SZA‘s “SOS” could’ve been a sophomore slump for the singer after waiting five years to release a second album, but it ended up being one of the most successful eras of the 21st century so far, earning the star a slew of hits, massive critical acclaim, and nine Grammy nominations. It’s clear that SZA will win at least a couple, and she even has the potential to win all her nominations, although that’s less likely to happen. Still, it’s crazy to think SZA is such a hot commodity with the Recording Academy this year after her debut album, the acclaimed “Ctrl,” ended up going zero-for-five at the 2018 awards.
“Ctrl” started to build Grammy buzz after its first week, when it debuted at number-three on the Billboard 200, mostly thanks to online buzz that translated into streams. Part of its buzz came from its critical reception: it received an 87 score on Metacritic. SZA’s music also resonated with listeners because of its relatable content, which was why the album achieved two big hits: “Love Galore” featuring Travis Scott and “The Weekend,” both of which peaked in the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. At the same time SZA was getting attention for her collaborations, in particular the Maroon 5 hit “What Lovers Do,” which became her first top-10 hit and introduced her to more pop-oriented audiences. She followed that up with a remix of Lorde’s “Homemade Dynamite,” which also charted briefly.
When Grammy nominations came around, SZA managed to nab five: Best New Artist, Best R&B Performance (“The Weekend”), Best R&B Song (“Supermodel”), Best Progressive R&B Album (“Ctrl”) and Best Melodic Rap Performance (“Love Galore”), though she was left out of the Album of the Year lineup to the dismay of many. In fact, outlets like Billboard and Forbes had been expecting SZA to be a top contender for that award after such a breakout year.
Regardless, when the nominations dropped, it seemed like three of her five bids would be very hard to win: R&B Performance and Song, and Melodic Rap Performance. In those races she had to face likely genre sweeps by Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar, respectively. Best Progressive R&B Album was possible to win, but she had to face a massive album from past category winner The Weeknd (“Starboy”) as well as the Album of the Year-nominated “Awaken, My Love!” by Childish Gambino.
But could SZA win Best New Artist? Her competition was stiff: it included pop hitmaker Alessia Cara, fellow R&B breakout Khalid, admired songwriter Julia Michaels, and hip-hop superstar Lil Uzi Vert. However, SZA had easily the most acclaim out of the group. She had proved to be more consistent than Michaels, and Uzi was likely too untraditional for the Grammys. So the category came down to SZA, Khalid and Cara. It’s possible to blame Cara’s ultimate win on SZA and Khalid splitting the R&B vote. While that may certainly be true, it’s possible that Khalid was also ahead of SZA in the voting.
While SZA had critics behind her, Khalid had the bigger record: his “American Teen” was number-14 on Billboard’s year-end chart for 2017, while “Ctrl” was number-42. The former also had bigger hits, with “Location” and “Young Dumb and Broke” both peaking in the top 20 and going on to be certified diamond by the RIAA in the US. Khalid was also featured on a couple of other hits that year, most notably Logic‘s “1-800-273-8255,” which also featured Cara. That song, which got into Song of the Year and Best Music Video races, likely helped Khalid further appeal to pop voters, given its success on that format. So there’s a good chance that, at the time, voters saw Khalid as a more viable bet for future success.
And then there’s Cara, who despite never being a dominant name in the industry, per se, had a considerable number of hits, including the top-10s “Stay,” “Here,” “Scars to Your Beautiful” and the aforementioned “1-800-273-8255.” She also had the advantage of being better established; her first hit, “Here,” peaked in 2015, two years before her BNA nomination. While that isn’t always seen as a positive, it was in Cara’s case, especially because it showed voters that she was consistent over time. Of course, now we know that she would go on to become less mainstream than her fellow nominees (her follow-up album, “The Pains of Growing,” peaked at number-71 on the Billboard 200), but at the time she seemed like a safe bet, especially to a pop voter who likely wasn’t as familiar with SZA. Cara also had a very Grammy-friendly vibe, writing all her material and being all-around unproblematic.
While SZA and “Ctrl” lost all their nominations, the album won in the end. It’s been a longstanding hit in the US, becoming the second longest-charting album by a Black woman, with over 300 weeks on the Billboard 200. It’s remarkable that an album that debuted with less than 100,000 equivalent album units is now also five-times platinum and has made every year-end list since it debuted. Plus, SZA did eventually win her Grammy, taking home Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her hit “Kiss Me More” alongside Doja Cat. This year “SOS” will surely avenge its predecessor, and with a new album seemingly just around the corner, she might have even more Grammys in her future.
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