''SOS'' is the second studio album by American singer
SZA. It was released through
Top Dawg Entertainment
Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label founded in 2004, by CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Terrence "Punch" Henderson is president of the label. There are currently eleven artists signed to the label: the label's f ...
and
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
on December 9, 2022. The album features guest appearances from
Don Toliver
Caleb Zackery "Don" Toliver ( ; born June 12, 1994) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He released his first major label mixtape, ''Donny Womack'', in August 2018. He is known for his singles "No Idea (song), No Idea" and "After Party ...
,
Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She has released two solo albums, ''Stranger in the Alps'' (2017) and '' Punisher'' (2020), both of which received critical acclai ...
,
Travis Scott, and the late
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), better known by his stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group primarily fr ...
. SZA worked with a variety of record producers and songwriters such as
Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to:
Nicknames
* Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber
* Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician
* "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...
,
Jeff Bhasker
Jeff Bhasker (born March 4, 1974) is an American record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. He was awarded the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 2016 and nominated in 2013.
An accomplished producer, he ...
,
Benny Blanco
Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also ...
,
Rodney Jerkins,
DJ Dahi
Dacoury Dahi Natche (born March 10, 1983), professionally known as DJ Dahi, is an American DJ, songwriter, record producer and singer from Inglewood, California. Dahi is perhaps best known for producing " Money Trees" by American rapper Kendri ...
,
Gabriel Hardeman
Gabriel S. Hardeman Jr. (December 13, 1943 – June 23, 2012), was an American gospel musician, pianist, and leader of the Gabriel Hardeman Delegation that included his wife Annette. He started his music career in 1976, with the release of ''Gabr ...
,
Ant Clemons
Anthony Clemons Jr. (born September 26, 1991) is an American singer. He rose to prominence as a guest artist on Kanye West's 2018 single " All Mine". Clemons has since worked with a multitude of artists, including West, Ty Dolla Sign, Beyoncé, ...
,
Lizzo
Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...
and
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
. It was supported by four singles: "
Good Days
"Good Days" is a song by American singer SZA. It was released through Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA on December 25, 2020, as the lead single from her second studio album, ''SOS'' (2022). SZA wrote the song alongside Jacob Collier, who provides ...
", "
I Hate U", "
Shirt", and "
Nobody Gets Me
"Nobody Gets Me" is a song by American singer SZA. It was sent to Italian radio stations through Sony Music on January 6, 2023, as the fourth single from her second studio album, ''SOS (SZA album), SOS'' (2022). The song peaked at number ten on t ...
". It serves as the follow-up to SZA's previous album, ''
Ctrl
In computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, performs a special operation (for example, ); similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself. ...
'' (2017).
Upon its release, ''SOS'' received widespread critical acclaim for its eclectic sound and SZA's vocal delivery, with several media publications ranking it as one of the best albums of 2022. The album debuted at number one on the
''Billboard'' 200 with 318,000 units, breaking the record for the largest streaming week for an R&B album, and marking SZA's first number-one album in the United States.
Background and recording
SZA released her debut studio album, ''
Ctrl
In computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, performs a special operation (for example, ); similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself. ...
'', in 2017. Primarily an
R&B album that deals with themes like heartbreak, ''Ctrl'' was widely acclaimed by critics for its vocal performances, as well as the relatability, emotional impact, and candid nature of its songwriting. The album solidified her status as one of the most well-known R&B artists of her time.
In January 2020, SZA confirmed plans to start creating her next album. In an interview with ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', SZA mentioned that "music is coming out for sure", but stating that it may not just yet result in an album. She also said that the rumor that she was planning to release a trilogy of albums and then retire from music "is nonsense". In the interview, SZA also revealed that she had spent time in the studio with American record producer
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...
, remembering that "he played fucking Brazilian jazz-type beats, and I popped off to that". She has also collaborated with Australian singer-songwriter
Sia
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...
, who she reportedly has co-written three songs with. According to ''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
'', SZA has earlier expressed intentions of collaborating with
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...
,
Post Malone
Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hip ...
