I've read about SZA on blog posts hailing her as one of the ones to watch in the following year as well as one of the new faces of R&B. She's been gaining slow and steady traction with her work. It wasn't until recently that I came across her “Babylon” video and I was sold. The production value on the song and the video is dope.
SZA holds its down as one of the many artists from the TDE camp, which have been making a lot of noise with Kendrick Lamar at the helm. Schoolboy Q, Jhene Aiko, and Ab-Soul are also a part of TDE and they have been making their own noise, respectively.
Going through SZA's EP, I would categorize it as really vibey, with a progressive R&B sound that relies heavy on synths. Of this, I'm a fan. Lyrically, I enjoy her work. Her songs can read like poetry or really elaborate stories as in “Sweet November”. Vocally, she floats well within her music, but never sings with full force or tries to be impressive with her vocal ability. She never sings across a certain threshold, but I don't believe she is really reaching for that. The album stays on a certain level throughout.
Her collaborative efforts are great, especially “Childs Play” with Chance the Rapper. I don't know much about Chance outside of the fact that he's 21 and had a verse on one of Bieber's songs. I did enjoy his wordplay and delivery on the track.
Z is worth checking out. Peep the video for Babylon below.