Ctrl (2017)

Ctrl (pronounced Control) is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter SZA. It was released on June 9, 2017, by Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and RCA Records. The album features guest appearances from Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, James Fauntleroy, and Isaiah Rashad. Production was handled by Craig Balmoris, Frank Dukes, Carter Lang, Scum, and ThankGod4Cody, among others. The album was supported by five singles: "Drew Barrymore", "Love Galore", "The Weekend", "Broken Clocks", and "Garden (Say It like Dat)", all of which are certified Double Platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Upon release, Ctrl was a massive critical and commercial success, and catapulted SZA into stardom. The album received acclaim from music critics, many of whom praised its cohesiveness and production, as well as SZA's vocal delivery. The album debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200, moving 60,000 equivalent-album units in its first week. The album and its songs were nominated for four Grammy Awards, while SZA was nominated for Best New Artist. It was also included in several year-end best music lists by publications. The album was ranked at 472 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

Background

After meeting members of Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) during the CMJ 2011, a friend attending the show with her foisted early SZA songs onto TDE president Terrence "Punch" Henderson, who liked the material and stayed in touch. Two years later, in June 2013, Top Dawg Entertainment announced they were planning to sign two more artists. On July 14, it was revealed Top Dawg had signed an upcoming female singer named SZA to the label; through this deal, SZA released Z (2014). Following the release of Z, SZA began working on her debut album and writing for other artists including Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj, and Anti's opening track "Consideration" for Rihanna, which she featured on. The debut album faced various setbacks, initially promised at the end of 2015, then at the start of 2016. In October 2016, she criticized her label for the delays and stated she would be quitting.

SZA revealed that her debut would be similar to S (2013) and would include trap influences with more aggressive lyrics, she also announced that she began working with James Fauntleroy, Hit-Boy, and long time collaborator Felix Snow. Speaking on the conception of the album, SZA stated that she had spent four years just doing music: "I've been burying friends, burying family members, burying weight, the way I feel about myself, the way I feel about God, the way I process information." The album was also inspired by SZA's view of control in her life. Speaking on this she stated "Ctrl is a concept. I've lacked control my whole life and I think I've craved it my whole life." The album was originally titled A.

Writing and recording

The album's sessions began in 2014 and took place at the TDE Red Room in Carson, California. The album's recording process was described as being analog and featured the unplugging and re-plugging of wires in order to create the desired sound. During the album's studio sessions, SZA and the album's producers would go into the studio, and filter through the recorded songs and beats to decide if the songs were good or worth experimenting with in order to make better. SZA would search songs that were in the top 40 charts during various years including the 1940s and 1980s, she would then listen to their style, beats and synths to gain some inspiration. Throughout the album's recording process, record producer Rick Rubin helped SZA's creative process. "I had this mentality that 'more is more' -- more reverb, more background [vocals]," stating "I played him a bunch of songs, and he would tell me, 'The more you take away from any piece, the more room you create for everything else to be beautiful and grow.' I never felt that before, the editing urge. Once you strip everything down, you're forced to say something."

In 2015, SZA was introduced to Carter Lang by Peter Cottontale in Chicago. After performing together at Lollapalooza that same year, SZA and Lang along with producer Tyron "Scum" Donaldson began to develop a rapport on the road to creating her debut album. The three held studio sessions across the country from Los Angeles to Chicago and even setting up shop in Carter's Michigan home in 2016, where they constructed the Travis Scott-assisted "Love Galore" in Lang's mom's office using studio equipment he brought there. Lang, Tyran Donaldson, ThankGod4Cody and other producers would challenge each other and send each other different music to work on. SZA would then listen the music and want to create from that. During the producers' competition of who could create the better song, they collectively created "Broken Clocks". "Drew Barrymore" was conceived at Lang's studio in Chicago in 2016. Lang ended up notching production credits on eight tracks from the album.