SZA Explains Why Certain Fan-Favorite Songs Were Excluded From New Album, ‘SOS’
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SZA claims the decision to exclude certain fan-favorite tracks from her new album SOS was not her own, explaining that members of her team and TDE boss Terrence “Punch” Henderson fine-tuned the album’s tracklist. A clip from an interview with Rolling Stone detailed how the final cut came to be.
“A song called ‘Boy from South Detroit’ that Twitter wanted really bad, Rob [Bisel] nor Punch [Terrence Henderson] really cared about that song,” the 33-year-old explained. “They weren’t excited about it and Rob was just like, ‘I don’t really think this is the song.’ And then Punch was indifferent about the song, but I was like, ‘No, I really believe in this!’”
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She continued to explain that songs such as “Joni,” “PSA” and “Plotting Season” were each critiqued and excluded.
SZA revealed why fan-favorite tracks like “PSA”, “Boy from South Detroit”, "Joni "and more did not make it onto the ‘SOS’ album: pic.twitter.com/wh33woJ6tu
— Buzzing Pop (@BuzzingPop) December 19, 2022
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“Punch is an expert, I’m not an expert at tracklisting. It’s actually one of my weakest points, period,” SZA shared. “All I know how to do is make the music that I want.”
Despite not featuring the aforementioned anticipated tracks, SZA fans still have the certified gold album on repeat. SOS, released on Dec. 9, is the Grammy Award-winning musician’s first album to debut at No. 1. According to a press release, the expressive body of work has been streamed over 400 million times in the US since its release, resulting in the second largest streaming week for a female artist, third largest among all albums in 2022.
Standout tracks “Kill Bill” and “Nobody Gets Me” ranked at No. 3 and No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the former also becoming SZA’s first No. 1 Global hit on the Spotify and Apple Music charts.
The commercially successful album still has more to add to SZA’s accomplished resume. Embarking on her first cross-country arena journey, the SOS North American tour sold out once tickets were released. The “Broken Clocks” singer kicks off the trek in February 2023 in Columbus, OH with additional stops in Chicago, Toronto, New York, Atlanta, Seattle, and more before wrapping up in Los Angeles.
Check out SOS, which features Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott, Don Toliver, and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard below.
