CTRL is nothing like what I thought SZA’s first album would be. For many of us SZA fans we worried for a long time that there would be no first album at all after the back and forth from SZA trying to find her rhythm to TDE pushing the release date time and time again. SZA would later state, “When I was ready they weren’t, when they weren’t ready I was. It was just us chasing each other”. Fortunately for us, CTRL came into the world right when it needed to, a collection of eclectic sounds pulling from R&B, soul with undertones of psychedelic beats just in time for summer. A story about a young woman reflecting on love, personal growth, self-worth looped with interludes of SZA and Momma SZA.
Last year, when a fan tweeted SZA about the album that would become CTRL, she says it plain, “I quit” in response to a fan’s inquiry on her debut. “@Iampunch can release my album if he ever feels like it”.
Before CTRL’s release, SZA did an interview with Glamour in which her feelings about leaving music seem to be about the same temperature. Since the now-deleted tweets, she had this to say, “Sometimes. Every other day. I don’t know. I have a short attention span, and I don’t like to do things when they aren’t fun or I can’t grow anymore”. She does later go onto say she, at least for now, she is being challenged and loves where she is right now: “This is a space where I feel like I’m growing and having a good time”.
Now with the CTRL Tour dates released, fans will be granted the privilege to see SZA grow in real time. The tour, which will stretch from August to December, not only has stops in the U.S. and Canada, but will have other emerging talent such as the incredible Ravyn Lenae and Smino of the Zero Fatigue collective. The tour begins August 16, 2017.
For more information, see the poster and enjoy CTRL below:
***
I.S. Jones is a writer, natural hair & pizza enthusiast living in New York City. She’ll whoop that ass in air hockey. You can tweet her your mixtape @isjonespoetry. She also has a website apparently (which is still under construction).