SZA

SZA turned confessional, genre-blurring R&B into some of the most-streamed music of the 2020s. Born Solana Imani Rowe in St. Louis and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, she became the first woman signed to the label Top Dawg Entertainment in 2013. Her writing is raw and often funny about love, insecurity and regret, and it has won her a devoted audience and seven Grammy Awards. Two albums, Ctrl and SOS, made her a defining voice of her era.

Ctrl and a new kind of R&B

After a pair of SoundCloud EPs, SZA released her debut album, Ctrl, in 2017. Critics praised its honesty and its refusal to sit neatly inside R&B, and it has since landed on many best-of-the-decade lists. She had once labeled an early single “Not R&B”, and that genre-fluid streak became part of her appeal.

The collaborations

Between albums she became a sought-after collaborator. “All the Stars” with Kendrick Lamar, made for the Black Panther soundtrack in 2018, earned an Academy Award nomination. “Kiss Me More” with Doja Cat in 2021 won SZA her first Grammy. She also featured on Rihanna‘s album Anti, having co-written its opening track.

SOS

SOS arrived in late 2022 after a five-year wait and became a phenomenon. It topped the Billboard 200 and produced “Kill Bill”, her first number one, along with “Snooze”, “Good Days” and “Nobody Gets Me”. It was the first album by a woman to spend 100 weeks in the chart’s top ten, and the longest-running top-ten album by a Black artist, passing Michael Jackson’s Thriller. At the 2024 Grammys, where she was the most-nominated artist, she won three awards.

Lana and a record-setting tour

In December 2024 she expanded SOS into a deluxe edition titled Lana, which brought “Saturn” and the Kendrick Lamar collaboration “30 for 30”. Their “luther”, from Lamar’s GNX, became her longest-running number one. In 2025 the two ran the Grand National Tour together, the highest-grossing co-headlining tour ever, and she joined him on stage at the Super Bowl.

Most loved songs

A spread across the catalogue. Each title opens through the in-site player.

From a heartbreak anthem to a slow-burning confessional you cannot quite place, the odds are good an SZA song has lived in your head. Type the line you remember into the search box above and you may find it leads back to her.