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Ctrl (SZA album)

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Untitled

Ctrl (pronounced "control") is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter SZA. It was released on June 9, 2017, by Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA Records.[5] It is so far supported by three singles, "Drew Barrymore", "Love Galore" featuring Travis Scott, and "Broken Clocks". It also features guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar, James Fauntleroy, and Isaiah Rashad.

Composition

Ctrl is predominantly an R&B album[1][2] which draws influences from neo soul[3] and indie rock.[6] The album contains a precise sonic methodology, which takes influence from pop, hip-hop and electronic genres. The production was characterised as predominantly hip-hop-influenced with hints of soul and pop.[3] The album has a confessional theme, which touch upon SZA's personal experiences of love. The albums lyrics were noted as being "honest" and "often comically blunt".[6] The album opens with "Supermodel" which is built over an electric guitar riff, and reads as an "exposed diary entry" that lyrically talks about relationship betrayal and fallout. The song talks about SZA's ex partner who left her on Valentine’s Day.[3][6]

Release and promotion

In September 2014, SZA revealed that A would be released as her debut studio album, continuing to say that A would be similar to S and would include trap influences with more aggressive lyrics, she also announced that she has begun working with James Fauntleroy, Hit-Boy, and long time collaborator Felix Snow again.[7]

SZA premiered "Drew Barrymore" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. She also announced the title of her debut studio album, initially titled A, but was later renamed to CTRL.[8] On April 28, 2017, SZA announced she had signed her first major-label recording contract with RCA Records.[9][10]

On July 5, 2017, SZA announced an official North American headlining concert tour titled Ctrl The Tour to further promote the album. The tour is scheduled to begin on August 8, 2017, in Richmond, Virginia, and conclude on December 17, 2017, in St. Louis, Missouri.[11]

Singles

On January 13, 2017, SZA released the album's lead single "Drew Barrymore".[12] It was produced by The Antydote and Carter Lang. On June 20, 2017, SZA released the music video for "Drew Barrymore", which featured a cameo by Drew Barrymore herself.[13]

On April 28, 2017, SZA released the album's second single "Love Galore".[14] It features American rapper Travis Scott and was produced by ThankGod4Cody, Carter Lang, Scum and Punch.

On June 2, 2017, SZA released the album's third single "Broken Clocks".[15] It was produced by ThankGod4Cody.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic87/100[16]
Review scores
SourceRating
The A.V. ClubA-[17]
Exclaim!9/10[18]
NME[19]
Paste7.8/10[20]
Pitchfork8.4/10[21]
The Guardian[22]
The New Zealand Herald[23]

The album received critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 87, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[16] The Guardian's Tara Joshi gave the album four out of five stars, and said the songs are "delicious slow jams with delicate yet powerful vocals and intimate insights into femininity, self-esteem and youth".[22] Pitchfork's Claire Lobenfeld called the album "an opulent, raw R&B album that constantly tests the borders of the genre", and named "Prom" as one of the standout tracks.[21] Siena Yates of The New Zealand Herald gave the album a perfect five out of five stars and described it as "a brutally honest, sonically rich leap down the rabbit hole." [23]

In his review of the album, The New York Times's Jon Pareles said of SZA: "But now, she fully commands the foreground of her songs. Her voice is upfront, recorded to sound natural and unaffected, with all its grain and conversational quirks."[24] Vibe's Jessica McKinny said the album "has definitely kick-started her journey in the right direction. It's raw, soulful, rhythmic and uplifting in all the right places and will surely be a summer gift for old and new fans." She also referred to the album as "stripped down perfection".[25] Gerrick D. Kennedy of Los Angeles Times called the album "equal parts aching, brazen and gorgeously honest" and said of the songs, "The records are tender, vulnerable and often defiant."[26]

