Ctrl (SZA album)

Last updated

SZA performing in Toronto, Canada on the Ctrl the Tour in August 2017. SZA CTRL Tour Toronto 2017 8 (cropped).jpg
SZA performing in Toronto, Canada on the Ctrl the Tour in August 2017.

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. [32] On April 28, 2017, SZA announced she had signed her first major-label recording contract with RCA Records. [33] [34] 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." [35] 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. [36] [37] On June 8, 2017, "Doves in the Wind" was released as a promotional single. [38] [39]

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. [40] 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. [41] 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. [42] [43] On July 31, 2017, SZA released a music video for "Supermodel", exclusively on Apple Music. [44]

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. [45]

To celebrate the five-year anniversary of Ctrl, SZA released a deluxe edition of the album on June 9, 2022, containing seven bonus tracks. [46] These include "2AM", previously uploaded on SoundCloud in 2016 as a standalone single; [47] a version of "Love Galore" without Scott's verse; [48] and a leaked Tyler, the Creator–produced demo from 2016 titled "Jodie". [49] [50] All seven songs came from SZA's Ctrl sessions between 2014 and 2017. [51]

Singles

On January 13, 2017, SZA released the album's lead single "Drew Barrymore". [52] 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. [53] 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. [54] It was produced by ThankGod4Cody, Carter Lang, Scum and Punch. The music video for the song, directed by Nabil, premiered on April 27, 2017. [55] It was uploaded to SZA's Vevo channel on April 28, 2017. [55] Commercially, the song fared well in North America, charting on Canadian charts and entering the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number thirty, later becoming certified 6× platinum by the RIAA.

On September 26, 2017, "The Weekend" was sent to urban contemporary radio as the album's third single. [56] As of the chart dated January 3, 2018, it has peaked at number twenty-nine 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. [37] 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. [57]

Critical reception

Ctrl
SZA - Ctrl cover.png
Studio album by
SZA
ReleasedJune 9, 2017
Recorded2014–2017
Studio
  • No Excuses
  • The Lake House in Michigan
  • EngineEars
  • Platinum Sounds
  • Top Dawg House of Pain
  • Josef Leimberg's studios
  • Windmark
  • 1500 or Nothin' Studios
Genre
Length49:01
Label
Producer
SZA chronology
Z
(2014)		Ctrl
(2017)		 SOS
(2022)
Deluxe cover
SZA - Ctrl Deluxe.png
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.1/10 [58]
Metacritic 87/100 [59]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [60]
The A.V. Club A− [61]
Consequence of Sound B+ [62]
Exclaim! 9/10 [28]
Financial Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [63]
The Irish Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [64]
The New Zealand Herald Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [65]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [26]
The Observer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [66]
Pitchfork 8.4/10 [22]

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". [59] The Observer 's Tara Joshi said the songs are "delicious slow jams with delicate yet powerful vocals and intimate insights into femininity, self-esteem and youth". [66] Pitchfork 's Claire Lobenfeld called the album "an opulent, raw R&B album that constantly tests the borders of the genre", and named "Prom" as one of the standout tracks. [22] Siena Yates of The New Zealand Herald described it as "a brutally honest, sonically rich leap down the rabbit hole." [65]

In his review of the album, The New York Times 's Jon Pareles said of SZA: "But now, she fully commands the foreground of her songs. Her voice is upfront, recorded to sound natural and unaffected, with all its grain and conversational quirks." [67] Vibe 's 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". [68] 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." [69]

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." [28] Paste 's Nastia Voynovskaya called the album "strikingly relatable" and likened her vocals to that of Amy Winehouse and Billie Holiday. [70] 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. [26]

In July 2022, Rolling Stone ranked Ctrl at number 28 on its list of "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time", claiming that "she came out looking like a hero." [71]

