Getting to know R&B sensation Sza
The R&B star on her journey from insecure songbird to Grammy nominee
UP FOR AWARDS Thanks to one of the hottest debut albums of 2017, Ctrl, the 27-year-old was big news at this year’s Grammys, earning the title of most nominated woman with five nods.
Up for best new artist, best R&B performance ( for The Weekend), best R&B song (Supermodel), best rap song (Love Galore featuring Travis Scott) and best urban contemporary album (Ctrl), she unfortunately walked away emptyhanded, leaving her fans livid, many of whom vented their feelings on social media, saying their idol was “robbed”.
Ctrl has been praised for its honest, emotive look at sexuality, feminism and empowerment. FINDING HER IDENTITY Solána Imani Rowe (her real name) grew up in a wellto-do New Jersey suburb with her Muslim father, an executive producer at CNN, and her Christian mom, an executive at a telecoms company.
One of only a few black kids in her neighbourhood, she was raised Muslim and wore a hijab – which saw her being bullied at her predominantly white school. Her parents were strict and she wasn’t allowed to watch TV or listen to the radio but she was allowed to do gymnastics, which she loved and even considered as a career.
After school she studied marine biology but acknowledges that smoking too much weed resulted in her dropping out. She ended up sleeping on friends’ couches and bartending at strip joints before deciding to pursue music, which she says happened thanks to hanging out with her older brother, Daniel, a rapper. “It was one thing I didn’t suck at.” BIG BREAK Her first two mix tapes got noticed by the right people and in 2013 she became the first female artist to be signed to Top Dawg Entertainment, Kendrick Lamar’s label. “Even the day I got signed, I was broke as f**k,” she told Rolling Stone. “I didn’t have [money] to get to the bank and cash my cheque.” She spent the next three years making her debut album.
It was a time fraught with personal sadness – “I buried like, three ex-boyfriends, and my granny died” – as well as self-doubt. “Some days I felt militant and vengeful, other days defeated.”
Even on the eve of the album’s release, she begged her label to hire writers as she felt her songs weren’t good enough. The album was released anyway and raced to No 3 on the Billboard 200. IT’S COMPLICATED Sza is private about her love-life but has hinted her intimate relationships have been complicated.
Speaking to Complex magazine last year, she said all the relationships she sings about on her new album are over. “I feel like right now, I’m in a space where I’m learning about myself, and honestly I think I was in a lot of unhealthy relationships because I didn’t have enough self-love built up. You can’t be scared to be lonely.” HER INSPIRATION “I listen to a lot of Solange and Beyoncé,” Sza says.
Frank Ocean is another inspiration and she recalls the time she worked with the acclaimed R&B singer in 2016. “Just watching his process, being in that musical place with him and understanding and learning from him, it was crazy.”
But it’s clear she also inspires others. When Barack Obama shared his year-end playlist in 2017 she was on it with her song Broken Clocks.