SZA has spent the sixth week in a row at the top of the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, bringing her very close to Usher’s record of seven weeks in a row in 2004.
Her second studio album, titled “SOS,” debuted at the top of Billboard’s chart for the week ending January 19, earning an additional 119,000 equivalent album units. About 160,1 million of the album’s 23 tracks were streamed.
SZA’s latest chart victory makes her the only female artist to do so since Britain’s Got Talent’s Susan Boyle did so with her debut album between December 2009 and January 2010 (six weeks at the top). The latest projects by Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, and Drake & 21 Savage join SZA and Swift in the Top 10 of the Hot 200 chart this week.
There is only one week left before SZA breaks a record set by Janet Jackson in 1993. It’s worth noting that SOS has now become the only R&B album by any act to spend this much time at No. 1.
SZA’s next two goals are to surpass the records set by Usher (whose Confessions was the last R&B album to hit No. 1 nine times, albeit not in consecutive weeks) and Drake (whose Views topped the Hot 200 for 13 weeks, albeit not in a row, in 2016).
Top Dawg Entertainment president Terrence “Punch” Henderson thanked everyone involved in making SZA’s long-awaited follow-up to 2017’s Ctrl in a heartfelt tweet last week, reflecting on the commercial success of SOS.
“Man. He later added, “Sitting here contemplating all the success and conversation surrounding SOS.” “This is the most incredible dream. I just wanted to take a moment and express my gratitude to everyone who has played a part in making this project a success. Thank you so much; your efforts are greatly valued.
Numerous achievements have been marked in SZA’s career since the release of her second album on December 9. SOS not only debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but it also debuted at No. 1 on Spotify’s Top Artists Global daily chart, making Shirt’s singer the first female artist to ever do so. She displaced Bad Bunny at the top of the fan-voted chart, making history as the first Black female artist to do so.
SZA’s work on the album’s songs has also been praised. In the first week of the album’s release, 20 of the 23 tracks appeared on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, with “Kill Bill” and “Nobody Gets Me” both cracking the top ten.
SZA released a Kill Bill-themed music video for the song of the same name on January 11. Christian Breslauer’s clip opens with SZA receiving a breakup letter from her boyfriend, who also orders his crew to shoot up the trailer home they were sharing.
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Despite being rumoured to have been left off of the album’s December 20th, 2022 track listing, Drake has praised SZA’s ‘SOS.’
A nod to her role in the original film, Vivica A. Fox gives the singer a ride to an undisclosed location, where she helps SZA recover.
Before embarking on her tour of vengeance, the TDE singer sorts out her business and arms herself. In an animated scene where she ultimately triumphs, she defeats a gang of sword-wielding thugs and rescues her boyfriend.
Since its release, the music video for “Kill Bill,” which includes a clip from “Seek & Destroy” and footage of a naked SZA hanging from the ceiling while she sings the song’s lyrics, has amassed over 13 million views on YouTube.