Breakups, booty calls and bare-all balladry: SZA’s 20 best songs – ranked! | SZA

20. Hit Totally different (2020)A little bit of a buried treasure: Hit Totally different was coolly obtained on launch – SZA ceded the track’s hook to visitor Ty Dolla $ign – nevertheless it deserved higher: the Neptunes’ manufacturing is superbly atmospheric, her vocal is incredible, the lyrics – during which she perplexingly finds a companion sexier once they’re arguing – are nice.19. Ice Moon (2013)For a second early on in her profession, it regarded as if SZA may change into a type of avant-R&B figurehead. That wasn’t the way it panned out, however Ice Moon, the one from her second EP, S, is proof of the place she as soon as appeared to be headed: a poppy, however distinctly psychedelic swirl of blissful vocals and electronics.SZA in 2013.18. Promenade (2017)Promenade may be essentially the most neglected observe on SZA’s debut album. One other painfully drawn saga of insecurity, it’s geared up with a wonderful, incongruously buoyant melody, set to music that underlines the breadth and variety of SZA’s imaginative and prescient: the clipped beat and guitar owes as a lot to alt-rock as R&B.17. Time Journey Undone (2012)Her debut EP, See.SZA.Run, has evaded streaming providers, nevertheless it’s value searching for out: totally different to the music that made SZA well-known however nonetheless nice. The supremely spaced-out wash of synths on standout Time Journey Undone explains why the Guardian in contrast it to not simply the Weeknd, however the Cocteau Twins.16. TwoAM (2016)A wise tackle PartyNextDoor’s hit Come and See Me: SZA takes on the function of the girl on the receiving finish of the unique’s booty name, slowly realising that her suitor’s solely after one factor. It revealed a extra easy and earthy SZA, however was curiously dropped from the tracklisting of CTRL.15. Terror.Dome (2013)Extra fabulous left-field arcana from SZA’s early years: Terror.Dome opens with a piece of dialogue from horror film Rosemary’s Child, the proper complement to the eerie, echo-drenched sound of what follows: sparse synths, booming drums, cooing vocals at odds with the lyrics, during which infatuation has clearly turned to worrying obsession.SZA throughout her Glastonbury pageant headlining slot in 2024. {Photograph}: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP14. Candy November (2014)Signed up by Prime Dawg Leisure – the label that gave the world Kendrick Lamar – SZA scored her first hit with Little one’s Play, a Probability the Rapper collab from her EP Z. However its actual stand out is the deep minimize Candy November: a dreamy delight that samples a Marvin Gaye obscurity.13. Joni ft Don Toliver (2025)Joni had a tortuous gestation: SZA leaked a model on-line in 2020, followers leaked one other in 2023, prompting SZA to announce she wouldn’t launch it formally. She modified her thoughts: a superb factor, given how totally beautiful its Joni Mitchell-inspired melody and pattern of the late Elliott Smith’s guitar enjoying sound.12. 20 One thing (2017)20 One thing attracts CTRL to a sombre, soul-bearing conclusion pushed by acoustic guitar: SZA’s life’s a multitude, she’s alone, scared of grownup obligations that she doesn’t really feel prepared to simply accept, a scenario to which, evidently, tens of millions of followers might relate. It ends, winningly, with a faintly exasperated pep discuss from her mum.SZA on the Billboard music awards, Los Angeles, 2021. {Photograph}: Rob Latour/Shutterstock11. Good Days (2020)The primary single from SOS advised issues hadn’t improved a lot emotionally in SZA’s world: the road about “making an attempt to get my thoughts collectively earlier than the tip of the world” struck a very resonant be aware on launch, within the midst of the pandemic. The glowing, summery prettiness of the music one way or the other amplifies the gloom.10. Saturn (2024)The deluxe model of SOS, Lana, appended a complete album’s value of recent materials to the unique: fairly why it wasn’t launched as an album in its personal proper is a thriller when the brand new songs have been nearly as good as Saturn, a shimmering ballad that’s the match of something on the unique album.9. Backyard (Say It Like Dat) (2017)The brilliance of Backyard lies within the rigidity between the music – entice drums beneath a haze of electronics and vocal samples spiked with euphorically effervescent digital tones – and the rawness of SZA’s vocal and the feelings it attracts: craving and pleading for emotional reassurance and dedication amid a burst of insecurity.8. I Hate U (2021)One in all a number of songs on SOS during which SZA makes no bones about how aggrieved she feels after a breakup, I Hate U units its 4am drunk-dialling despair and bile – “It’s shitty of you to make me really feel like this!” – to an excellent musical backdrop made from equal elements murky lo-fi R&B and easy yacht rock.7. Snooze (2022)SZA: Snooze – videoSnooze got here in two, equally nice variations – the unique is basic R&B that might have been successful at any level within the final 30 years (“aunties approve of its authenticity,” as one critic put it); the acoustic model is woozily dreamy and options Justin Bieber. Each are poignant, confessional and softly highly effective.6. Kendrick Lamar – All of the Stars ft SZA (2018)Only a visitor look, however let’s bend the principles just a little: this surprisingly slick contribution to the Black Panther soundtrack is value it. It’s theoretically Kendrick’s present, nevertheless it presents SZA an absolute monster of a refrain, which she completely nails: they really feel like equal companions, which is kind of some feat.5. Drew Barrymore (2017)The purpose which you may recommend SZA as we now know her got here into being, Drew Barrymore is direct, relatable and witty – “along with her mother denims and her new Vans, she’s good and I hate her” – and musically hanging: spare beats, twanging guitar. The titular film star was apparently impressed.4. No person Will get Me (2022)Carried out dwell whereas SZA soared above the viewers in a ship (!), No person Will get Me takes an intriguing path to anthemic ballad territory: it’s alternately crestfallen, raunchy, intimate and topic to some spectacular vocal pyrotechnics. The refrain is vital: it’s bought a particular slice of Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn in its DNA, nevertheless it actually works.3. The Weekend (2017)SZA: The Weekend – videoClassic dishonest soul – “my man is your man … you want 9 to five, I’m the weekend” – retooled for as we speak: sluggish beats, delicate synths, a pattern from Justin Timberlake’s Set the Temper (Prelude). Calvin Harris’s glorious remix, in the meantime, recasts it as mid-tempo disco. Each variations are nice – take your choose.2. Kill Invoice (2022)Wikipedia describes 2023’s third biggest-selling single as a homicide ballad. It’s, though that doesn’t seize how engagingly witty its fantasies of offing an ex are – she follows him “on the farmer’s market, along with your good peach” – amplified by the pure pop sweetness of its refrain.1. Damaged Clocks (2017)Should you needed to choose a track that summed up SZA’s multi-platinum enchantment, Damaged Clocks can be it. The lyrics exemplify her model of confessional, no-filter depth, depicting a life getting ready to chaos: nonetheless haunted by the reminiscence of an ex from years in the past, not even she will be able to work out how she feels. The music blends R&B classicism with entice beats and a definite be aware of chillwave-derived fogginess. Her voice feels highly effective and pure: it has an unaffected, virtually conversational high quality, as if she’s confiding within the listener. And the refrain is great, constructed for an viewers who know the way she feels to howl alongside to.SZA’s greatest songs – playlist Spotify