Kendrick Lamar wasn’t the only TDE artist who had a message to deliver to his fans last week.
Following K. Dot’s Top Dawg departure Instagram announcement, SZA surprised her listeners on Twitter early Sunday (August 22) with a trio of new records wrapped in a series of vague tweets.
“Dumping random thoughts,” SZA wrote in the first tweet anchored with a low-key SoundCloud link around 5 a.m.
https://t.co/Wg1IvioVR6 dumping random thoughts
— SZA (@sza) August 22, 2021
SZA also went on to describe briefly how a close friend actually forced her hand to release the vaulted music, which caused one fan to successfully petition the Grammy Award-nominated singer to turn the seemingly special occasion into a regular occurrence called “SZA Sundays.”
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“Alright,” she wrote. “I go to bed now. @iJaadee made me do it lol. More word vomit later. Love y’all.”
Alright . I go to bed now . @iJaadee made me do it lol. More word vomit later . Love y’all pic.twitter.com/MYdGBodMxL
— SZA (@sza) August 22, 2021
Yes . https://t.co/xrgoRDdSEY
— SZA (@sza) August 22, 2021
Of the three tracks SZA released, including the speculative, late-night creep anthem “Nightbird” and boldly vibrant “I Hate You” demo, the SoundCloud dump also featured the hearty and sentimental “Joni” ballad.
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The singer actually opted to channel the energy and mystique of Frank Ocean’s Blonde/Endless album era to promote an alternative version “Joni” as well with a cryptic visual for fans to experience, as well.
“We got 2 we got twoooo versions,” SZA playful nudged in the tweet.
We got 2 we got twoooo versions. ? https://t.co/2RfnxsfLby
— SZA (@sza) August 22, 2021
Aside from SZA’s appearance on Doja Cat’s Planet Her (Deluxe) album single “Kiss Me More,” SZA’s 2021 releases have been sparse — not to mention she hasn’t dropped an album since her acclaimed 2017 Ctrl LP.
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SZA’s impulsive music drop is yet another fallen domino within the chain reaction of events unfolding at Top Dawg Entertainment over the course of the last year.
In May 2020, SZA actually trashed the label for “dropping the ball,” on her “Good Days” single, which accumulated over 300 million streams on Spotify following the release of the track in December 2019.
“I really hate my label,” she wrote in the initial tweet of a rant. “So much.”
#FreeSZA is trending after tweeting her relationship with her label is “hostile” ? pic.twitter.com/VrHCAWHSTC
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) August 20, 2020
Though SZA went on to explain her remarks weren’t geared toward her manager, TDE President Punch, they were poignant enough to prompt a response from Punch.
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“I am a person and you guys are hurting my feelings,” Punch wrote in a tweet. “I’m gonna remember you n-ggas once the meet and greets pop off again.”
Top Dawg Reacts To Kendrick Lamar's TDE Departure
Given the news of Kung-Fu Kenny’s exit from TDE and label owner Anthony ‘Top Dawg’ Tiffith’s Instagram message detailing the next chapter for Top Dawg following Kendrick Lamar’s absence, fans can only hope more new music from SZA will be a part of the West Coast imprint’s future plans.
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Stream SZA’s “Nightbird” and “I Hate You” releases below.
