One to watch: SZA, whose next collaboration is with Mark Ronson

DURING a joint DJ set this summer in New York, Tame Impala's Kevin Parker and Mark Ronson debuted an unreleased collaboration with SZA. The young rapper confirmed, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, that she's working on more material with them.
Solána Rowe, known as SZA, is an American R&B singer and songwriter. (The stage name is an acronym derived from the Supreme Alphabet, representing words for self–knowledge, enlightenment and God.) Rowe's alt R&B output equally draws from a diversity of genres, including synth pop, soul, and hip hop. The musician self–released her debut mixtape, "See.SZA.Run," in Oct 2012, followed up with second mixtape "S" the next year. In 2013, she became the first female artist to be signed to Top Dawg Entertainment, Kendrick Lamar's label.
Her track "Teen Spirit" had a remix featuring American rapper 50 Cent, her single "Child's Play" brought in Chance the Rapper, and she collaborated with Jill Scott on the song "Divinity,/i>." (More recently, SZA collaborated with American pop rock band Maroon 5 on their single "What Lovers Do" from their sixth studio album.)
While working on her debut, SZA began writing songs for other artists including Beyonce, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. In addition to writing "Consideration" on Rihanna's eighth studio album, "Anti," in 2016, SZA also sang on the track (the two performed it for the first time together live at the 2016 Brit Awards).
This spring, SZA announced she signed her first major–label recording contract with RCA Records, released in June 2017. "Ctrl" received much critical acclaim. Pitchfork championed "her honeyed voice" and the "indie rock and neo–soul flourishes on its radio–friendly fare"; the Los Angeles Times recently called it a "fierce debut album that explores love, sex, black womanhood and identity with a bluntness typically reserved for gossip sessions with friends." It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200. The three singles were "Drew Barrymore,/i>" (the actress appears in the music video for the song) "Love Galore" (featuring Travis Scott), and "Broken Clocks." The following month, SZA released a song entitled "Quicksand," which had a cameo on the soundtrack for the HBO series "Insecure."
SZA began touring the album in August and will conclude her tour in December.
In addition to the news about Mark Ronson, Solange is set to direct her next video and a deluxe edition of "Ctrl" is in the works. — AFP Relaxnews