Ctrl (SZA album)

After meeting members of Top Dawg Entertainment during the CMJ 2011, a friend attending the show with her foisted early SZA songs onto TDE president Terrence "Punch" Henderson, who liked the material and stayed in touch. Two years later, in June 2013, Top Dawg Entertainment announced they were planning to sign two more artists. On July 14, it was revealed Top Dawg had signed an upcoming female singer named SZA to the label; through this deal, SZA released Z (2014). Following the release of Z, SZA began working on her debut album and writing for other artists including Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj, and Antis opening track "Consideration" for Rihanna, which she featured on. The debut album faced various setbacks, initially promised at the end of 2015, then at the start of 2016. In October 2016, she criticized her label for the delays and stated she would be quitting. SZA revealed that her debut would be similar to S (2013) and would include trap influences with more aggressive lyrics, she also announced that she began working with James Fauntleroy, Hit-Boy, and long time collaborator Felix Snow. Speaking on the conception of the album, SZA stated that she had spent four years just doing music: "I've been burying friends, burying family members, burying weight, the way I feel about myself, the way I feel about God, the way I process information." The album was also inspired by SZA's view of control in her life. Speaking on this she stated "Ctrl is a concept. I've lacked control my whole life and I think I've craved it my whole life." The album was originally titled A. ==Writing and recording==

The album's sessions began in 2014 and took place at the TDE Red Room in Carson, California. The album's recording process was described as being analog and featured the unplugging and re-plugging of wires in order to create the desired sound. During the album's studio sessions, SZA and the album's producers would go into the studio, and filter through the recorded songs and beats to decide if the songs were good or worth experimenting with in order to make better. SZA would search songs that were in the top 40 charts during various years including the 1940s and 1980s, she would then listen to their style, beats and synths to gain some inspiration. Throughout the album's recording process, record producer Rick Rubin helped SZA's creative process. "I had this mentality that 'more is more' -- more reverb, more background [vocals]," stating "I played him a bunch of songs, and he would tell me, 'The more you take away from any piece, the more room you create for everything else to be beautiful and grow.' I never felt that before, the editing urge. Once you strip everything down, you're forced to say something." In 2015, SZA was introduced to Carter Lang by Peter Cottontale in Chicago. After performing together at Lollapalooza that same year, SZA and Lang along with producer Tyron "Scum" Donaldson began to develop a rapport on the road to creating her debut album. The three held studio sessions across the country from Los Angeles to Chicago and even setting up shop in Carter's Michigan home in 2016, where they constructed the Travis Scott-assisted "Love Galore" in Lang's mom's office using studio equipment he brought there. Lang, Tyran Donaldson, ThankGod4Cody and other producers would challenge each other and send each other different music to work on. SZA would then listen the music and want to create from that. During the producers' competition of who could create the better song, they collectively created "Broken Clocks". "Drew Barrymore" was conceived at Lang's studio in Chicago in 2016. Lang ended up notching production credits on eight tracks from the album. . SZA contributed heavily to the album's lyrics, co-writing all fourteen tracks. SZA would freestyle the songs in a hope to "let the moments happen in the studio." She also detailed how her anxiety issues affected her songwriting process: "I freestyle everything, all the way down. And I listen back and think, what’s shitty? And if something’s too shitty and I can’t put my finger on it, and I think, wow this sucks to me, then I get way frustrated, and usually scrap the song." ==Composition==

