SZA Blames Sophomore Album Delay On TDE President And RCA

Mya Abraham
·3 min read
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Like the iconic Titanic meme states, “it’s been 84 years” that we’ve been wondering when SZA is going to return with a full-length project. While fans have been blessed with new tunes over the past five years since her debut album, CTRL, there is still no concrete update on her sophomore LP.

Back in May at the 2022 Met Gala, SZA shared with host Lala Anthony that her untitled album was “finally ready to go, more than I’ve ever felt before,” and admittedly stated, “this summer, it’ll be a SZA Summer.”

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However, it seems it may not be a SZA summer after all. Earlier this week, a fan responded to the news of SZA being featured on the remix to Doechii’s “Persuasive.” The comment read, “congrats on the collab, but Summer is almost over & there’s still no album @sza. Please don’t tell me you lied again.”

To which the newly-minted Grammy winner replied, “it’s 100% [TDE president Punch] and rca on this one. I wanted the summer. They wanted more time. [At this point] I’m jus tryna have a good time stress free lol.”

Upon discovering her response, Punch took to Twitter. “Starting to get tired of this. Getting tired of the whole business,” he wrote in a now-deleted tweet. SZA indirectly acknowledged his statement by tweeting, “We all tired.”

As fans continued to inquire about more information, Punch remained coy on the topic. He tweeted lyrics from Tupac’s “So Many Tears” and statements like “They tryna say that I don’t care.” On Thursday (July 21), Punch posed the question, “I’m curious… as a fan of an artist, what do you feel you are owed besides music when it’s presented?”

A clear SZA stan answered, “the thing is, we want sza to be the superstar she has the potential to be. she is a force. we are constantly being obstructed from watching sza shine, as fans who want the absolute best for her.” Not backing down from the obvious challenge, Punch replied, “And you think I don’t?”

In a since-deleted statement (below) shared on Thursday (July 21), though, Punch offered some clarity on the matter. “I guess I should give a bit of context,” he wrote. “SZA and myself initially spoke about a summertime album. Which is why she mentioned summer in a post-Grammys interview. Shortly after discussing everything with RCA and Top, we decided it was best to do it a little bit later to set everything up correctly, giving it its proper space and lead time.”

He concluded, “There is a lot that goes into putting out an album and especially one with much anticipation. We thank you for your continued patience and understanding. An announcement will be coming sooner than you think.”

Terrence "Punch" Henderson, TDE president releases statement on SZA sophomore album delay
Terrence "Punch" Henderson, TDE president releases statement on SZA sophomore album delay

While remaining on the Billboard 200 charts since its release, SZA released the deluxe edition of CTRL in honor of its fifth anniversary this June. It features seven new tracks, including an alternate version of “Love Galore” without Travis Scott and Soundcloud favorite, “2AM.”

Listen below.

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