SZA Drops Surprise ‘Ctrl (Deluxe)’ Album, Maintains 5-Year Run On Billboard 200 Chart

Mya Abraham
·2 min read
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While we wait for SZA’s highly-anticipated follow-up to her massively successful debut album, the singer is celebrating the fifth anniversary of Ctrl with a deluxe edition.

Fans woke up on Thursday (June 9) to the partially surprising release after being teased earlier this week. The deluxe edition of the 5x Grammy-nominated LP contains seven new tracks: “Miles,” “Percolator,” “Awkward,” “Jodie,” an alternate version of “Love Galore” sans Travis Scott, “2AM”—the beloved flip on PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s “Come and See Me”—and the deluxe edition’s focus, “Tread Carefully.”

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Earlier today, she celebrated the actual anniversary with a special message. “This is JUST a gift for camp ctrl . Nothing more nothing less. if u family you get it,” she tweeted. “5 yrs is a long time. Thank you for changing my life I love you . Happy anniversary [white heart emoji] #HAPPYCTRLANNIVERSARY”

Ahead of the deluxe release, SZA took to Twitter late last night explaining that while these songs are new to us, they aren’t for her. “Everything [was] made in 2014-2016 /17… not new lol to be absolutely clear,” she wrote.

Over the past five years, Ctrl has been streamed over 2.3 billion times internationally, is 2x RIAA-certified Platinum, and climbed numerous charts—No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart, No. 2 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. However, the revered album has consecutively remained on the Billboard 200 for the past five years and holds the record for the longest run for any Black female artist’s debut album.

SZA only had one response regarding the momentous feat. “Thank y’all and thank GOD .[white heart emoji],” she tweeted.

She also casually added that fans may receive additional tracks than what appears on the official deluxe. “What isn’t on deluxe maybe on SoundCloud as well tomorrow? Deciding . Spring cleaning old thoughts,” she tweeted.

As we know, a Soundcloud-only release isn’t too far-fetched as that’s where she initially dropped her chart-topper, “I Hate U” on an anonymous account before making it an official single. Either way, we’ll be having these new tracks on repeat in the interim.

Stream Ctrl (Deluxe) below.

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