Ctrl is primarily an alternative R&B and neo soul album, with elements of hip hop, pop, soul, electronic, and indie. Originally scheduled for release in late 2015, it was delayed by SZA's experience of "a kind of blinding paralysis brought on by anxiety." She reworked the album until her record company took away her hard drive in the spring of 2017. The album tests the borders of traditional R&B, drawing influences from trap and indie rock. The album contains a precise sonic methodology, with a fluent production, containing influences from pop, hip-hop and electronic genres. These influences were compared to a mixture of different artists' work, including Sade, Lauryn Hill, Purity Ring, Yuki, Björk, Arca and Billie Holiday. "Doves in the Wind" features rapper Kendrick Lamar and is built over a "woozy" production. The song's themes revolves around sexual freedom, yet still having a hunger for intimacy. "Doves in the Wind" makes a reference to Forrest Gump, describing the character as the kind of man who sees women as more than sexual objects. and neo soul "Broken Clocks" enfolds SZA amid blurry keyboard tones and a watery sample of men's voices as she ponders memories of an old romance that still haunts her." Joshua Espinoza of Complex regarded the song as "a mid-tempo cut about optimism and perseverance". ==Release and promotion==

SZA premiered "Drew Barrymore" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. She also announced the title of her debut studio album, initially titled A, but was later renamed to Ctrl. On April 28, 2017, SZA announced she had signed her first major-label recording contract with RCA Records. Following the announcement of Ctrl, SZA releases a promotional video narrated by rapper RZA. RZA opened with a dialogue stating "I’m zoning in with my homegirl, SZA—Self Savior, Zig-Zag-Zig Allah." Followed by a short verse "Yeah, I think you can take that far, Mama. Ya know what I mean? Cut loose the drama, no melodrama. Rise to the top, claim ya karma. And it’s my honor to drop this lesson, it’s my honor to give this blessing." On June 2, 2017, "Broken Clocks" was released as a promotional single, before being sent to urban contemporary radio in January 2018, serving as the album's fourth single. On July 5, 2017, SZA announced an official North American headlining concert tour titled Ctrl the Tour to further promote the album. The tour began on August 20, 2017, in Providence, Rhode Island, at Fête Music Hall, and concluded on December 22, 2017, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at The Fillmore Philadelphia. Despite there being no European leg of the tour, on July 10, 2017, American singer and rapper Bryson Tiller announced that SZA would be opening for the European portion of his Set It Off Tour in support of his studio album True to Self from October 17, 2017, to November 30, 2017, separate from Ctrl the Tour. Due to tickets for Ctrl the Tour quickly selling out, this prompted additional dates to be added. Due to health problems, the first three dates of the tour were rescheduled, causing the tour to begin on August 20 instead of August 16 as originally scheduled. On July 31, 2017, SZA released a music video for "Supermodel", exclusively on Apple Music. On December 9, 2017, SZA appeared on Saturday Night Live making her the third artist from her label to appear on the program following Lamar and Rock. The performance received critical acclaim for its power and a new verse she added to single "Love Galore" due to the absence of Travis Scott being there to perform his verse. To celebrate the five-year anniversary of Ctrl, SZA released a deluxe edition of the album on June 9, 2022, containing seven bonus tracks. These include "2AM", previously uploaded on SoundCloud in 2016 as a standalone single; a version of "Love Galore" without Scott's verse; and a leaked Tyler, the Creator–produced demo from 2016 titled "Jodie". All seven songs came from SZA's Ctrl sessions between 2014 and 2017. Singles On January 13, 2017, SZA released the album's lead single "Drew Barrymore". It was produced by The Antydote and Carter Lang. On June 20, 2017, SZA released the music video for "Drew Barrymore", which featured a cameo by Drew Barrymore herself. Commercially, the song did not fare well since it was not released to radio but later earned the certification of Platinum by the RIAA. On April 28, 2017, SZA released the album's second single "Love Galore", which features American rapper and singer Travis Scott. It was produced by ThankGod4Cody, Carter Lang, Scum and Punch. The music video for the song, directed by Nabil, premiered on April 27, 2017. It was uploaded to SZA's Vevo channel on April 28, 2017. As of the chart dated January 3, 2018, it has peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her highest charting solo single in that region. A music video for the song directed by Solange Knowles was officially released on December 22, 2017. It has been certified 5× platinum by the RIAA. "Broken Clocks" was sent to urban contemporary radio on January 9, 2018, as the album's fourth single after being previously released as a promotional single as a part of the album's pre-order. As of October 2020, it has been certified 3× platinum by the RIAA. "Garden (Say It like Dat)" was released as the album's fifth and final single on June 19, 2018, and has been 2× platinum by the RIAA. ==Critical reception==

