmography 9 Tours 10 Achievements 11 Notes 12 Citations 13 External links Toggle the table of contents SZA 44 languages العربية مصرى অসমীয়া تۆرکجه Български Brezhoneg Català Čeština Deutsch Español Eesti فارسی Fulfulde Suomi Français Hausa עברית Hrvatski Magyar Հայերեն Jaku Iban Bahasa Indonesia Italiano 日本語 ქართული 한국어 Lietuvių Bahasa Melayu Nederlands Norsk bokmål Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Српски / srpski Svenska Kiswahili ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links Article Talk English Read View source View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read View source View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Switch to legacy parser Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia American singer-songwriter (born 1989) For other uses, see SZA (disambiguation). \n}}\n| instrument = Vocals\n| origin = [[Maplewood, New Jersey]]\n| label = {{flatlist|\n* [[Top Dawg Entertainment|TDE]]\n* [[RCA Records|RCA]]\n}}\n| module3 = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=SZA for JD Sports US's Community Voices series, 2022.ogg|title=SZA's voice|type=speech|description=On the pressure she felt to release ''[[SOS (SZA album)|SOS]]'' as soon as possible<br/>Recorded 2022}}\n| website = {{URL|szactrl.com}}<br />{{URL|szasos.com}}\n}}"},"signature":{"wt":"SZA sig.svg"}},"i":0}}]}'>SZA SZA in 2025 Born Solána Imani Rowe (1989-11-08) November 8, 1989 (age 36) St. Louis, Missouri, US Occupation Singer-songwriter Years active 2011–present Works Discography songs Awards Full list Musical career Origin Maplewood, New Jersey Genres R&B hip-hop pop Instrument Vocals Labels TDE RCA Website szactrl.com szasos.com SZA's voice On the pressure she felt to release SOS as soon as possible Recorded 2022 Musical artist Signature Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA (/ˈsɪzə/ ⓘ SIZ-ə), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic songwriting and genre explorations, she is regarded as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R&B music and popularizing alternative R&B. After gaining attention online with two self-released extended plays (EP), SZA signed to Top Dawg Entertainment in 2013. Under the label, she released the lo-fi and psychedelic EP Z (2014) and her R&B debut album Ctrl (2017). The latter was critically acclaimed and placed in several year-end lists. Following Ctrl, she engaged in a series of high-profile collaborations over the next four years. These included the top-ten singles "All the Stars" (2018) with Kendrick Lamar, which garnered Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, and "Kiss Me More" (2021) with Doja Cat, which won SZA her first Grammy Award. SZA's acclaimed and multi-genre second album SOS (2022) became the first by a woman to spend 100 weeks within the Billboard 200's top ten. The album also broke the record for the longest-running US top-ten by a Black musician. Its fifth single, "Kill Bill", was the third best-selling song of 2023 and peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100. From 2024 to 2025, SZA achieved a string of top-tens with "Saturn" and "30 for 30", both from the deluxe reissue of SOS entitled Lana (2024), and her longest-running US number-one song, "Luther". Her 2025 Grand National Tour with Lamar is the highest-grossing co-headlining tour in history. SZA has earned numerous accolades throughout her career, including seven Grammy Awards, a Brit Award, three American Music Awards, a Guild of Music Supervisors Award and two Billboard Women in Music awards, including Woman of the Year. She has co-written songs for artists such as Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé, Travis Scott, Schoolboy Q, and Rihanna. In 2024, she received the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Early life and education Solána Imani Rowe[1] was born on November 8, 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri.[2][3] She grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey, with parents who are from the Southern United States. Her mother, Audrey, is a former executive at AT&T, and her father, Abdul, used to be a video producer at CNN.[4] As a child, Rowe was affectionally nicknamed by her mother "Chickabee", derived from the film Nell (1994).[5] Audrey is Christian, while Abdul is Muslim.[6] Rowe's father would attend her mother's church for special occasions, while her mother would dress up for Jum'ah and accompany her father to the mosque.[7] Rowe attended both Sunday school and Muslim school.[7] In an interview with the blog Muslim Girl, she said that her parents have accepted each other's religions, "their faiths and beliefs [having integrated]".[8] It's like the belief in one God, all the pillars of Islam et cetera, and I think those are ideas that will never leave me, those make sense in my spirit. It's the way that I connect with God; it has always made sense to me. I think I would love to wear my hijab but I feel like I don't wanna wear my hijab and talk crazy on stage and be in videos with Travis Scott. Like I don't wanna be disrespectful because I have too much love and respect for the religion, for my father, and for myself.[9] Rowe wore a hijab during elementary and early middle school.[10] Following the September 11 attacks, in her middle school years, she stopped wearing one for fears of Islamophobic bullying.