Low (SZA song)

Last updated

"Low"
Song by SZA
from the album SOS
WrittenNovember 2022
ReleasedDecember 9, 2022
RecordedNovember 2022
Genre Trap
Length3:01
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Lyric video
"Low" on YouTube

"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 (Joseph Pincus), & 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.

Contents

Background

SZA released her debut studio album, Ctrl , in 2017. Primarily an R&B album that deals with themes like heartbreak, it received widespread acclaim for SZA's vocal performance, the musical style, and the songwriting. The album brought SZA to mainstream fame, and critics credit it with establishing her as a major figure in contemporary pop and R&B music and pushing the boundaries of R&B. [note 1] Her next studio album was highly anticipated, [8] [9] and she alluded to its completion as early as August 2019, [10] [11] during an interview with DJ Kerwin Frost. [12]

Commenting on the creative process behind the album, SZA stated it would be just as candid and personal as Ctrl: "This next album is even more of me being less afraid of who am I when I have no choice? When I'm not out trying to curate myself and contain." [13] When SZA collaborated with Cosmopolitan for their February 2021 issue, she spoke about her creative process for the album: "this album is going to be the shit that made me feel something in my...here and in here", pointing to her heart and gut. [14]

From April to May 2022, SZA told media outlets that she had recently finished the album in Hawaii and said it was her most relatable or "unisex" body of work as of then. [15] During an interview with Complex , she described the album's composition: "I have no idea what it sounds like to anybody else. I really don't know. It's so bizarre. It's weird that I can't put my finger on it. It's a little bit of everything", and she added that certain tracks on the album had a soft or balladic sound. [16]

During a Billboard cover story published in November, SZA revealed that the title of her second album was SOS , and it was scheduled for release sometime the following month. [17] On December 3, 2022, she announced it would be released on December 9, and two days later, she posted the track list on Twitter. Out of 23 songs, "Low" appears as the album's fourth track. [18] [19]

Music and production

SZA performing at Ctrl the Tour SZA CTRL Tour Toronto 2017 10 (cropped).jpg
SZA performing at Ctrl the Tour

"Low" was written and recorded around Thanksgiving 2022. [20] The song was produced by Alessandro Buccellati, Rob Bisel and Aire Atlantica, who used AutoTune on SZA's vocals. [4] [21]

Release and reception

The song reached the top 40 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, with chart peaks of number 34, [22] number 21, [23] number 36, [24] and number 17, [25] respectively. It peaked at number 6 on Billboard 's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart; [26] out of 20 songs from SOS that debuted in the United States, "Low" was the fourth highest, behind "Kill Bill", "Nobody Gets Me", and "Blind". [27] On February 7, 2023, it, along with three other songs from SOS, were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for surpassing 500,000 units sold. [28] On April 7, 2023, it was certified platinum by them for 1,000,000 units sold. [29]

Time called "Low" a "strip club anthem". [30]

Accolades

Table of awards and nominations received by "Low"
YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2024 Grammy Awards Best Melodic Rap Performance Nominated [31]

Credits

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of SOS. [32]

Recording and management

Personnel

Note

  1. ↑ Appears courtesy of Epic Records

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Low"
Chart (2022–2023)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [22] 24
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [23] 21
Global 200 ( Billboard ) [33] 24
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [24] 36
UK Singles (OCC) [34] 78
UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC) [35] 36
US Billboard Hot 100 [25] 17
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [26] 6

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Low"
Chart (2023)Position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100) [36] 93
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) [37] 28
US Streaming Songs (Billboard) [38] 66

Certifications

Certifications for "Low"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [39] Gold35,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [40] Platinum40,000‡
Canada (Music Canada) [41] 2× Platinum160,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [42] Silver200,000‡
United States (RIAA) [29] Platinum1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. ↑ Cited to multiple sources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

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"F2F" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA from her second studio album, SOS (2022). "F2F" is a rock song that draws influence from genres such as country, pop rock, and grunge. SZA wrote the song with Lizzo, who provides background vocals, and producers Rob Bisel and Carter Lang. The song was one of around five rock-inspired songs SZA created for SOS, out of a desire to experiment with various genres outside of her usual R&B music. The song begins with acoustic guitar strums before transitioning into a chorus backed by drums and power chords from electric guitars. The lyrics talk about having sex with someone to cope with breaking up with a former partner.

"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">Rob Bisel</span> American producer, engineer, songwriter and musician

Rob Bisel is an American music producer, engineer, mixer and songwriter. A Grammy award winner and 13-time nominee, he has worked with artists including SZA, Doja Cat, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Harry Styles and Don Toliver.

References

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  2. ↑ Mitchell, Ashlee (December 13, 2022). "5 Takeaways from SZA's New Album SOS". The Recording Academy . Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  3. ↑ Taylor, Ims (December 9, 2022). "SZA Hits the Heights on the Dense but Masterful SOS". The Line of Best Fit . Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
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