SZA: The Sexy, the Zealous, the Afflicted
By: Jordan
IG: @jay_lasoul
My good sis Solana has truly outdone herself with Ctrl. I know we recapped our favorite tracks on episode 18 of the podcast, but I had to take it a step further and fully tap into why it resonated with me so much.
I ALMOST missed the wave. On June 9th, I saw the notification from iTunes. I saw the tweets…I may have even noticed the atmosphere of the earth change for those first few hours and everyone played and replayed the album, figuring out which were their favorites. Though I love SZA, for some reason, I did not listen the first day, or the second day for that matter. About three or so days later I finally decided that I was going to stop playing Love Galore 12 time in a row and try the rest of it on.
In order and with reasoning here are the songs that took my heart by the hands (I know I am so dramatic)
1. Supermodel – She navigates the experience of loving a man whose heart (and apparently, body) isn’t all the way in it. There were so many reasons she wanted to stay with him, but the reasons to go far outweighed the desire to still be with him. As young women in love, we are willing to overlook so much for the sake having someone who feels good some of the time, that maybe we forget there is actually someone out there that makes us feel good MOST of the time. I swear I’m not preaching because I certainly don’t have this relationship stuff on lock, because girl!
2. The Weekend – It almost feels weird to jump from being happy that she declares she has to let that man go because he can’t get it together to loving this song (lol). But the message is a little different than what I originally thought. Here she speaks on a culture that most of us have experienced: When both parties belong to anyone and for the moment she’s gonna enjoy the benefit of that. Whereas I prefer to spend my life really lovin’ on someone and not having to worry about what he’s doing or who he’s doing when I’m not around, I can appreciate the honestly of the millennial dilemma.
3. 20 Something – This is my life. As far as I know, this is the time of life that’s most spontaneous. I guess I can’t speak to anyone else’s experience, but post-college life has truly been a test of my resilience. Between figuring out what I’m doing with a man, finding a job that truly makes my hear sing, having to pay for everything, I truly hope these 20-somethings don’t kill me. This hit me on a cellular level.
4. Doves In The Wind – If you know me, you know I hate to generalize (mostly), but this also cut me deep. Men work so hard to for the…I’ll say “body.” If a woman scorn is dangerous, then a man who is trying to get to 3rd base is even more dangerous. He can have you thinking that its loveee when really, it’s a rouse. Ladies, if you don’t take anything from this entire post, its to be on the look out for a heavy talker to is looking to take the cookies.
Honorable mention with no description goes to:
5. Broken Clocks
6. Garden (Say It like Dat)
7. Go Gina
8. Normal
9. Pretty Little Birds
I loved the entire project, and I will forever be a fan of SZA. The best music is the kind you can listen to with your eyes closed and picture yourself in the music video. This album gave me Sexy, Zealous, and Afflicted: the perfect story telling moment for those of us navigating love, figuring out what we are doing with the rest of our lives…a manifesto of sorts.
So for setting my summer and playlists right:
Here for it sis.