,
Jack Antonoff
Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and is the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. He was pr ...
and
Brockhampton Brockhampton may refer to:
*Brockhampton (band), an American self-described "boy band" and music collective
*Brockhampton, Gloucestershire, Cotswold, England
* Brockhampton, Tewkesbury, a location
In geography, location or place are used to deno ...
on her future songs. From April to May 2022, SZA told media outlets that she had recently finished the album in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, describing it as her most relatable or "unisex" body of work she had made to date. During the
Met Gala
The Met Gala, or Met Ball, formally called the Costume Institute Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. It is popularly ...
and an interview with ''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'', SZA claimed that the album was ready for release during summertime in the United States ("this summer, it will be a SZA summer"), although the caveat was that there was no urgent deadline for the release. SZA described its composition during the interview: "I have no idea what it sounds like to anybody else. I really don't know. It's so bizarre. It's weird that I can't put my finger on it. It's a little bit of everything." She added that some parts of the song had an "aggressive" sound whereas others were soft or balladic.
The initial release date never occurred and she blamed the delay on her label
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
;
the album would be her last to be released through RCA. In October, she said that she had written around 100 songs for the album and added that the album could be released "any day now". During a ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' cover story published in November, SZA revealed the title of her second studio album was ''SOS'', scheduled for release sometime next month. She expressed her frustration with complying with music industry standards on promoting music, saying she had been stressed with meeting her deadlines. On December 3, 2022, she appeared on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' and announced it would be released on December 9. Two days later, she posted the track list on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.
Composition
''S.O.S'' is primarily an
R&B album with influences from
hip hop and
pop. The album samples sound references from
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
,
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and
melodic rap
Pop rap (also known as pop hip-hop, hip pop, melodic hip-hop or melodic rap) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip hop music with pop music's preference for melodious vocals and catchy tunes. This genre gained mainstrea ...
. The sound of the album was described as "a varied palette",
combining "
surf rock" and "
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
" elements, alongside "her beloved
lo-fi
Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...
beats".
Commercial performance
''SOS'' debuted at number one on the US
''Billboard'' 200 chart, with 318,000 equivalent album units sold. The album earned 404.58 million on-demand official streams in its first week, breaking record for the biggest streaming week ever for an R&B album, and becoming the second-largest streaming week for an album by a female artist. Within days the album was
certified gold
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA). Elsewhere, ''SOS'' entered within the top 5 of 10 countries: it debuted atop charts
in Canada, Netherlands, and New Zealand; at number 2 in Australia, the UK, and Ireland; at number 3 in Norway and Denmark; and number 4 in Sweden and Switzerland.
Artwork
![PRINCESS DIANA longing © copyright 2010 (5113084540)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/PRINCESS_DIANA_longing_%C2%A9_copyright_2010_%285113084540%29.jpg)
On November 30, 2022, SZA posted the album cover on
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
. She can be seen wearing a
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...
hockey jersey on the album cover. The cover is a reference to a 1997 photo of
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
, in a similar pose aboard a yacht during a trip in
Portofino
Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th century ...
, Italy, surrounded by the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
.
SZA reported on the decision to associate the cover and album with Princess Diana's photo:
- Originally I was supposed to be on top of, like, a shipping barge," SZA said. "But in the references that I pulled for that, I pulled the Diana reference because I just loved how isolated she felt and that was what I wanted to convey the most. And then at the last minute, we, like, didn’t get clearance to get the shipping barges that we wanted and we were like, ‘We’re gonna build the diving board instead. We’re still gonna try it.’ We didn’t nix the boat altogether and we tried it and it turned out cool and I wasn’t sure it was going to be really cool until, like, right now. -
Promotion
SZA sporadically released music over a two-plus year period as she continued to perfect her album and push back on release dates. Releasing music videos for these singles, the second half of the video teasers for her next single would play at the end.
At the end of a teaser video titled "PSA" released on her 33rd birthday, a message written in
Morse code
Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...
can be seen, which after being translated spells out "S.O.S.". In an interview with ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' released on November 16, 2022, SZA confirmed the theories about the album title and release date in December 2022.
She further admitted to feeling "stressed" about meeting the release deadline.
SZA promoted the album on the December 3, 2022, episode of
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' as a musical guest. She performed live the single "Shirt" and the at-the-time unreleased track "Blind", which she previously teased. On December 5, she posted a snippet of a song titled "
Nobody Gets Me
"Nobody Gets Me" is a song by American singer SZA. It was sent to Italian radio stations through Sony Music on January 6, 2023, as the fourth single from her second studio album, ''SOS (SZA album), SOS'' (2022). The song peaked at number ten on t ...
". A few hours later, she posted the tracklist of the album on her
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.
Tour
On December 13, 2022, SZA announced the SOS Tour, a 19-date North American concert tour and her first arena tour, in support of the album, beginning February 21, 2023 at
Value City Arena
Value City Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The arena opened in 1998 and is currently the largest by seating capacity in the Big Ten Conference, with 19,049 seats, w ...
in
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
, and concluding March 23 at
Kia Forum in
Inglewood.
