Maps of Music

Ctrl (2017)

Where the lyrics of Ctrl take you, and where it was really made.

The album was first titled A and was originally scheduled for late 2015, but its release was pushed back to June 2017.

Key places

Where the sessions began (2017)

Recording site Top Dawg Studios — Sessions for the album began in 2014 at the TDE Red Room in Carson, California. The point is set at city level, so the exact studio building is not confirmed here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Ctrl (pronounced Control): debut studio album by American singer-songwriter SZA
• Released June 9, 2017 by Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and RCA Records
• Guest appearances by Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, James Fauntleroy, and Isaiah Rashad
• Production by Craig Balmoris, Frank Dukes, Carter Lang, Scum, ThankGod4Cody, among others
• Five singles: Drew Barrymore, Love Galore, The Weekend, Broken Clocks, Garden (Say It like Dat)
• Ctrl is primarily an alternative R&B and neo soul album with elements of hip hop, pop, soul, electronic, and indie

Background

• SZA met TDE members during CMJ 2011 through a friend who passed her early songs to TDE president Terrence Punch Henderson
• SZA signed to TDE on July 14, 2013, and released Z (2014) through that deal
• The debut was first promised for late 2015, then early 2016, and was delayed further
• In October 2016 SZA criticized the label for the delays and said she would quit
• SZA said the album concept was about control in her life
• The album was originally titled A before being renamed Ctrl

Recording

• Sessions began in 2014 at the TDE Red Room in Carson, California
• Rick Rubin helped SZA's creative process during the recording
• SZA, Carter Lang, and Tyron Scum Donaldson built a working rapport on the road to the album
• Love Galore was built in Lang's mother's office at his Michigan home in 2016
• Broken Clocks was created collectively during a competition among the producers
• Drew Barrymore was conceived at Lang's studio in Chicago in 2016
• SZA co-wrote all fourteen tracks and freestyled many of the lyrics
• TDE took her hard drive during recording, when she had 150 to 200 recorded songs and could not choose the final tracks

Cover

• No cover details are included in the source text.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Solána Imani Rowe was born November 8, 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri, and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey.
• She attended Columbia High School and later Delaware State University before dropping out to pursue music.
• Her stage name SZA was inspired by the Five Percent Nation and the Supreme Alphabet.

Career

• She self-released the EPs See.SZA.Run (2012) and S (2013) before signing with Top Dawg Entertainment in 2013.
• Her debut album Ctrl (2017) was critically acclaimed and topped several year-end lists.
• "All the Stars" (2018) with Kendrick Lamar earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.
• "Kiss Me More" with Doja Cat (2021) won her first Grammy Award.
• Her second album SOS (2022) spent 100 weeks in the Billboard 200 top ten, and "Kill Bill" topped the Billboard Hot 100.
• "Luther" with Kendrick Lamar became her longest-running US number-one song.
• She has won seven Grammy Awards in total.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics generally praised the album's cohesiveness, its production, and SZA's vocal delivery
• Metacritic average of 87 from 17 reviews, which indicates universal acclaim
• The Observer's Tara Joshi called the songs delicious slow jams with delicate yet powerful vocals
• Pitchfork's Claire Lobenfeld called it an opulent, raw R&B album that constantly tests the borders of the genre, and named Prom as a standout track
• The New York Times's Jon Pareles wrote that SZA now fully commands the foreground of her songs
• Vibe's Jessica McKinny called it stripped down perfection
• Exclaim!'s Ryan B. Patrick called it craft in action and a uniquely excellent album from a uniquely excellent artist
• The New Zealand Herald's Siena Yates described it as a brutally honest, sonically rich leap down the rabbit hole

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone ranked Ctrl at number 472 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list
• In July 2022 Rolling Stone ranked Ctrl at number 28 on its 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time list

Records

• Debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200 with 60,000 album-equivalent units in its first week
• The first week included 20,000 copies as pure album sales, and SZA's first US top 10 debut
• Fell to number 11 in its second week
• Certified triple platinum by the RIAA in August 2022 for over three million units in the US
• Spent 400 weeks on the Billboard 200 as of February 2025, the second longest-charting R&B album by a woman behind Anti by Rihanna
• Received five Grammy nominations at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards (2018), including Best New Artist

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• SZA's record label TDE took her hard drive during recording, because she could not choose the final songs from the 150 to 200 she had recorded.
• SZA recorded Drew Barrymore after hearing a production that reminded her of the film Poison Ivy.
• The Drew Barrymore music video featured a cameo by Drew Barrymore herself.
• Supermodel opens the album, and SZA said she took a different approach to that song, wanting simply to sing and think.
• Love Galore was given a new verse when SZA performed it on Saturday Night Live on December 9, 2017, because Travis Scott was not there to perform his part.
• The 2022 deluxe edition added seven bonus tracks, including 2AM and a leaked Tyler, the Creator-produced 2016 demo titled Jodie.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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