SZA brought a couple surprises to her appearance Saturday Night Live on Dec. 3.
In addition to revealing the release date of her sophomore album, S.O.S, the TDE singer-songwriter also debuted a new song from the upcoming set.
For her first song during the Keke Palmer-hosted episode, SZA performed her recent single “Shirt,” which debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this month. Toward the end of the moody song, where she performed against a starry background while flanked by two dancers, SZA cleverly snuck in some imagery announcing the Dec. 9 release date of her long-awaited second album, S.O.S.
Days earlier, SZA unveiled the project’s surreal cover art, which features the artist donning a sports jersey while sitting on the edge of a diving board planted over a large body of water. S.O.S follows her 2017 debut, Ctrl, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
For her second SNL performance, SZA gave another sneak peak of her upcoming album by debuting the new song “Blind.” This time around, the singer opted for a full backing band with strings, while delicately singing the beautiful track amid splashing waves and a hazy lighthouse. This marked SZA’s second SNL appearance following her debut in 2017 in support of Ctrl.
SZA recently covered Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players issue. In the cover story, she questioned her longevity in music and where she sees her career going forward.
“I feel like music, in this capacity, I don’t see longevity,” SZA admitted. “I like to create, I like to write, I like to sing, and I like to share. But I don’t know if chasing after superstardom or whatever I’m supposed to be doing right now is sustainable for me or for anybody. I’mma take a good swing at it, and I’mma give ’em my absolute best.”
Watch SZA’s SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock, which you can sign up for at the link here. Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes as well.
