On December 9, 2022, SZA released her first album since Ctrl in 2017, SOS. It consists of 23 songs, making it a total of one hour and eight minutes long. SZA’s stage name comes from the Supreme Alphabet, where the Z stands for Zig-Zag, the A for Allah, and the S for either savior or sovereign. Although her legal name is Solána Imani Rowe. 

Overall, SOS is, if not better than, just as good as Ctrl. It has gotten a ton of media coverage as fans have only become more and more obsessed with her over the five years between her last album and now. SZA first became known as a bigger artist in 2021 after releasing her single, “Good Days,” which hit the Billboard Hot 100 within days of release. Her music is typically described as “neo soul,” meaning it is a mix between alternative R&B, indie and hip hop. 

The album is a perfect mix of hip hop and indie with incredible bass. The way SZA sings is a bit nasally, which can be a little hard to like at first, but it tends to grow on people. The nasally aspect of her singing voice seems to add just that little bit of extra emotion to certain songs, whereas, on others, it is almost unnoticeable. Her songs tend to follow the topics of sexuality, girlhood and abandonment. This is why she has such a diverse audience – because she can divulge into many topics while still keeping them open for interpretation. 

This album gets 5/5 stars, with the best songs on the album being “Special,” “Ghost in the Machine (featuring Phoebe Bridgers)” and “Notice Me,” and the worst song being “Gone Girl.”