Omar Apollo
Omar Apolonio Velasco (born May 20, 1997), known professionally as Omar Apollo, is an American singer and songwriter.
After signing a record deal with Warner Records, his debut album, ''Ivory'', was released in 2022 to positive reviews for his ...
was announced as the opening act.
Shows
Critical reception
''SOS'' has received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the album received a score of 90 out of 100, based on 20 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' named the album "Best New Music", stressing how it "solidifies her position as a generational talent, an artist who translates her innermost feelings into indelible moments".
Alexis Petridis of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' wrote that the results of the album "are hugely eclectic", finding it "simultaneously impressive and a little exhausting". Petridis found that the songs "shine harder individually than taken in toto, where the sheer profusion causes them to merge into one, blended by a mood of stoned melancholy", with a final product of a "unwieldy" album, where SZA sounds as "a fabulous vocalist, powerful but unshowy, capable of shifting seamlessly into melodic rap".
''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
''
's writer Rhian Daly reported that "under SZA’s command it feels cohesive, organic and like every skip into a new genre is completely justified for each track", pointing out that ''SOS'' is "a phenomenal record that barely puts a foot wrong and raises the bar even higher than she set it before".
Cady Siregar by
''Consequence'' defined the album "an assured, ambitious, expansive, and genre-defying journey into the very depths of heartbreak and the many shades it comes in". The journalist emphasized that in ''
Ctrl
In computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, performs a special operation (for example, ); similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself. ...
'' there is no predefined musical genre, because "the theme lies in her vocal prowess, the daringness of her vision, and her lyrical frankness".
Reviewing the album for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, Andy Kellman compared it favourably to SZA's previous album; "Hour-plus length and stylistic variety likewise signal that SOS could be the overreaching kind of highly anticipated follow-up. Still, it's an advancement from ''Ctrl'' in every respect apart from cohesion."
Writing for ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', Will Dukes also commented on the album's runtime; "SOS is very long – 23 tracks, well over an hour. It suggests someone continually adding to and augmenting a project, or perhaps throwing everything they’ve got at it, fuelled by the feeling that they might not do this again. The results are hugely eclectic."
Accolades
By the time ''SOS'' was released, many publications had already released their respective year-end best-of album lists. Nonetheless, some publications who released later lists included ''SOS'', such as ''
BrooklynVegan
''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, United States and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, ...
'', whose writer Andrew Sacher wrote:
Track listing
Notes
* signifies an additional producer.
* signifies a miscellaneous producer.
* signifies a vocal producer.
* "Ghost in the Machine" and "Far" feature additional vocals by
Sadhguru
Sadhguru (born Jagadish Vasudev, 3 September 1957) is the founder and head of the Isha Foundation, based in Coimbatore, India. The foundation, established in 1992, operates an ashram and yoga centre that carries out educational and spiritua ...
.
Sample credits
* "SOS" contains an interpolation of "
Listen
Listen may refer to:
* The action of listening
* Auditory system#Central auditory system, Central auditory system listening is how the brain processes what you hear
* Listening behaviour types in human communication
Computing
* LISTEN, a Transm ...
", performed by
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
, and written by Beyoncé Knowles,
Scott Cutler
Scott Michael Cutler is an American songwriter, musician, record producer, and music executive. As a member of the alternative rock band Ednaswap, he co-wrote "Torn" which was covered in 1997 by Natalie Imbruglia. Her recording became the worl ...
,
Henry Krieger
Henry Krieger (born February 9, 1945 in New York City) is an American musical theatre composer. He most notably wrote the music for the Broadway shows ''Dreamgirls'' (1981, with lyrics and book by Tom Eyen), ''The Tap Dance Kid'' (1983), and ''Si ...
and
Anne Preven
Anne Preven (born February 25, 1965) is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer. As a member of the alternative rock band Ednaswap, she co-wrote "Torn" which was covered by Lis Sørensen (Danish), Trine Rein (Norwegian), and then N ...
; and a sample of "Until I Found the Lord (My Soul Couldn't Rest)", performed by the Gabriel Hardeman Delegation, and written by
Gabriel Hardeman
Gabriel S. Hardeman Jr. (December 13, 1943 – June 23, 2012), was an American gospel musician, pianist, and leader of the Gabriel Hardeman Delegation that included his wife Annette. He started his music career in 1976, with the release of ''Gabr ...
.