Accolades

Year-end lists
PublicationListRankRef.
Exclaim! Top 10 Soul & R&B Albums of 2017
1
New York Daily News The 25 Best Albums of 2017
1
Noisey The 100 Best Albums of 2017
1
Time The Top 10 Best Albums of 2017
1
Vice The 100 Best Albums of 2017
1
Billboard Billboard 50 Best Albums of 2017: Critics' Picks
2
Dazed The 20 Best Albums of 2017
2
The New York Times (by Jon Caramanica)The Best Albums of 2017
2
NPR The 50 Best Albums of 2017
2
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2017
2
The Skinny The Skinny's Top 50 Albums of 2017
2
Uproxx 50 Best Albums of 2017
2
Complex The Best Albums of 2017
3
Entertainment Weekly Best Albums of 2017: EW Picks 25 Greatest
3
The Irish Times Ticket Awards 2017; The best music of the year
3
Mashable 10 Favorite Albums of 2017
3
NOW The Top 10 Best Albums of 2017
3
Rap-Up Rap-Up's 20 Best Albums of 2017
3
Crack Magazine The Top Albums of 2017
4
FUSE The 20 Best Albums of 2017
4
The A.V. Club The A.V. Club's 20 Best Albums of 2017
5
The Independent The 30 Best Albums of 2017
5
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2017
5
USA Today USA Today's 10 Favourite albums of 2017
5
The New Zealand Herald The Best Albums of 2017
6
The Sunday Times The 100 Best Albums of the Year
6
Atlantic Monthly The 10 Best Albums of 2017
7
Consequence of Sound The Top 50 Albums of 2017
7
NME NME's Albums of the Year 2017
7
Time Out 29 Albums of 2017 You Need to Know
7
The New York Times (by Jon Pareles)The Best Albums of 2017
8
Loud and Quiet The Loud and Quiet Top 40 Albums of 2017
9
People 10 Best Albums of 2017
10
The Stranger The Top 10 Albums of 2017
12
Slant The 25 Best Albums of 2017
15
Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2017
20
Paste The 50 Best Albums of 2017
25
Q 50 Best Albums of 2017
27
Gorilla vs. Bear Gorilla vs Bear Albums of 2017
28
Drowned in Sound Favourite Albums in 2017
42
Uncut 75 Best Albums of 2017
53
Resident The Resident Annual 2017
65
The Quietus Albums of the Year 2017
68

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 three on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 60,000 album-equivalent units (including 20,000 copies as pure album sales) in its first week. [115] This became SZA's first US top-ten debut. [115] The album also accumulated 49.52 million streams for its songs that week. [115] In its second week, the album dropped to #11 on the charts. In August 2022, the album was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over three million units in the United States. [116] As of June 2023, the album has spent 311 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 . [117]

Track listing

Ctrl track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Supermodel"
 Scum 3:01
2."Love Galore" (featuring Travis Scott)
4:35
3."Doves in the Wind" (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
 Cam O'bi 4:26
4."Drew Barrymore"
  • Lang
  • Scum
3:51
5."Prom"
  • Rowe
  • Donaldson
  • Lang
3:16
6."The Weekend"
ThankGod4Cody4:32
7."Go Gina"
2:41
8."Garden (Say It like Dat)"
3:28
9."Broken Clocks"
  • ThankGod4Cody
  • Frank Dukes
3:51
10."Anything"
2:29
11."Wavy (Interlude)" (featuring James Fauntleroy)
  • ThankGod4Cody
  • Prophit
1:15
12."Normal Girl"
  • Rowe
  • Lang
  • Donaldson
  • Henderson
  • Lang
  • Scum
4:13
13."Pretty Little Birds" (featuring Isaiah Rashad)
  • Scum
  • Lang
  • Leimberg
4:05
14."20 Something"
  • Rowe
  • Lang
  • Donaldson
  • Lang
  • Scum
3:18
Total length:49:01
Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15."Love Galore" (alt version)
  • Rowe
  • Fayne
  • Lang
  • Donaldson
  • Henderson
  • ThankGod4Cody
  • Lang
  • Scum
4:33
16."2AM"
ThankGod4Cody4:02
17."Miles"
  • Rowe
  • Donaldson
Scum1:09
18."Percolator"
  • ThankGod4Cody
  • Scum
1:24
19."Tread Carefully"
  • Rowe
  • Fayne
ThankGod4Cody3:02
20."Awkward"
Uzowuru2:58
21."Jodie"
 Tyler, the Creator 2:45

Notes

Sample credits

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Ctrl
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [156] Platinum70,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [157] Gold20,000‡
Canada (Music Canada) [158] 2× Platinum160,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [159] Platinum20,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) [160]
Deluxe edition 		4× Platinum60,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [161] Platinum300,000‡
United States (RIAA) [162] 3× Platinum3,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Galore</span> 2017 single by SZA featuring Travis Scott

