50 Fun Facts About SZA

What is SZA's real first name?

Her full name is Solána Imani Rowe, and her mother nicknamed her 'Chickabee' after the 1994 film Nell.

SZA was born in St. Louis but grew up in which New Jersey town?

Her mother was an AT&T executive and her father a CNN video producer, both originally from the South.

SZA's stage name was inspired by the Supreme Alphabet and which two rappers?

The Z and A stand for Zig-Zag and Allah, and the S can mean savior or sovereign.

SZA wore a hijab in elementary and early middle school but stopped after which event, fearing bullying?

Her father is Muslim and her mother Christian; she attended both Sunday school and Muslim school.

What did SZA study at Delaware State University before dropping out in her final semester?

She had enrolled at three different colleges before settling there, then worked bar and other jobs to fund her music.

Which record label signed SZA in July 2013, making her its first female artist?

She first met the label's people at CMJ in 2011 when her boyfriend's clothing company sponsored a Kendrick Lamar show.

What was the title of SZA's self-released debut EP from October 2012?

The Guardian compared it to Drake and the Weeknd; her second EP, simply titled S, followed six months later.

Which SZA EP, released in April 2014, was led by the single 'Babylon' featuring Kendrick Lamar?

It debuted at number 39 on the Billboard 200 on 6,980 copies and grew a cult following on Tumblr.

Which rapper delivered a guest verse on the remix of SZA's 2013 song 'Teen Spirit'?

She had tagged the SoundCloud upload 'Glitter Trap' and 'Not R&B', an early sign of her genre allergy.

Which Rihanna song did SZA co-write and feature on, having planned it as the centrepiece of her own album?

It was going to be called 'LouAnne Johnson' on her record and even had a video shot before the label handed it to Anti.

SZA co-wrote 'Feeling Myself', a 2014 collaboration between Beyoncé and which rapper?

She has called Beyoncé 'the most inspirational woman on earth, next to my mother'.

What was SZA's debut album originally going to be titled before it became Ctrl?

It was meant to complete a trilogy of one-letter EPs that started with S and Z.

In what year was Ctrl finally released?

Delays had grown so frustrating that she tweeted she wanted to quit music, then took it back.

Which Ctrl single is named after an actress SZA says she rarely saw people like herself in?

She also named 'Jodie' after Jodie Foster and 'Go Gina' after Tisha Campbell's character on Martin.

Which Ctrl single features Travis Scott?

The 2022 deluxe edition added a version without his verse, along with six other outtakes.

Where did Ctrl debut on the Billboard 200?

It sold 60,000 first-week units and went on to chart for more than eight consecutive years.

How many Grammy nominations did SZA receive for Ctrl in 2018, making her that year's most-nominated woman?

Best New Artist was among them, and she went home with nothing.

'All the Stars', SZA's 2018 duet with Kendrick Lamar, led the soundtrack of which film?

It earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song and four Grammy nods including Record of the Year.

SZA's first Billboard Hot 100 top ten came as a featured artist on 'What Lovers Do' by which band?

It peaked at number nine in 2017, months before 'All the Stars' reached number seven.

'Kiss Me More', which won SZA her first Grammy, was a collaboration with which artist?

Its chorus interpolates Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical', so Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick got writing credits too.

Which December 2020 single, the lead single from SOS, gave SZA her first solo top ten in the US?

'Hit Different' had come three months earlier as a standalone; 'I Hate U' and 'Shirt' followed after going viral on TikTok.

'I Hate U' was first uploaded to SoundCloud alongside 'Nightbird' and 'Joni' on whose advice?

'Joni' would not get an official release until the Lana reissue in 2025, two years after it leaked.

The SOS teaser video hinted at the album's title by playing what?

The teaser was soundtracked by 'PSA', which stayed unreleased until the Lana rerelease.

The SOS album cover, with SZA seated on a diving board over the sea, references a 1997 photo of whom?

The original was taken aboard a yacht off Portofino, Italy, in the last summer of the princess's life.

What chart record did SOS set when it returned to the top of the Billboard 200 in 2025?

Its previous week on top had been in early 2023; a week after the Grand National Tour opened it went back to number one for a thirteenth week.

SOS broke which two albums' records for the longest-running US top ten by a woman and by a Black artist?

