SZA

Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA, is an American singer-songwriter.

Solána Imani Rowe, known professionally as SZA, was born on November 8, 1989, and was raised in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Her father was an executive producer at CNN, while her mother was an executive at AT&T.

Rowe has an older half-sister, Panya Jamila.

Her mother is Christian and her father is Muslim.

She was raised as a Muslim and continues to follow Islam.

"It's like the belief in one God, all the pillars of Islam et cetera, and I think those are ideas that will never leave me, those make sense in my spirit. It's the way that I connect with God; it has always made sense to me. I think I would love to wear my hijab but I feel like I don't wanna wear my hijab and talk crazy on stage and be in videos with Travis Scott. Like I don't wanna be disrespectful because I have too much love and respect for the religion, for my father, and for myself."

She attended a Muslim prep school every day after her regular schooling, where she was forced by her father to wear a hijab.

After graduating from high school in 2008, Rowe later went to three separate colleges, finally settling at Delaware State University to study marine biology.

She eventually dropped out in her last semester, taking on a variety of jobs in order to make money.

Rowe formed her stage name from the Supreme Alphabet, taking influence from rapper RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan.

The last two letters in her name stand for Zig-Zag and Allah, while the first letter S can mean either savior or sovereign.

After the September 11 attacks, Rowe was subjected to bullying in 7th grade, leading her to stop wearing one.

Rowe attended Columbia High School, where she was active in sports, including gymnastics and cheerleading.

SZA first met members of Top Dawg Entertainment during the CMJ New Music Report in 2011, when her boyfriend's clothing company sponsored a show in which Kendrick Lamar was performing.

Her early music was given to TDE president Terrence "Punch" Henderson, who was surprised with the quality of the material.

She first gained recognition through her self-released extended plays (EPs), See.SZA.Run (2012) and S (2013), which helped her become the first female artist to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment.

On October 29, 2012, SZA self-released her debut EP See.SZA.Run.

The two stayed in touch, and after SZA began generating buzz with the release of her two EPs, TDE stepped in to sign her in 2013, making her the label's first female artist.

SZA's early music was recorded with her friends and neighbors in which they "stole a bunch of beats off the Internet".

On April 10, 2013, SZA released her second EP, S, which was met with positive reviews from music critics.

SZA promoted the extended play with the release of a music video for the song "Ice Moon", directed by Lemar & Dauley.

On July 14, 2013, Top Dawg signed SZA.

In October 2013, SZA went on a four show tour with Swedish band Little Dragon; starting on October 17 at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles and ending on October 24 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY.

In December 2013, SZA released the song "Teen Spirit" which was followed by the release of a remix featuring American rapper 50 Cent, along with a music video directed by APlusFilmz.

Her third EP, Z (2014), was her first project to be released to digital retailers and reached the top-ten on the US Independent Albums chart.

In 2014, SZA featured on a variety of songs from her label-mates albums including two songs for Isaiah Rashad's debut EP Cilvia Demo as well as featuring on Schoolboy Q's first album Oxymoron.

On March 26, 2014, she released the single "Child's Play" featuring Chance the Rapper and produced by Dae One & XXYYXX.

A studio EP, Z, was released on April 8, 2014; the lead single, "Babylon" was accompanied with a music video directed by APlusFilmz.

To promote Z, SZA performed at several performance showcases at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

SZA made her chart debut in the UK, where Z charted at number thirty-two on the R&B Charts, during the week ending April 19, 2014.

After signing a joint recording contract with RCA Records, SZA released her debut studio album, Ctrl (2017).

It was met with critical and commercial success, earning four Grammy Award nominations and becoming the second longest-charting R&B album by a female artist on the Billboard 200.

The following year, SZA was nominated for the Golden Globe and Academy Awards for Best Original Song via her collaboration with Kendrick Lamar on the US and UK top-ten single "All the Stars".

Her featured appearance on Doja Cat's "Kiss Me More" broke the record for the longest-running all-female collaboration within the US top ten, and won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

SZA's second album, SOS (2022), spent ten non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200 and broke the record for the largest streaming week for an R&B album in the US.

Supported by six singles, including the top-ten songs "Good Days", "I Hate U", "Nobody Gets Me" and "Snooze", SZA earned her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Kill Bill" in 2023.

She later earned her second chart-topping single of the year with her guest appearance on Drake's "Slime You Out".

SZA has received several accolades in her career, including four Grammy Awards, a Brit Award, an American Music Award, a Guild of Music Supervisors Award, and two Billboard Women in Music awards (including Woman of the Year).

As a songwriter, she has co-written songs for Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, and Rihanna.