A Bite of SZA 🍪
The genre-transcending singer songwriter crafting clever lyrics and acrobatic melodies
Monday Bites are bite-sized musician spotlights & playlists by Grace Lilly.
Enjoying the series? Support here to keep the good stuff coming 😊
🏆 A top-read post
• 3 min read •
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like her
It’s this magical SZA effect. I’ve yet to meet someone who isn’t a fan.
The people in my life have wildly different interests, personalities, backgrounds, and musical tastes, but the one thing they seem to all agree on is SZA’s talent.
She’s a force, instantly recognizable. Her music hypnotizes, mesmerizes, and enchants. Suddenly you’re submerged in the waterfall of her voice.
It’s no wonder she’s both so critically acclaimed and commercially successful.
There’s a raw, emotional quality to her storytelling — an intimacy and openness that draws you in, sticks with you, and pulls you back for more.
SZA
The basics
🤝 American singer and songwriter
🤝 b. 1989 (St. Louis, Missouri)
🤝 Both of her albums are ranked by Rolling Stone as two of the 500 greatest albums of all time
Why you should know her: Considered one of the greatest singers in history, she’s the 20th most listened to artist in the world on Spotify
If you like
✨ Frank Ocean
✨ Ella Fitzgerald
✨ Lauryn Hill
✨ Billie Holiday
✨ Erykah Badu
✨ Joni Mitchell
Known for
🏆 Her poetic & vulnerable songwriting — awarded by Songwriters Hall of Fame for making a significant impact in the music industry with her original songs
🏆 Her debut album Ctrl — the 2nd longest-charting R&B album by a woman in Billboard history
🏆 4 Grammy Awards, 24 Grammy nominations (more than any artist in 2024)
🏆 Broke the record for largest streaming week for an R&B album in the US with her second album, SOS
🏆 Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee for Best Original Song with Kendrick Lamar, “All the Stars” for Black Panther (2018)
Bite-sized facts
🍪 Began journaling & writing poetry at a very early age; bullied at school and considered weird by peers growing up
🍪 Formed her stage name inspired by rapper RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan; S stands for savior or sovereign, Z for Zig-Zag and A for Allah, from the Supreme Alphabet
🍪 Dropped out of college and worked in a strip club before enrolling at FIT; released music on SoundCloud along the way
🍪 The first female artist signed to Top Dawg Entertainment, the label that launched Kendrick Lamar and ScHoolboy Q
🍪 Broke out in 2017 with first album Ctrl: debuted at No. 3 on Billboard 200, got universal acclaim from critics, ranked as best album of the year by Time
🍪 Longtime friends with Lizzo, said “I never feel like I have to be anybody else around her, ever… she makes me feel safe.”
🍪 Co-wrote songs for Rihanna (“Consideration” from Anti), Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, ScHoolboy Q; collaborated with Kendrick Lamar, Phoebe Bridgers, Cardi B, Doja Cat, Lorde, Drake, Post Malone
🍪 Her second album SOS (2022) became the longest-running number-one woman album of the decade & opened with the biggest US streaming week ever for an R&B album
🍪 Enjoys meditating, spending time in nature, and supporting environmental justice programs
Songs & dates
♫ 2012 Self releases her first mixtape See.SZA.Run
♫ 2017 “Love Galore” and “The Weekend” go multi-platinum, Top 40 singles off her first studio album, CTRL, gets 5 Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist
♫ 2020 “Good Days” peaks at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it her first top 10 single as a solo artist
♫ 2022 Wins a Grammy for “Kiss Me More,” duet with Doja Cat
♫ 2023 “Kill Bill” goes multi-platinum and becomes her first No. 1 single
♫ 2023 “Snooze” wins Grammy for best R&B song, SOS wins Best Progressive R&B Album, and “Ghost in the Machine” wins for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with Phoebe Bridgers
♫ 2024 Releases Top Ten single “Saturn” ahead of her next album Lana, expected to be released this year
She said
⭐ “I just make music however I feel and pray that it connects, and if it does, I’m super thankful.”
⭐ “I’ve been known to wear pajamas onstage for the sole reason of wanting to make sure I’m free enough to execute new things vocally onstage and give my best performance possible.”
⭐ “Music, or the type of music that I’m writing, is very personal.”
SZA Playlist
I gathered my fav SZA songs, from me to you with love. Like & save on Spotify and listen all week 💗
Where to start
Performing at the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards
Watch SZA perform “Snooze” and “Kill Bill” at the GRAMMYs in 2023
〰️
“Kill Bill” music video
A bloody Tarantino homage directed by Christian Breslauere
〰️
Debut performance of “Saturn”
Watch SZA perform “Saturn” for the first time
Down the rabbit hole
If you wanna dive even deeper:
Behind SZA's SOS Album & Tour (2023)
SZA sits down for an extensive interview with Zane Lowe in Brooklyn ahead of her Apple Music Live performance at Barclays Center. Watch on Youtube.
Show some love
If you enjoyed this post, “like” it & leave a comment! I notice and it makes me very happy 🥰
👀 Bonus: your engagement helps people find us in search engines, so taking a moment to say a few words makes a real difference!
An average concert ticket costs $122.84 🎟️
An annual subscription to This Song Changed My Life costs less than half of that ($50 to be exact).
Become a paid subscriber
Chipping in helps ensure the continued existence of TSCML — plus you’ll instantly unlock 27+ secret, paid-only posts (and counting).
People love it
What paid subscribers are saying
“I love this series! Want to pitch in so you can keep up the high quality content”
“Happy to support the good stuff”
“I believe watching your work develop will by itself change my life”
Learn more about me and my other projects: check out my personal newsletter, Weirdly Good <3
Explore
The introverted, wide-ranging, and underappreciated singer songwriter — A Bite of Robert Palmer 🍪
Big fan!
She's extremely talented and original. Look forward to hearing what she does next!