In August 2025 it became the first album by a woman to log 100 weeks in the Billboard 200 top ten.

A remix with which rapper pushed 'Kill Bill' from number two to number one on the Hot 100?

On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs it ran 21 weeks at number one, beating the record set by 'Old Town Road'.

Which actress from the original Kill Bill films appears in SZA's 'Kill Bill' music video?

Christian Breslauer's video restages several scenes from the films with SZA in the Bride's role.

'Kill Bill' was the third best-selling song in the world in which year?

It racked up 1.84 billion units from streams and downloads, and SZA has said she hates most of her biggest, easiest songs.

Which SOS single won Best R&B Song at the 2024 Grammys, where SZA was the most-nominated artist?

SOS took Best Progressive R&B Album the same night, and an acoustic version of the winning song features Justin Bieber.

Which pop-rock track on SOS was co-written with Lizzo, SZA's would-be rock bandmate?

Lizzo was also originally going to feature on 'BMF' from the Lana reissue.

Whose voice appears in sampled recordings credited as 'Granny' on both Ctrl and SOS?

Vulture ranked her the fourth-best mother to appear on a child or grandchild's songs, with a 'wholesome index' of eight out of ten.

Which Drake song featuring SZA became her second US number one in September 2023?

It arrived the same month she previewed the SOS deluxe at an invite-only show at Brooklyn Navy Yard.

What is the title of the deluxe reissue of SOS, released in December 2024?

She told Variety it was virtually a new album, and its lead single 'Saturn' debuted live at the 2024 Grammys.

SZA announced the Lana release date during a livestream hosted by which Twitch streamer?

The album arrived on December 20, 2024, and was rereleased with four extra tracks the following February.

'Luther', SZA's longest-running US number one at 13 weeks, appears on which Kendrick Lamar album?

She is on two tracks of that 2024 record, the other being the closer 'Gloria'.

SZA joined Kendrick Lamar on stage at the halftime show of which NFL championship game in February 2025?

'30 for 30' climbed to a new peak of number ten afterwards despite not being in the set list.

What record did SZA and Kendrick Lamar's 2025 Grand National run of stadium shows break?

It was the first all-stadium tour for either artist, and the Seattle date became the highest-grossing hip hop concert ever.

What is the name of the lip-product line SZA sold only at pop-ups on the Grand National Tour?

The same year she was named the first artistic director of the shoe company Vans.

SZA made her film debut opposite Keke Palmer in which 2025 buddy comedy?

The two friends scramble to find rent money after a boyfriend blows through it; the film made over $51 million on a $14 million budget.

SZA's fans joke that she sings in 'cursive and italics' because of what?

Rolling Stone described her voice as swinging between a 'vapory husk and a sky-high falsetto'.

Which Canadian folk legend's first name titles a 2025 Lana track written from her perspective?

She often writes as other people so she can 'say nicer things about herself'; Frank Ocean and Future are other muses.

Which late Wu-Tang Clan rapper is credited as a guest on SZA's album SOS?

The other features were Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers and Travis Scott, the only three of many artists contacted who actually sent verses.

Which Grammy did SOS win at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards?

It had nine nominations that night; Billboard called its Album of the Year loss to Taylor Swift's Midnights a snub.

How many equivalent album units did SOS sell in its first week to debut at number one?

It then spent ten non-consecutive weeks on top, the first album by a woman to do so since Adele's 25.

Where did SZA say she finished recording SOS in 2022?

Work had begun by 2019, but most of the songs were written and recorded in 2022 in bursts driven by time pressure.

Why did Top Dawg Entertainment confiscate SZA's hard drive while she was making Ctrl?

She had recorded somewhere between 150 and 200 songs and kept reworking the album until the label took the drive in spring 2017.

Which Ctrl single samples a Justin Timberlake track from FutureSex/LoveSounds?

Producer ThankGod4Cody sampled 'Set the Mood (Prelude)/Until the End of Time', earning Timberlake, Timbaland and Danja writing credits.

Which 1992 film's lonely, lashing-out character inspired SZA while recording 'Drew Barrymore'?

She said the beat reminded her of the film and of Ivy being 'lonely and pissed that her life was like this'.

Where did Ctrl the Tour open on 20 August 2017?

Health problems pushed the start back four days from the original opening at Fête Music Hall; the tour closed in Philadelphia that December.