Ryan B. Patrick of Exclaim! referred to SZA as "the full package in terms of artistry: killer singing and songwriting abilities with a distinct perspective on life, love and destiny". He went on to say that Ctrl "is craft in action, a uniquely excellent album from a uniquely excellent artist."[18] Paste Magazine's Nastia Voynovskaya called the album "strikingly relatable" and likened her vocals to that of Amy Winehouse and Billie Holiday.[20] Jamie Milton of NME gave the album four out of five stars, saying it "effortlessly winds between narratives and genres like it's child's play" and went on to say that the artist "isn't a star in the making, it's a fully-fledged talent who's practically showing off." They also named "Prom" as the standout song of the album.[19]

Commercial performance

Ctrl debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 with 60,000 album-equivalent units, of which 25,000 were pure album sales.[27]

Track listing

  • Credits adapted from liner notes.[28]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Supermodel"
Scum3:01
2."Love Galore" (featuring Travis Scott)
  • ThankGod4Cody
  • Lang
4:35
3."Doves in the Wind" (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
Cam O'bi4:26
4."Drew Barrymore"
  • Rowe
  • Lang
  • Donaldson
  • Macie Stewart
  • Henderson
  • Lang
  • Scum
3:51
5."Prom"
  • Rowe
  • Donaldson
  • Lang
3:16
6."The Weekend"
ThankGod4Cody4:32
7."Go Gina"
2:41
8."Garden (Say It Like Dat)"
  • Bēkon
  • The Donuts[a]
  • Balmoris[a]
3:28
9."Broken Clocks"
  • Rowe
  • Fayne
  • Thomas Paxton-Beesley
  • Feeney
  • Ashton Simmons
ThankGod4Cody3:51
10."Anything"
2:29
11."Wavy (Interlude)" (featuring James Fauntleroy)
  • ThankGod4Cody
  • Prophit
1:15
12."Normal Girl"
  • Rowe
  • Lang
  • Donaldson
  • Henderson
Lang4:13
13."Pretty Little Birds" (featuring Isaiah Rashad)
  • Scum
  • Lang
  • Leimberg
4:05
14."20 Something"
  • Rowe
  • Donaldson
  • Lang
  • Scum
  • Lang
3:18
Total length:49:01

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer
  • "Supermodel" features additional vocals by Pharrell Williams

Sample credits

Personnel

  • Sage Adams – visual direction, photography
  • Craig Balmoris – additional production (track 8)
  • Bēkon – production (track 8), engineering (track 8)
  • Joshua Binder – legal
  • Mike Bozzi – mastering
  • Ray Charles Brown – engineering (track 1)
  • Cam O'Bi – production (track 3)
  • Juan Carlos – engineering (track 7), recording
  • Hector Castro – engineering (track 8), mixing (track 8), recording
  • Jason Chandler – photography
  • Chris Classick – engineering (tracks 2, 6, 9), recording
  • Ivan Corpening – recording
  • The Donuts – additional production (track 8)
  • Frank Dukes – additional production (track 7)
  • Jared Gagarin – recording
  • Dianne Garcia – styling
  • Granny – skit (track 3)
  • Blake Harden – engineering (track 14), recording
  • James Hunt – recording
  • Derek "MixedByAli" Ali – mixing
  • Carter Lang – production (tracks 2, 4, 7, 12-14), additional production (tracks 5, 10)
  • Josef Leimberg – production (track 13), recording (track 13)
  • JT – engineering (track 12)
  • Dave "Miyatola" Free – associate producer, TDE management, A&R
  • Mommy – skit (tracks 1, 4, 14)
  • Moosa – TDE management
  • Tyler Page – recording
  • Christopher Parsons – photography
  • Joshua Patrick – A&R coordination
  • Peter Cottontale – bass (track 10)
  • Lukasz Plas – recording
  • Prophit – production (track 11), engineering (tracks 3-5, 11, 13), recording (track 11)
  • Terrence "Punch" Henderson – associate producer, TDE management, A&R, creative direction
  • Roberto "Ret One" Reyes – TDE management, graphic design and packaging
  • Matt Schaeffer – recording (track 3)
  • Scum – production (tracks 1, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 14), engineering (track 10)
  • Vlad Sepetov – graphic design and packaging
  • Macie Stewart – strings (track 4)
  • Stix – additional drums (track 1)
  • SZA – lead artist, A&R, creative direction, visual direction, styling
  • Cyrus Taghipour – recording
  • ThankGod4Cody – production (tracks 2, 6, 9, 11)
  • Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith – executive producer
  • Pharrell Williams – additional vocals (track 1)
  • 42West – publicity

