30 for 30 (song)

Last updated

"30 for 30"
Song by SZA and Kendrick Lamar
from the album Lana
ReleasedDecember 20, 2024 (2024-12-20)
Length4:38
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) J. White Did It
Audio video
"30 for 30" on YouTube

"30 for 30" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA and American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released as the third track from Lana (2024), the reissue of SZA's second studio album SOS (2022) on December 20, 2024.

Contents

The song was written by both SZA and Lamar, along with Bobby DeBarge, Greg Williams and Anthony Jermaine White, while production was handled by the latter. It arrived a month after their previous two collaborations for Lamar's GNX , "Luther" and "Gloria". [1]

Composition and lyrics

A more braggadocious piece within her discography, "30 for 30" allows SZA to "bask in her accomplishments" accentuated with "soaring strings and booming 808's". [2] The song starts off with a spoken-word sample, taken from the R&B/funk band Switch song "I Call Your Name", with lead singer Bobby DeBarge admitting to indulging in "immature things" as well as "painful doubts and insecurities"; all of which SZA tries to leave behind as old patterns all the while being "candid" and "direct" about it. [3]

Meanwhile, Lamar pokes fun at a former friend of SZA for asserting more femininity than she does. Listeners and critics alleged that lyrics on the song could be aimed at Canadian rapper Drake, who had been in a feud with Lamar for the majority of 2024, while the song itself title might be a reference to the former's 2015 song "30 for 30 Freestyle". [4]

Critical reception

In a ranking of all tracks from Lana, Billboard writer Mackenzie Cummings-Grady placed "30 for 30" fourth, citing the song as another example of how both artists "bring out the best in each other". Cummings-Grady thought Lamar's "cocky" style effectively rubbed off on SZA and encouraged her to achieve her own "victory lap". [2] Mya Abraham of Vibe called the song an immediate standout and obsession. [5] To the writers of The Express Tribune , "30 for 30" is another installment of "their successful partnership" following the previous collaborations on GNX. [6]

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References

  1. ↑ Curto, Justin (December 20, 2024). "SZA's Lana Is Finally Here". Vulture . Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Cummings-Grady, Mackenzie (December 20, 2024). "SZA's SOS Deluxe Lana: All 15 Tracks Ranked". Billboard . Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  3. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (December 21, 2024). "SZA is at her most streamlined and direct on Lana". Rolling Stone . Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  4. ↑ Andrews, Elias (December 21, 2024). "Kendrick Lamar Appears To Diss Drake On New SZA Song "30 for 30"". HotNewHipHop . Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  5. ↑ Abraham, Mya (December 21, 2024). "SZA, Tiffany Evans, NAO, And More New R&B For The Weekend". Vibe . Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  6. ↑ "SZA releases SOS Deluxe: Lana with 14 new tracks and a star-studded collaboration roster". The Express Tribune . December 21, 2024. Retrieved December 22, 2024.
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