SZA's new album 'SOS' debuts at number one

Singer-songwriter SZA is ending 2022 on a high note. The 33-year-old's new album, 'SOS',  claimed the number-one spot on the Billboard 200. 

SZA,  whose real name is Solána Imani Rowe, released her second studio album on December 9. The long-awaited album is the follow-up to 2017's 'Ctrl'. 

According to Billboard, 'SOS' is the fifth biggest debut of 2022 after pushing 318,000 album units in its first week. 

One of the album's lead singles, 'Kill Bill', also debuted on the Billboard Hot 100's Top 10. It is sitting at #3 for the chart dated December 24, behind Brenda Lee's 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' (#2) and Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' (#10). 

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Several revenge songs on SZA's 23-track album are named after iconic movies such as 'Kill Bill' and 'Gone Girl'. 

The album cover art was inspired by Princess Diana. 

"I pulled the Diana reference because I just loved how isolated she felt and that was what I wanted to convey the most," she said in an interview with Hot 97.

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'SOS' features collaborations with Travis Scott, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Phoebe Bridgers and Don Toliver. 

'Shirt' - the third single from the album - is also shaking up the music scene. The song, which enjoyed major airplay in South Africa, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, recorded more than 10-million streams in its first three days of release. 

The track's music video premiered in October. It became the #1 trending music video on YouTube in the US at the time of its release. 

'Good Days' and 'I Hate U' were also big songs for the R&B star. 'I hate U' debuted at #1 on Apple Music and Spotify's streaming charts while 'Good Days' became SZA's first solo Top 10 single.

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Main image credit: YouTube/ SZA ('Shirt' official music video)