SZA Sat 9/16 Roseland
SZA Sat 9/16 Roseland RCA Records

Itā€™s no secret that 2017 has been a huge year for SolĆ”na Imani Rowe, better known as SZA. After dropping a couple of successful mixtapes (2012ā€™s See.SZA.Run and 2013ā€™s S), SZA released her EP Z in 2014, then threatened to quit the music industry altogether. Lucky for us, she didnā€™t, and instead released her debut LP, Ctrl, earlier this year after feeling liberated by a mushroom trip.

Ctrl was quickly embraced by fans and music critics (including yours truly), and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. Every song is exceptional: SZA pours her honeyed vocals over catchy melodies with brazen, gritty, and sometimes triggering lyrics that dig into toxic relationships, anxiety, and the unattainability of control. Itā€™s been called the feminine counterpoint to projects like Bryson Tillerā€™s Trapsoul and Drakeā€™s Take Care, as SZA offers a different perspective for a similar narrativeā€”one thatā€™s simultaneously vulnerable, confident, and defiant.

She confesses her insecurities on ā€œSupermodelā€ and ā€œNormal Girl,ā€ confidently rips apart the stigma of being a sidechick on sultry track ā€œThe Weekend,ā€ and processes feeling like the ā€œotherā€ on ā€œDrew Barrymore.ā€ Songs from Ctrl have appeared on several recent episodes of Issa Raeā€™s HBO series Insecure, and last week SZA released ā€œQuicksandā€ especially for the showā€™s soundtrack. I expect her sold-out Portland concert to be a religious experience.