"30 for 30" is a song by singer-songwriter SZA and rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released as a single from SZA's first reissue album,Lana (2024),on January 7,2025.
Singer-songwriter SZA and rapper Kendrick Lamar are known for their longstanding work relationship.[2][3][4] Having worked together for over a decade,the two released their first song in 2014,a track from SZA's EP Z. By November 2024,the duo had collaborated on six more.[a] Their two latest songs were part of Lamar's sixth studio album GNX,released that month.[6]
Following the release of GNX,media outlets started to speculate about a new project from SZA by the end of the year.[7][8] Since 2023,she had been teasing a reissue of her second studio album,SOS (2022),which she called Lana.[9] It was initially planned as the deluxe edition of SOS,but its tracklist expanded to essentially become its own album.[10] SZA shared the full tracklist upon Lana's release,revealing a new collaboration with Lamar titled "30 for 30".[11]
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".[12] 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.[13]
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 title itself might be a reference to the former's 2015 song "30 for 30 Freestyle".[14]
Release and reception
The song was sent to radio stations alongside "BMF" as Lana's second and third singles on January 7,2025.[15][16] "30 for 30" debuted atop the US Hot R&B Songs chart,SZA's seventh and Lamar's second to do so. It entered the chart with 17.5million streams,2,000 downloads,and 385,000 people reached by airplay. With the debut,SZA broke the record for the most number-ones by a woman on the chart.[17] On the all-genre Billboard Hot 100,"30 for 30" reached a new peak of number 10 following a joint performance by SZA and Lamar at the 2025 Super Bowl LIX halftime show,despite not being part of the set list.[18]
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".[12] Mya Abraham of Vibe called the song an immediate standout and obsession.[19] To the writers of The Express Tribune,"30 for 30" is another installment of "their successful partnership" following the previous collaborations on GNX.[20]
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