Charts

Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[29] 40
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[30] 8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[31] 125
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[32] 11
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[33] 58
French Albums (SNEP)[34] 166
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[35] 15
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[36] 96
UK Albums (OCC)[37] 50
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[38] 11
US Billboard 200[39] 3
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[40] 2

References

  1. ^ a b Chow, Kat (November 13, 2017). "Taking 'Ctrl': Why SZA's New Album Means So Much". NPR. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Voynovskaya, Nastia (June 13, 2017). "SZA: CTRL Review". Paste Magazine. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Patrick, Ryan (June 13, 2017). "SZA – CTRL". Exclaim. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  4. ^ Lobenfeld, Claire (June 13, 2017). "SZA – CTRL". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  5. ^ "STREAM SZA'S DEBUT ALBUM 'CTRL'". Rap-Up. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b c "SZA - CTRL". Pitchfork. June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  7. ^ "Kendrick Lamar's Storytelling On New Album Is "On A Grander Scale," SZA Says". HipHopDX. September 11, 2014.
  8. ^ "SZA Announces 'CTRL' Album, Drops 'Drew Barrymore' Single". Rap-Up. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  9. ^ Cinnsealach, Somhairle. "SZA Signs To RCA Records". HipHopDX. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  10. ^ "SZA Announces Deal With RCA". Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  11. ^ http://pitchfork.com/news/sza-announces-tour/
  12. ^ "Drew Barrymore - Single by SZA on Apple Music". iTunes.
  13. ^ https://mobile.twitter.com/sza/status/877254786248187905
  14. ^ "Love Galore (feat. Travis Scott) - Single by SZA on Apple Music". iTunes.
  15. ^ "Listen to SZA's Latest Single, "Broken Clocks"". Complex.
  16. ^ a b "CTRL by SZA". metacritic.com. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  17. ^ "Thank god SZA finally released Ctrl". A.V. Club.
  18. ^ a b "SZA - CTRL". Exclaim!.
  19. ^ a b "SZA - 'CTRL' Review". NME.
  20. ^ a b "SZA: CTRL Review". Paste Magazine.
  21. ^ a b "CTRL SZA Review". Pitchfork. June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  22. ^ a b "SZA: Control review – dreamy and delicious insights into vulnerability". The Guardian.
  23. ^ a b "Album review: SZA, CTRL". The New Zealand Herald.
  24. ^ "SZA's Songs Face Desire In All Its Complications". New York Times.
  25. ^ "Phenomenal Woman: The Vulnerability, Self-Awareness & Freedom Of SZA's 'Ctrl'". Vibe.
  26. ^ "What to listen to now: SZA, Bleachers, Secret Sisters and more". Los Angeles Times.
  27. ^ Caulfield, Keith (June 18, 2017). "Katy Perry Scores Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Witness'". Billboard. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  28. ^ Ctrl (Media notes). SZA. RCA. 2017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  29. ^ "Australiancharts.com – SZA – Ctrl". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  30. ^ "ARIA Urban Albums Chart – Week Commencing 19th June 2017" (PDF). ARIA Charts (1425): 19. June 19, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  31. ^ "Ultratop.be – SZA – Ctrl" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  32. ^ "SZA Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  33. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – SZA – Ctrl" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  34. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums – SNEP (Week 24, 2017)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  35. ^ "Charts.nz – SZA – Ctrl". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  36. ^ "Swisscharts.com – SZA – Ctrl". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  37. ^ "SZA | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  38. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  39. ^ "SZA Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  40. ^ "SZA Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
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