Ctrl received widespread critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 87, based on 17 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Vibes Jessica McKinny said the album "has definitely kick-started her journey in the right direction. It's raw, soulful, rhythmic and uplifting in all the right places and will surely be a summer gift for old and new fans." She also referred to the album as "stripped down perfection". Gerrick D. Kennedy of Los Angeles Times called the album "equal parts aching, brazen and gorgeously honest" and said of the songs, "The records are tender, vulnerable and often defiant." Ryan B. Patrick of Exclaim! referred to SZA as "the full package in terms of artistry: killer singing and songwriting abilities with a distinct perspective on life, love and destiny". He went on to say that Ctrl "is craft in action, a uniquely excellent album from a uniquely excellent artist." Jamie Milton of NME said it "effortlessly winds between narratives and genres like it's child's play" and went on to say that the artist "isn't a star in the making, it's a fully-fledged talent who's practically showing off." They also named "Prom" as the standout song of the album. Accolades SZA received five nominations at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards (2018) including Best New Artist, Best Urban Contemporary Album for Ctrl, Best R&B Performance for "The Weekend", Best R&B Song "Supermodel" and Best Rap/Sung Performance for "Love Galore" featuring Travis Scott. ==Commercial performance==

Ctrl debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 60,000 album-equivalent units (including 20,000 copies as pure album sales) in its first week. This became SZA's first US top 10 debut. As of February 2025, the album has spent 400 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the second longest-charting R&B album by a woman, behind Anti by Rihanna, according to The New York Times. ==Track listing==

Notes • signifies an additional producer Sample credits • "Doves in the Wind" contains a sample of the recording "Let's Get Dirty (I Can't Get in da Club)", written by Reggie Noble, John Bowman and Dana Stinson and performed by Redman, and an interpolation from "Turn Me Up Some", written by Trevor Smith and James Yancey and performed by Busta Rhymes. • "The Weekend" contains elements of "Set the Mood (Prelude)", written by Justin Timberlake, Timothy Mosley and Floyd Hills and performed by Justin Timberlake. • "Broken Clocks" embodies portions of "West", written by Thomas Paxton-Beesley, Adam Feeney and Ashton Simmonds and performed by River Tiber featuring Daniel Caesar. • "Anything" contains a sample of the recording "Spring Affair", written by Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte and Donna Summer and performed by Donna Summer. • "Normal Girl" contains an interpolation of "Controlla" by Drake. • "2AM" interpolates "Come and See Me" by PartyNextDoor and Drake. ==Personnel==

Technical • Lukasz Plas – recording • James Hunt – recording • Juan Carlos – recording, engineering • Jared "JT" Gagarin – recording, engineering • Blake Harden – recording, engineering • Tyler Page – recording • Cyrus Taghipour – recording • Ivan Corpening – recording • Chris Classick – recording, engineering • Hector Castro – recording, engineering , mixing • Prophit – engineering • Ray Charles Brown – engineering • Matt Schaeffer – engineering • Bēkon – engineering • Scum – engineering • Josef Leimberg – engineering • Derek "MixedByAli" Ali – mixing • Mike Bozzi – mastering Performance • Stix – additional drums • Pharrell Williams – programmatic drums • Macie Stewart – strings • Peter Cottontale – bass • Mommy – skit • Granny – skit Design • SZA – creative direction, visual direction, styling, A&R • Terrence "Punch" Henderson – creative direction, A&R • Sage Adams – visual direction, photography • Vlad Sepetov – graphic design and packaging • Joshua Patrick – A&R coordinator • Roberto "Ret One" Reyes – graphic design and packaging • Christopher Parsons – photography • Jason Chandler – photography • Dianne Garcia – styling • Integral Studio – technical direction ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts ==Certifications==