SZA Biography
Solána Imani Rowe, born November 8, 1989, better known as SZA, is a popular singer and songwriter. She began making music in the early 2010s in St. Louis, Missouri, releasing two extended plays before signing with the hip hop record label Top Dawg Entertainment, through which she released Z, her third EP and first retail release.
Wiki Profile
| Real Name: | Solána Imani Rowe |
| Date of Birth | November 8, 1989 |
| Place of Birth: | St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Nationality: | American |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Occupation: | Singer, Songwriter |
| Net Worth | $3 million |
Early Life and Education
SZA was born and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey. Her family was “one of the only Black families in our five-block radius,” she said.
She went to a Muslim prep school after her regular schooling every day. Rowe was bullied in 7th grade as a result of the September 11th attacks, which caused her to stop wearing her hijab.
Rowe went to Columbia High School, where she participated in sports such as gymnastics and cheerleading. Rowe attended three different colleges after graduating from high school in 2008, eventually settling at Delaware State University to study marine biology.
She eventually dropped out in her final semester, but she immediately began taking on odd jobs to make money.
Rowe derived her stage name from the Supreme Alphabet, drawing inspiration from Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA.
Her last two letters stand for Zig-Zag and Allah, respectively, while the first letter S can mean either savior or sovereign.
Career
SZA’s rapper brother hired her to sing hooks for his mixtapes. As a result, SZA began making her own music while working as a Sephora salesperson and a strip club bartender.
SZA used SoundCloud to share songs like “Aftermath,” which drew a lot of attention. See.SZA.Run, her debut EP, was released in 2012.
SZA met Terrence “Punch” Henderson, the CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, in 2011. Punch was sufficiently impressed by SZA’s music to continue listening to her work.
SZA released another EP, S, in 2013. That same year, she signed with Top Dawg Entertainment, becoming the label’s first female artist. In 2014, she released the EP Z.
SZA’s debut album, Ctrl, was delayed several times before it was released in June 2017. SZA had planned to include her song “Consideration,” but Rihanna heard it and added it to her own album, Anti.
SZA continued to produce and perform on the song. SZA was also forced to deal with other issues during the album-making process.
After the album’s release, she explained, “I’m a little worried. It’s difficult for me to finish things because I’m afraid people will dislike them.”
Ctrl was welcomed with open arms when it finally arrived. SZA’s blend of R&B, rock, and soul, accompanied by her mother’s vocals, exposed vulnerabilities that resonated with twenty-somethings, particularly younger Black women.
Issa Rae was so taken with the song that she used several Ctrl tracks in the second season of her TV show Insecure.
Ctrl debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, with 125,000 album-equivalent units, 80,000 of which were pure album sales.
The album was supported by several singles, including “Love Galore,” which charted in the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was later certified platinum. Time magazine named Ctrl the best album of 2017.
SZA released “Good Days” as a single on December 25, 2020, after it first appeared as a snippet in the outro of the “Hit Different” music video.
Background vocals for the single were provided by English singer Jacob Collier.
Despite SZA revealing that the song was not originally intended to be a single, it peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it SZA’s first top ten single as a solo artist.
SZA appeared on Doja Cat’s single “Kiss Me More” on April 9, 2021. It peaked at number one in New Zealand and reached the top 40 in over a dozen other countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and Lithuania.
SZA’s cover of “The Anonymous Ones” was released in late 2021. It’s a song written for the soundtrack of Dear Evan Hansen’s 2021 film adaptation. Her rendition of the song is also heard during the film’s closing credits.
SZA released the song “I Hate U” on December 3, 2021, after it went viral on TikTok; it was originally released exclusively on SoundCloud in August 2021.
Songs
- Babylon
- Child’s Play
- Drew Barrymore
- Love Galore
- The Weekend
- All the Stars Broken
- Clocks Garden
- Power is Power
- The Other Side Hit Different
- Good Days Just for Me
- The Anonymous Ones Fue Mejor I Hate U
SZA has gotten 66 award nominations and has won 25 of them. Her latest win was in the 2022 Grammy awards.
After gaining 14 career Grammy nominations, SZA scored her first win at the 64th Grammy Awards on Sunday night, April 3, 2022.
Doja Cat praised SZA at the Grammys 2022 as their pair collected an award for their collaboration “Kiss Me More”. The 2021 single won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
It marked Doja Cat’s first Grammy win, as well.
Personal Life
It is said that she was once in a relationship with Scott Sasso.
Also, SZA has said she and Drake had dated in the late 2000s sometime around 2008 and 2009.
Social Media
Instagram: @sza
Twitter: @sza