* "Love Language" contains an interpolation of "
I Don't Wanna", and performed by
Aaliyah, and written by
Johntá Austin
Johntá Austin ( ; born June 28, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, vocalist and rapper, signed to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings. He is known for collaborating with producers Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri an ...
,
Jazze Pha
Phalon Anton Alexander, (born April 15, 1974), professionally known as Jazze Pha ( ), is an American record producer, singer, songwriter and rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Sho'nuff Records, to wh ...
, Donnie Scantz and Kevin Hicks; and a sample of "
Hit Different
"Hit Different" is a single by American singer SZA featuring fellow American singer Ty Dolla $ign. The singers wrote the song with Rob Bisel and producers The Neptunes. The song was recorded at the home of American record producer DJ Khaled and ...
", performed by SZA featuring
Ty Dolla Sign
Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...
, and written by Solána Rowe,
Tyrone Griffin, Jr.,
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
,
Chad Hugo
Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. With close friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has prod ...
, and Rob Bisel.
* "Smoking on My Ex Pack" contains a sample of "Open Up Your Eyes", performed by
Webster Lewis
Webster Samuel Lewis (September 1, 1943 – November 20, 2002) was an American jazz and disco composer, arranger and keyboardist.
Career
Lewis was born in 1943 in Baltimore, Maryland. At a young age, his family encouraged him to take up music. L ...
, and written by
Clarence Scarborough.
* "Good Days" contains an interpolation of "In Too Deep", performed by
Jacob Collier
Jacob Collier (; né Moriarty; born 2 August 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His music incorporates a combination of jazz with elements from many other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reha ...
featuring
Kiana Ledé
Kiana Ledé Brown (born April 3, 1997), known professionally as Kiana Ledé, is an American singer, songwriter, actress and pianist currently based in Los Angeles, California. She starred as Zoe Vaughn on the second season of MTV's horror series ...
and written by Collier.
* "Forgiveless" contains a sample of "
Hidden Place
"Hidden Place" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fourth studio album ''Vespertine'' (2001). Written and produced by Björk herself, "Hidden Place" was released as the lead single from ''Vespertine'' on 30 July 2001 by One Li ...
", written and performed by
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
; and "The Stomp", written and performed by
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Russell Tyrone Jones (November 15, 1968 – November 13, 2004), better known by his stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard (often abbreviated as ODB), was an American rapper. He was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group primarily fr ...
.
Personnel
Musicians
*
SZA – lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (tracks 14, 16, 20)
* Carter Lang – bass (2, 17), choir (2, 12), guitar (2, 13), keyboards (3, 6, 12, 13, 17), drums (12, 13), piano (12)
* Rob Bisel – bass (2, 17), choir (2, 12), guitar (2, 13), keyboards (3, 4, 6, 12, 13, 17), vocals (4), acoustic guitar (6); drums, piano (12); background vocals (14, 16, 20)
* ThankGod4Cody – drums (3, 17), keyboards (3), choir (10)
* Scum – keyboards (3)
* Alessandro Buccellati –
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
, keyboards (4)
*
Travis Scott – background vocals (4)
* Aire Atlantica – drums (4)
* Will Miller – keyboards (6)
* Yuli – viola (6)
* Granny – vocals (7, 20)
* Alexandria Arowora – choir (10)
* Anthony Johnson – choir (10)
* Charles Harmon – choir (10)
* Chelsea Miller – choir (10)
* Dylan Neustadter – choir (10)
* Erik Brooks – choir (10)
* Imani Carolyn – choir (10)
* Jewchelle Brown – choir (10)
* Joslynn James – choir (10)
* Roman Collins – choir (10)
* Storm Chapman – choir (10)
* Syd Tagle – choir (10)
*
Stix
Stix or STIX may refer to:
People
* Stix Hooper (born 1938), American jazz musician
* Gary Stix, American journalist
* Thomas H. Stix (1924–2001), American physicist
* Christine Stix-Hackl (born 1957), Austrian jurist
Arts and entertainment
...
– drums (10)
* Matt Cohn – drums (12)
*
Sadhguru
Sadhguru (born Jagadish Vasudev, 3 September 1957) is the founder and head of the Isha Foundation, based in Coimbatore, India. The foundation, established in 1992, operates an ashram and yoga centre that carries out educational and spiritua ...
– vocals (12, 18)
*
Lizzo
Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...
– background vocals (13)
* Sammy Witte – guitar (17)
*
Still Woozy
Sven Eric Gamsky (born June 23, 1992), known professionally as Still Woozy, is an American singer and songwriter from Oakland, California. His music is released through the record label Still Woozy Productions Inc., under exclusive license to I ...
