who is SZA
Solána Imani Rowe, known professionally as SZA, is an American R&B singer. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she began making music in the early 2010s, releasing two extended plays before signing with the hip hop record label Top Dawg Entertainment, through which she released Z (2014), her third EP and first retail release.
That same year, she co-wrote “Feeling Myself” by Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé. In 2016, she was featured on Rihanna’s song “Consideration”.
How did SZA get famous?
In 2016, she was featured on Rihanna’s song “Consideration”. St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. Maplewood, New Jersey, U.S. SZA’s debut studio album, Ctrl (2017), was released to universal acclaim from music critics.
Last year, Solána Rowe walked away from music for good. She was 25, and she had been putting out EPs as SZA (say it like “scissor”) since 2012, when rapper/producer Terrence “Punch” Henderson stumbled across some early tracks and signed her up to Top Dawg Entertainment, the label that’s also home to Kendrick Lamar, Isaiah Rashad and Schoolboy Q.
In the time she had been working, she had co-written Feeling Myself for Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj, and Anti’s opening track Consideration for Rihanna. But the path to a debut album proper had been long, slow and tortuous. It was promised at the end of 2015, then at the start of 2016.
Last October, she had had enough. “I actually quit,” Rowe tweeted. “@iamstillpunch [Henderson] can release my album if he ever feels like it. Y’all be blessed.”