[Good Days – SZA]
A LITTLE OVER TWO WEEKS AGO SZA FANS PACKED THE UNITED CENTER IN CHICAGO AS THEY AWAITED HER LONG OVERDUE ARRIVAL FOR THE SOS TOUR. FROM A FLOATING BOAT TO COSTUME CHANGES TO BIG HITS FROM HER NEW ALBUM, SZA NOT ONLY IMPRESSED FANS, BUT PUT ON A TRUE PERFORMANCE THAT WAS UNIQUE TO HER STYLE.
SOLÁNA IMANI ROWE, ALSO KNOWN AS SZA, WAS BORN IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI AND GAINED HER RISE TO FAME THROUGH SELF-RELEASED EP’S. SHE GAINED TRACTION IN THE INDUSTRY AND EVENTUALLY SIGNED WITH TOP DAWG ENTERTAINMENT IN AUGUST OF 2013, MARKING THE FIRST TIME THAT THEY SIGNED A FEMALE ARTIST. SINCE THEN, SZA HAS WON 27 AWARDS INCLUDING ONE GRAMMY AWARD.
THEREFORE, WHEN SZA ANNOUNCED THAT SHE WOULD BE RETURNING TO CHICAGO AS ONE OF HER ADDITIONAL STOPS, NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS IMMEDIATELY WERE EAGER TO GRAB A HOLD OF THESE TICKETS.
[TOBY GOLDFARB] As soon as I declared that I was going to Northwestern I also declared that I was going to the SZA concert, but I did wait until the week before to even think about purchasing tickets. I was stocking multiple different sites for about 48 hours and there weren’t that many seats available but eventually I just had to bite the bullet and get the best priced ticket.
THAT’S TOBY GOLDFARB, A CURRENT FRESHMAN AT NORTHWESTERN WHO WAS WILLING TO DO WHATEVER IT TOOK TO GET HER HANDS ON A TICKET TO THIS HOT EVENT.
BEFORE CREATING HER OWN MUSIC, SZA LISTENED TO MANY GENRES RANGING FROM INDIE ROCK TO JAZZ. ALTHOUGH SHE WAS INTO LISTENING TO MUSIC, SZA DIDN’T THINK THAT IT COULD TURN INTO A CAREER. DURING HER COLLEGE CAREER, SZA TRANSFERRED TO FOUR DIFFERENT COLLEGES BEFORE FINALLY LANDING AT DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY AND WAS ON THE TRACK TO STUDY MARINE BIOLOGY, HOWEVER, SHE ULTIMATELY CHOSE TO DROP OUT DURING HER LAST SEMESTER.
SZA’S OLDER BROTHER INSPIRED HER TO START A MUSIC CAREER AS HE WAS A RAPPER, AND WOULD HAVE HER SING THE HOOKS FOR HIS SONGS. AS A RESULT, SZA FELT READY TO START HER OWN CAREER IN MUSIC. SHE BEGAN WITH SOUNDCLOUD AND MADE MANY SONGS INCLUDING “AFTERMATH,” WHICH BEGAN TO GAIN TRACTION AND SPREAD HER NAME AROUND THE INDUSTRY. SHE EVENTUALLY RELEASED THE EP “Z” IN 2014.
[TG] I think that SZA got really popular because her lyrics are very relatable and her songs are super catchy. A lot of them have ended up on tik tok which has definitely brought her more popularity. But SZA has always been one of my favorite artists so I’m glad she is getting the recognition she deserves.
IN JUNE OF 2017, SZA RELEASED THE ALBUM “CTRL,” WHICH HAS GAINED MAJOR SUCCESS. THE ALBUM WAS ON THE BILLBOARD 200 FOR 200 WEEKS, LEADING TO AN EVEN GREATER RISE IN SZA’S LISTENERSHIP.
FAST FORWARD TO TODAY, SZA IS PERFORMING IN SOLD OUT STADIUMS, HAS MILLIONS OF MONTHLY SPOTIFY LISTENERS, AND STILL HAS MUCH OF HER CAREER LEFT TO CHASE NEW GOALS AND RECORDS.
HER MOST RECENT VENTURE HAS BEEN THE SOS TOUR, HER LARGEST EVENT UP TO DATE, UNDERSTANDABLY SO
[TG] The concert was honestly nothing I’ve experienced. SZA is a really talented performer. Her set was amazing, the costumes were phenomenal and the dancing was well planned out. It was just a very out of body experience watching her perform.
THE TOUR IS HER BIGGEST YET AND FANS ARE BUZZING ABOUT THE STAGE SET UP/PROPS, SONGS ON THE SETLIST, AND JUST SZA IN GENERAL.
[TG] The whole concert was ethereal. but I really liked it when she was in a boat and she was suspended by a rope and floating over the crowd, it was so fun.
SZA’S TOUR HAS BEEN A WAY FOR FANS TO CONNECT WITH HER MUSIC, UNIQUE STYLE, AND MERGED STYLES OF MUSIC. SZA IS NOT LIKE OTHER ARTISTS IN THE WAYS SHE USES HER MUSIC TO SHOW HER EMOTIONAL THOUGHT PROCESSES AND CONNECT WITH AUDIENCES.
[TG] I just love the wide range of emotions that she has in each of her albums. And I just feel that SZA brings a really cool beat and spunk to each of her songs.
MANY FANS HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY HER MUSIC, AND MUCH OF THAT CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO HER RISE TO FAME AND UNIQUE LYRICS. ALTHOUGH HER FAME HAS GROWN, SHE HAS ALWAYS STUCK TO THIS UNIQUE STYLE AND WHAT HER FANS ENJOY, WHICH HAS WORKED FOR HER. SZA HAS ALWAYS USED HER MUSIC AS A WAY TO BECOME IN TUNE WITH HER EMOTIONS AND HOPE THAT OTHERS CAN RECEIVE THAT AND CONNECT WITH HER EXPERIENCES SIMILARLY.
[TG] I think that I first started listening to SZA in middle school. I was carpooling with my friends to dance and I think one of them played one of her songs and that was when it started for me. Most of my friends from high school are really big SZA fans so whenever we would go in the car together we would always play it so coming to college and being able to go to her concert here definitely reminded me of a piece of home, so that was super special.
WITH SZA’S RISE TO FAME BEING PROMINENT, PEOPLE ARE AS EXCITED NOW MORE THAN EVER TO GET THE CHANCE TO SEE HER LIVE IN PERSON AND EXPERIENCE THIS UNIQUE MUSICAL TALENT THE INDUSTRY HAS YET TO SEE BUT IS LUCKY TO HAVE NOW.
NOW IF ONLY I WAS ABLE TO GET A TICKET… MAYBE NEXT TOUR!
REPORTING FOR WNUR NEWS, I’M GABRIELLA EGOZI.
[Good Days – SZA]
