SZA is an American R&B singer and songwriter born in Louis, Missouri, on November 8, 1989. Her real name is Solána Imani Rowe, but she goes by the stage name SZA.
Born November 8, 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri, Solána Imani Rowe spent her childhood in Maplewood, New Jersey. Her parents were executives: her father was a CNN executive producer, while her mother was an AT&T executive. Despite having a Christian mother and a Muslim father, Rowe’s elder half-sister, Panya Jamila, was brought up in a Muslim household and maintains her faith to this day.
Her father insisted that she wear a headscarf at a Muslim preparatory school, which she attended daily after her standard education. Rowe went on to Columbia High School, where she participated in athletics such as cheerleading and gymnastics. After graduating in 2008, Rowe attended three different colleges before deciding to study marine biology at Delaware State University. However, she dropped out in her final semester and worked odd jobs to supplement her income.
She became the first female artist to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment after her self-released extended plays (EPs) See.SZA.Run (2012) and S (2013) brought her attention. Her first EP to be sold to digital retailers, Z (2014), peaked at number 10 on the US Independent Albums list, marking her third EP overall.
Released in 2017, SZA’s first studio album, Ctrl, resulted from a cooperative recording deal with RCA Records. It was well-received by critics and consumers alike, becoming the second R&B album by a female artist to top the Billboard 200 chart for an extended period.
The following year, SZA was nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Globe and Academy Awards for her work with Kendrick Lamar on the top-ten singles “All the Stars” (in the US and UK). She won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her featured appearance on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More,” which had the longest-running all-female collaboration within the US top ten.
SOS (2022), SZA’s sophomore album, set the record for the biggest streaming week for an R&B album in the US and lasted ten non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200. After six singles, including top ten hits “Good Days,” “I Hate U,” “Nobody Gets Me,” and “Snooze,” SZA finally broke through in 2023 with “Kill Bill” as her first Billboard Hot 100 number one. Rapper Drake’s “Slime You Out” included her later on, and she scored her second top-charting hit of the year.
Born November 8, 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri, Solána Imani Rowe spent her childhood in Maplewood, New Jersey. Her parents were executives: her father was a CNN executive producer, while her mother was an AT&T executive. Despite having a Christian mother and a Muslim father, Rowe’s elder half-sister, Panya Jamila, was brought up in a Muslim household and maintains her faith to this day.
Her father insisted that she wear a headscarf at a Muslim preparatory school, which she attended daily after her standard education. Rowe went on to Columbia High School, where she participated in athletics such as cheerleading and gymnastics. After graduating in 2008, Rowe attended three different colleges before deciding to study marine biology at Delaware State University. However, she dropped out in her final semester and worked odd jobs to supplement her income.
She became the first female artist to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment after her self-released extended plays (EPs) See.SZA.Run (2012) and S (2013) brought her attention. Her first EP to be sold to digital retailers, Z (2014), peaked at number 10 on the US Independent Albums list, marking her third EP overall.
Released in 2017, SZA’s first studio album, Ctrl, resulted from a cooperative recording deal with RCA Records. It was well-received by critics and consumers alike, becoming the second R&B album by a female artist to top the Billboard 200 chart for an extended period.
The following year, SZA was nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Globe and Academy Awards for her work with Kendrick Lamar on the top-ten singles “All the Stars” (in the US and UK). She won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her featured appearance on Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More,” which had the longest-running all-female collaboration within the US top ten.
SOS (2022), SZA’s sophomore album, set the record for the biggest streaming week for an R&B album in the US and lasted ten non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200. After six singles, including top ten hits “Good Days,” “I Hate U,” “Nobody Gets Me,” and “Snooze,” SZA finally broke through in 2023 with “Kill Bill” as her first Billboard Hot 100 number one. Rapper Drake’s “Slime You Out” included her later on, and she scored her second top-charting hit of the year.
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