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Weekend (SZA song)</span> 2017 single by SZA

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Good Days</span> 2020 single by SZA

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirt (song)</span> 2022 single by SZA

"Shirt" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA and the third single from her second studio album, SOS (2022). Produced by Darkchild and Freaky Rob, it is an R&B song, with elements of trap music, backed by synthesizers and 808 beats. The lyrics are about a toxic relationship that consumes SZA and entices her to return, despite leaving her directionless and mentally exhausted. They include themes present throughout SOS: deep introspection, the pursuit of perfection, and the conflict between love and hatred. A snippet of "Shirt", prior to its official release, spawned a viral dance challenge on TikTok, where over a million videos used the sound. After being first previewed online two years beforehand, the song was released on October 28, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Hate U (SZA song)</span> 2021 single by SZA

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">TwoAM</span> 2016 single by SZA

"TwoAM" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA. It is a remix of PartyNextDoor's 2016 single "Come and See Me" featuring Drake, whom SZA briefly dated in 2009. A downtempo song with an R&B instrumental, "TwoAM" is about a dysfunctional couple portrayed in "Come and See Me" and is written from the perspective of the woman in the relationship. She sings about her conflicted feelings for a neglectful boyfriend who values her only for sex; on one hand, she recognizes she must leave him, but on the other, she cannot bring herself to stop being attracted to him.

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<i>SOS</i> (SZA album) 2022 studio album by SZA

SOS is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter SZA. It was released on December 9, 2022, by Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA Records. The album features guest appearances from Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. SZA worked with a variety of record producers and songwriters such as Babyface, Jeff Bhasker, Rob Bisel, Benny Blanco, Darkchild, DJ Dahi, Ant Clemons, and Lizzo. It serves as the follow-up to SZA's debut album Ctrl (2017).

Cody Jordan "ThankGod4Cody" Fayne is an American producer, songwriter, and musician, most known for his production work on SZA's acclaimed albums Ctrl and SOS, as well as his 2019 debut album Cody of Nazareth.

Carter Lang is an American record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his production work on SZA's albums Ctrl (2017) and SOS (2022), as well as his contributions to Chicago's burgeoning R&B/Hip-Hop scene. Lang was nominated for several Grammy Awards for his work on releases by Post Malone, Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, and Omar Apollo.

"Nobody Gets Me" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA and the fourth single from her second studio album, SOS (2022). It was sent to Italian radio on January 6, 2023, and US contemporary hit radio four days later. The song peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the Canadian Hot 100, and the Official New Zealand Music Chart.

"Low" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA from her second album, SOS (2022). It was written alongside Jozzy and producers Rob Bisel, Aire Atlantica, & Alessandro Buccellati, and features adlibs from fellow American singer and rapper Travis Scott. It charted in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, with a number 24 peak on the Billboard Global 200. The song received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 66th ceremony.

"Smoking on My Ex Pack" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA from her second studio album, SOS (2022). The second of the album's three rap tracks, it is a boom bap song with a chipmunk soul production style, fusing hard-hitting drum beats with a sped-up sample of Webster Lewis's "Open Up Your Eyes" (1981). Before SOS, SZA had been known as an R&B artist who made "sad girl" music, a narrative she wanted to dispel because she viewed it as reductive. Particularly, she believed her being categorized strictly as R&B was racially insensitive. As such, she wanted to experiment with "aggressive" hip hop music for SOS, leading to the conception of "Smoking on My Ex Pack". Its producer was Jay Versace, to whom SZA credited her first attempts at rap music.

"Open Arms" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA from her second studio album, SOS (2022), featuring American rapper Travis Scott. It is a ballad backed by an acoustic guitar, conceived as part of an effort to explore soundscapes outside of SZA's usual R&B-leaning music. The lyrics are addressed to a former lover, whom the narrator leaves for the sake of her self-esteem despite her persistent feelings of attachment to him. A tribute to SZA's deceased grandmother, Norma Rowe, begins the song, done in the form of a skit; Rowe's vocals featured prominently on SZA's debut album, Ctrl (2017)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ctrl the Tour</span> 2017–2018 concert tour by SZA

Ctrl the Tour was the debut concert tour by the American singer-songwriter SZA. in support of her debut album, Ctrl. The tour consisted of 55 live performances across United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

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