“Play your leak, but you’re not gonna bully me into dropping music. I’m now embarrassed by this less-than-correct version that you put out.” Brutal, but honest words said by Solána Imani Rowe, more commonly known as SZA.
The four-time Grammy Award winner had stated that the deluxe to the hit 2022 album “SOS” was on it’s way.
Unlike most artists, this deluxe was going to have a name, which she entitled “LANA.” Unfortunately during the publishing process, an anonymous X user leaked three of the new songs that were planned to have been released being “Saturn,” “Boy From South Detroit,” and “Diamond Boy.”
SZA has put out many statements explaining how upset she is and that this is absolutely not OK. She tweeted back in March of 2024, “I’ll be starting ‘LANA’ from scratch. Do not ask me about it again,” along with other aggressive and vulgar statements but deleted them soon after. She also explained that “LANA” was just going to be the deluxe but since the leaks, it will completely be it’s own album and the illegally released songs will be a part of “SOS Deluxe.” It’s confirmed that the deluxe will be released before “LANA” which also means that the three leaked songs will be available on streaming sites soon.
Even though the issue didn’t start out well, this eventually benefits everyone. Listeners get more music and SZA releasing more songs means she will get paid more. People with her immense amount of talent deserve to be paid for what they can do, not just praised. Her music being leaked means she can’t make any money from it now, but soon she will.
Fans have been excited for both the deluxe and the new album, especially since SZA is so inconsistent with releasing music. Though it may be tortuous to listeners to wait so long, it is always worth it once she drops. Michael Osei-Asante,class of 2025, is a huge fan of the artist. “To be honest, I expect nothing less from her because of her talent.”
It’s great to see that people are ready and eager for the new album. There have been little inklings about a theme dropped here and there, just like most artists hinting at their new music. However, things get weird at the end of May.
May 31 of this year, SZA posted on her Instagram a mirror selfie of her painted head-to-toe in dark blue and bug or alien looking prosthetics. She has antennas and her eyes are completely non-visible since they are being covered by black (fake) bug eyes. It eventually got deleted, but the photos are still shown on search engines. Since she didn’t really speak on what she posted, people assumed this was a sneak peak to the new album she officially announced June 29 while performing at “BTS Hyde Park.”
Starting a few months back, a lot of her performances at events and Instagram posts involved things about bugs and creepy crawlies. Since the official announcement came out after the hints and selfies, it all came together and her audience connected the dots.
The posts were the only hints we had for a while, until SZA appeared on the “Hot Ones” show and podcast hosted by Sean Evans. Anyone can find the episode on YouTube entitled “SZA Bugs Out While Eating Spicy Wings.” No one expected her to show up how she did. She wasn’t covered in blue this time, but had eyes and antennas. SZA didn’t even look like herself.
Osei-Asante stated, “That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen…she’s my celebrity crush but when I saw the bug prosthetics I was quite uncomfortable.” While some people like him think of it as more on the weird side, others like sophomore Annabel Clark think this is a good idea. “The prosthetics were a bit odd, but I think that it’s just a way that she’s promoting her new album. Wearing the prosthetics drew attention to her and makes people want to know more about the album.”
At this point, it is quite obvious that “LANA” will be related to bugs. A few minutes into the episode, Evans tells her, “I’m wondering if we should even acknowledge the prosthetics.” SZA then responds with the iconic line, “Yeah, for no other reason than I’m just tired of being…not a bug.” Absolutely unforgettable.
The meaning behind the prosthetics and symbolism of bugs will hopefully be revealed soon, and this won’t just be an elongated joke or publicity stunt. As of now the main question stands, is she onto something or has she lost her mind?
