After it was announced that SZA was releasing her studio sophomore album, SOS, after her five-year hiatus, it felt like the whole world was waiting for this moment.

Right when 11 p.m. on Dec. 9 hit, I immediately put on my Beats headphones as I got transported to the days of my sixth grade homeroom class listening to her multi platinum debut, Ctrl, on the smartboard, as I ate my breakfast pizza and drank my apple juice. 

SZA – the singer-songwriter Solána Rowe – came out with her debut album, Ctrl, in summer 2017. Through that album she managed to rack up 14 Grammy nominations and was nominated for both American Music Awards and MTV VMA Awards. 

The R&B superstar takes you through a whirlwind of vulnerability, ego, confidence and heartbreak. Compared to her 2017 debut, she exudes a more freeing vibe, both vocally and lyrically. She uses the intersection of rapping and singing to maximize her expressive emotions with toxic romances and self worth.

SOS feels like a perfect introduction to her album. It portrays betrayal in the best way possible. In this song there are references to “Blind,” where SZA vocalizes her self doubt and insecurities. In both the beginning and at the end of SOS SZA is crying presumably needing help – or SOS.

With “Kill Bill,” which is currently dominating the billboard charts being No. 1 on  Hot R&B Songs, and success across all streaming services. SZA references the iconic film duology Kill Bill directed by Quentin Tarantino. This reference to the film makes it clear why the song contains homicidal fantasies about an ex-lover. This track explores R&B, psychedelic pop and pop-soul. “Nobody Gets Me” is a perfect break-up song that feels like you lost the one person that gets you.

On SOS, she has multiple songs that give you that I don’t care energy straight away with (“I Hate U”) and (“Smokin on my Ex Pack”) and a country song that has a pop-punk chorus (“FNF”). She goes into a mushy heartfelt song with an anticipated collab with Phoebe Bridgers with the song “Ghost in the Machine” and a track called “Special” that talks about body dysmorphia that she dealt with since she was in middle school.

It becomes clear that SZA is a classical R&B artist on an open-hearted ballad “Gone Girl,” that is a break up song that shows her precise vocal range. “Too Late” has an 1980s sound that wonders if breaking up was the right move, but in “Far” she deals with rejection and feeling like she’s losing herself: “I’m far cause I can’t trust nobody.” In “Snooze” she reminds us of that sappy feeling of being in love and trying to be in the moment with a significant other, and in the bridge she longs to be loved by this person by putting her all in the relationship: “How you frontin’ on me and I’m the main one tryin’?”

Throughout the album, many people on different social media platforms agree that they felt a mix of different emotions that she expressed that they related to. She gives us a masterpiece that is well written and produced. It does not feel like a quick album to sell on the charts. Rather, it feels like it took time and precision to perfectly portray how she’s feeling. Her hiatus feels worth it because it sounds different from all the albums coming out recently sounding  similar. It does not seem that she wanted her album to be viral on social media. Instead, it seems like a breath of fresh air from all the songs that artists want to be viral and be danced to on TikTok. This is one of the best albums in my opinion that was released recently.

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