SZA will finally get her day to shine. After a few bumps in the road, the TDE R&B singer and songwriter has announced the release date for her long-delayed debut album, ‘CTRL.’
Headed by the single ‘Drew Barrymore,’ the project will arrive on February 3rd, and according to the 26-year-old, it will creatively play on a plethora of life experiences.
“I [wrote about] my younger life, which was haphazard,” SZA told Billboard. “Being at sleepaway camp away from my parents, being the only black girl, not even noticing until I got older, dealing with boys, self-hate, growth, and God. It’s the first time I’m literally writing about my life instead of figuratively writing about it.”
In addition to her life lessons, SZA received some mentorship advice from legendary producer Rick Rubin and a little attitude from Rihanna.
“I had this mentality that ‘more is more’ — more reverb, more background [vocals],” she said. “I played [Rubin] a bunch of songs, and he would tell me, ‘The more you take away from any piece, the more room you create for everything else to be beautiful and grow.’ I never felt that before, the editing urge. Once you strip everything down, you’re forced to say something.”
She adds about RiRi: “Rihanna doesn’t give a f**k about anyone around her. She’s in her own space at all times. But she’s not rude — she’s comfortable. As a shy person, that was something cool to witness.”
Back in November (2016), SZA had many believing she was quitting music after she responded to a fan, “I actually quit.” In the same tweet, she said Terrence “Punch” Henderson, co-president of Top Dawg Entertainment (Kendrick Lamar), could release her album “if he ever feels like it.”
She later clarified her comments with Complex: “I’ll probably just do something different, something visual, probably film,” she said. “I’m really frustrated, and I’m kind of over it. I have a lot of anxiety and there’s a lot going on in my life.”
Well, it looks like all is well now, and SZA fans will finally receive a full body of work.
The project will follow the EPS See.SZA.Run (2012), S (2013), and Z (2014).
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