– guitar (17)
*
Teo Halm
Teo Lucas Halm (born May 18, 1999) is an American record producer, songwriter, singer, and actor. Halm's notable production credits include the Rosalía singles " Con Altura" with J Balvin and " TKN" with Travis Scott, the former which won a Lati ...
– drums, guitar, keyboards (20)
*
Jacob Collier
Jacob Collier (; né Moriarty; born 2 August 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His music incorporates a combination of jazz with elements from many other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reha ...
– background vocals (22)
Technical
* Dale Becker –
mastering (1–20, 22, 23)
* Rob Bisel –
mixing (1, 2, 6, 8, 12, 19–21),
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
(all tracks), mastering (21), vocal engineering (3, 17)
*
Shawn Everett
Shawn Everett (born July 6, 1982) is a Canadian music engineer and producer best known for his work with Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves, The War on Drugs, The Killers, and Julian Casablancas. Everett has won six Grammy Awards.
Early life
Ever ...
– mixing (1, 22), mastering (22)
*
Jaycen Joshua
Jaycen Joshua is a mix engineer and music producer who owns the revered Canton House Studios in Studio City, California. Joshua started his mix career in 2005 when he became partners with his mentor Dave Pensado and formed The Penua Project. Joshu ...
– mixing (3, 17, 23)
* Derek "206derek" Anderson – mixing, engineering (4, 20)
* Jon Castelli – mixing (4, 7, 11, 15)
*
Manny Marroquin
Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work.
Life and career
...
– mixing (5, 18)
*
Dana Nielsen
Dana Nielsen is an American mix engineer, audio engineer, record producer and saxophonist based in Los Angeles. Nielsen has worked with a wide range of artists including Metallica, Rihanna, The Avett Brothers, Bob Dylan, Adele, Neil Diamond, Slay ...
– mixing (9, 10, 13)
*
Serban Ghenea
Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer.
Early life and education
Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...
– mixing (14, 16)
* Carson Graham – engineering (1, 5, 6, 8, 17, 18)
* Josh Deguzman – engineering (4, 7, 11, 15)
* Hector Castro – engineering (9, 15, 19, 21)
* Dylan Neustadter – engineering (10, 11, 16)
* Bryce Bordone – engineering (14)
* Derek Keota – engineering (19, 23)
* Micah Petit – engineering (19, 23)
* Will Maclellan – vocal engineering (12)
* Katie Harvey – engineering assistance (1–20, 22, 23)
* Noah McCorkle – engineering assistance (1–20, 22, 23)
* Robert N. Johnson – engineering assistance (2, 4–6, 9, 12–15, 17–21)
* Syd Tagle – engineering assistance (2, 8, 10–12, 15–17)
* Trey Pearce – engineering assistance (2, 9, 17)
* Hayden Duncan – engineering assistance (3, 10, 12, 15, 16)
* DJ Riggins – engineering assistance (3, 17, 23)
* Jacob Richards – engineering assistance (3, 17, 23)
* Mike Seaberg – engineering assistance (3, 17, 23)
* Rachel Blum – engineering assistance (3, 17, 23)
* Ben Sedano – engineering assistance (5, 7, 19)
* Anthony Vilchis – engineering assistance (5, 18)
* Trey Station – engineering assistance (5, 18)
* Zach Pereyra – engineering assistance (5, 18)
* Jon Sher – engineering assistance (5)
* Kaushlesh Purohit – engineering assistance (7)
* Noah Hashimoto – engineering assistance (7, 13)
* Jonathan Lopez – engineering assistance (8, 14)
* Patrick Gardner – engineering assistance (14)
* Austin Christy – engineering assistance (15)
* Jeremy Dilli – engineering assistance (16, 18)
* Shelby Epstine – engineering assistance (20)
Charts
Certifications
Release history
See also
*
List of ''Billboard'' 200 number-one albums of 2022
*
List of number-one albums of 2022 (Canada)
These are the Canadian number-one albums of 2022. The chart is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published in Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine as Top Canadian Albums.
Number-one albums
See also
* List of Canadian Hot 100 number-on ...
*
List of number-one albums from the 2020s (New Zealand)
This is the Recorded Music NZ list of number-one albums in New Zealand during the 2020s decade. In New Zealand, Recorded Music NZ compiles the top 40 albums chart each Friday, and dates the chart for the following Monday. Over-the-counter sales ...
References
{{SZA
2022 albums
RCA Records albums
SZA albums