SZA is reflecting on a moment when expectations around her album “SOS” were far lower than the reality that followed.
In a new interview with i-D for The Lore Issue, published March 6, the Grammy-winning singer said her record label warned her not to expect the album to outperform Taylor Swift’s Midnights when both projects were competing on the charts in late 2022 and early 2023.
“My label told me that it was likely that I wouldn’t beat Taylor Swift, and I should prepare for that,” SZA said, recalling the early predictions about the chart battle.
Instead, the album delivered one of the biggest runs of her career. After its release in December 2022, “SOS” spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming a defining commercial and cultural moment for the singer. Two years later, SZA released the deluxe version titled “LANA,” which pushed the project back to the top of the chart for an additional three weeks.
Looking back, SZA said the success still feels surreal.
“I was laughing by week three. It was just like, ‘What is this? I never even imagined I could be on the radio,’” she said.
The singer, whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe, explained that the experience reshaped how she views what is possible in her career.
“I feel like I’m adulting kind of hard right now, and I might be eating. I feel like I might be alright when it’s all said and done,” she said.
Despite fan chatter during the chart competition, both artists publicly showed support for each other’s work, with SZA previously saying she “genuinely loved” Swift’s Midnights album.
