On September 8, 2023, popular artist SZA announced the deluxe edition of her last album, SOS. Last December 2022, SZA released her second studio album, SOS, consisting of 23 tracks total, featuring artists such as Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
According to Billboard, “SZA’s ‘SOS’ Has Most Weeks at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Among Albums by Women in Seven Years” (www.billboard.com). As of September 28th, 2023, the album reached its 41st week at the number one spot of the Top R&B Albums chart (www.billboard.com), breaking Aretha Franklin’s record for the longest-standing number-one album by a solo woman in the Billboard chart’s history.
Out of these songs, “Good Days”, “I Hate U” and “Shirt” were released as singles before the album’s eventual release. “Good Days” peaked at number nine on the Billboard Global 200 while “I Hate U” peaked at number seven on Billboard Global 200 but number one on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Additionally, “Shirt” peaked at number four on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
After the album’s release, “Kill Bill”, “Nobody Gets Me” and “Snooze” were all released as singles. “Kill Bill” became SZA’s first song to reach number one on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and remained there for a consecutive twenty weeks, tying Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” for the longest-lasting run at number one. “Nobody Gets Me” peaked at number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and “Snooze” reached the number three spot on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Overall, SZA’s second album was a huge success that gained her more recognition as an artist and increased her popularity tenfold. With such a successful album fresh out of the studio, people demanded a deluxe version to complement and extend the already long album.
After her album release in December, SZA went on tour for her newest album. Tickets for the SOS Tour went on sale shortly after the album was released, and almost immediately sold out due to SZA’s new wave of popularity.
Throughout this time, SZA has attended many events celebrating both her successful album and tour, one of those events being at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. On September 8th, SZA announced her plans to finally release the deluxe version of SOS after almost a year.
“So the deluxe is like a whole [other] album, and it’s called Lana. It’s seven to ten songs, and it’ll be out this fall,” SZA said at the Brooklyn Navy Yard event. Lana, the new addition to SOS is significantly shorter than the original album, which is to be expected due to the year being full of touring for SZA.
Although she didn’t specify the exact date of its release, SZA gave her fans something to look forward to this fall with the anticipation of new music coming soon and hopefully more top songs.
