Solána Imani Rowe, singer and songwriter with the stage name “SZA” has just released her second studio album ever! The album has held number one on the Billboard charts for its first four weeks since release – the first time this has happened for a female artist since Adele’s album release in 2021. The album features 23 songs and three singles. 

Right off the bat, the album cover already has an interesting backstory to it. The artwork includes Sza sitting on the edge of a diving board in the ocean. Fans noticed a similarity with a famous picture of the late Princess Diana sitting on the edge of a diving board, surrounded by the water on one of her yachts during a trip in Portofino, Italy. “Originally I was supposed to be on top of a shipping barge, but in the references that I pulled for that, I pulled the Diana reference,” Sza said in an interview with Hot 97, “I just loved how isolated she felt, and that was what I wanted to convey the most.”

Sza has been a pillar of the music industry, especially in the past couple of years. She first came out with an album in 2014 named “Z.” She then went on to release one of her most popular albums, “Ctrl,” which was released in 2017. After this, she collaborated with a number of artists including Kendrick Lamar for the end credit song, “All The Stars” in the hit Marvel movie “Black Panther.” After this, she continued to collaborate and release a couple of singles, but her newest album might just be her most successful work due to the long wait from fans. 

Sza worked on this album with plenty of other artists, including Don Toliver on the 7th track “Used,” Phoebe Bridgers on the 12th track “Ghost in the Machine,” Travis Scott on the 20th track “Open Arms” and finally, the late rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard in the 23rd track, “Forgiveless.”

Overall, I would give this album a 7/10. This is worth a listen and is portrayed as emotional, intimate, and extremely successful.