[10][11] She later attended Columbia High School, where she participated in the school's gymnastics and cheerleading teams, as well as its dance team dubbed the Special Dance Company.[12] After graduating in 2008, Rowe enrolled in three different colleges before settling at Delaware State University to study marine biology.[13][14][15] She dropped out in her final semester to focus on her music career and worked various jobs to support herself.[16] After dropping out, Rowe often drank Malibu, smoked marijuana, and overslept daily.[7] She lied about her age to get a bartending job and occasionally danced at several strip clubs in New Jersey and New York City.[17] Rowe's stage name, SZA, was inspired by the Five Percent Nation, a Black nationalist religious movement.[18] She took cues from the Supreme Alphabet,[19] taking influence from rappers RZA and GZA of Wu-Tang Clan.[20] The last two letters in her name stand for Zig-Zag and Allah, while the first letter S can mean either savior or sovereign.[21][22] Career 2011–2014: Career beginnings and EPs SZA performing in 2013 SZA first met members of Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) during the CMJ New Music Report in 2011, when her boyfriend's clothing company sponsored a show in which Kendrick Lamar was performing. SZA's early music was shared with TDE president Terrence "Punch" Henderson, who was impressed by the quality of the material.[23] SZA's early music was recorded with friends and neighbors; many of the beats were taken from the Internet.[24] SZA self-released her debut extended play (EP) See.SZA.Run on October 29, 2012.[25][26] The extended play was met with positive reviews upon release. The Guardian commended the EP, its lyrical content and production, and compared it to the work of musicians like Drake and the Weeknd.[27] SZA self-released her second EP, S, on April 10, 2013.[28][29] It was positively received; Consequence of Sound thought that the "dreamy [and] warped [EP] manage[d] to exude confidence and fragility".[30] SZA promoted the extended play with the release of a music video for the EP's lead single, "Ice.Moon".[31] SZA and Punch stayed in contact, and after the former began garnering attention with the release of her two EPs, TDE signed her on July 14, 2013, making her the label's first female artist.[23][32] In October 2013, SZA joined Swedish band Little Dragon for a four-show tour, beginning on October 17 at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles and concluding on October 24 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.[33] That December, she released the song "Teen Spirit", which was later remixed with a guest verse from rapper 50 Cent.[22] The remix was accompanied by a music video directed by APlusFilmz.[34] Throughout 2014, SZA was featured on multiple tracks from her labelmates' projects, including two songs on Isaiah Rashad's debut EP, Cilvia Demo,[35][36] and a collaboration on Schoolboy Q's debut album, Oxymoron.[37] She followed up with the release of her third studio EP, Z, on April 8,[38] led by the single "Babylon" featuring Lamar,[39] which was accompanied by a music video directed by APlusFilmz.[40] To promote the EP, SZA performed at several showcases during the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.[41][42] Z marked SZA's chart debut in the UK, reaching number 32 on the R&B chart for the week ending April 19.[43] In the US, the EP debuted at number 39 on the Billboard 200; it sold 6,980 copies in its first week and peaked at number nine on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[44] Z acquired a small cult following online,[45] gaining popularity within niche communities on Tumblr which contributed to her slow rise in popularity.[46] By the end of the year, SZA opened for Jhené Aiko's Enter the Void Tour[47] and Coldplay's Ghost Stories Tour.[48] During 2014, SZA befriended record producer ThankGod4Cody during a time when he was working on music for Rashad.[49][50] One time, she overheard him making a beat from the next room, and they decided to build a song out of it. It eventually became the standalone single "Sobriety".[50] She released it via SoundCloud in November, with the genre tag "Not R&B".[51] In 2015, she met another record producer, Carter Lang, via a chance encounter at a studio; they and ThankGod4Cody began a work relationship the same year, collaborating on an upcoming project by SZA.[50] Initially given the title A, the project was going to be the final EP of the "SZA" trilogy that started with S.[52] Work on it started back in 2014.[53] As time passed, A slowly developed into SZA's debut album Ctrl.[54] 2015–2018: Ctrl and breakthrough A's release date was initially scheduled for late 2015.[55] However, due to disputes with TDE and persistent feelings of anxiety fueled by her perfectionism, SZA had to rework the project multiple times.[56][57] The label then postponed its release from 2015 to the start of 2016.[55] In a February post on Instagram, TDE implied A was in its final stage of creation and would be released the same year.[58] One of its prospective songs, "TwoAM",[59] was surprise-released through their SoundCloud account in May;[60] it was eventually scrapped from the tracklist.[59] Later that same month, SZA told Entertainment Weekly that A was now growing into a full-length album.[61] A mid-2016 release date was planned for the project,[62] only for it to be de…