Off topic but Hit Different is really good and despite being old I want it included here

I totally forgot that Paradise was a BTD deluxe

The impression I’m getting is these are new songs in which case like why not let them stand on their own as their own thing. I’m prolly just being a hater

this is what I don't get. new music era just doesn't make sense

the delivery of the music is irrelevant
we are getting 2 sza albums within a year(ish) after a 5 year drought

Ill believe it when it hits spotify

simple, sales and certifications!

People forgetting we got the Ctrl deluxe 5 years later lol. A year for a deluxe is fine

I'm sure like Lana and Paradise, it's a label thing. Lana wanted that to be her follow up album and they just attached it to the album that was already smoking hot. They're just doing what they think is best for the business and the look of it.

Sza actually continuing to drop more and doing feats often after SOS is really dope to see

the RS interview was a good read. an award season campaign cover story if i've ever seen one lol but cool info in here

rollingstone.com/music/music-features/sza-sos-deluxe-grammys-drake-snooze-video-1234830913

"retirement" CANCELED

It’s created a framework for larger projects on the horizon. “For all that s*** we have coming up, like the magazine covers, performing at the Grammys, performing at the Country Music Awards, at the VMAs — things that I would normally say ‘Fuck no’ to because I’m terrified — I’m thinking that I’m going to say yes to because it might change my life,” SZA says.

The success of SOS seems to have raised questions for SZA that she doesn’t have clear answers for — namely, why she wants to take on some of the country’s biggest awards stages. Outside her trailer, I ask what she hopes will come from saying yes. “It’s not even about what I want,” she says. “That’s what’s scary. It’s about what could happen. You perform at the VMAs, you do excellent, you’re bigger. You perform at the Grammys, you do excellent, you’re bigger. You perform at the Grammys, you win Grammys, you’re extra big. You perform at the Country Music Awards and you’re Black and you do a good job — all of those things, what they mean together, is terrifying.”

longer explanation from Punch why he pulled SZA out of the VMAs

(As it turns, out SZA was preparing to perform “Snooze” at the VMAs, but her manager Punch pulled her out of talks with MTV when she wasn’t nominated for Artist of the Year, despite racking up six other noms. This made her the night’s second-most-nominated person, behind Artist of the Year winner Taylor Swift. Punch later told me that when he asked MTV why SZA was snubbed before moving forward with performance logistics, they wouldn’t engage. “That was the disrespect,” he says. “It wasn’t not getting nominated. The ultimate disrespect is you don’t even want to discuss why she wasn’t nominated or what the criteria was.” He adds: “When I asked about the Artist of the Year nomination, they were basically like, ‘She got nominated for a bunch of other ones.’ And to me, that felt like, ‘Shut up and dribble.’ ” MTV did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

this s*** almost deserves its own thread. as fans and consumers we scream about how the Grammys and these awards and accolades don't mean s***, but look at how some of these artists really feel!

Lang was a producer on more than half of Ctrl and played bass on its tour. He recalls Grammy Night 2018 with a sense of deflation, “feeling her pain of having to go rock out onstage,” he says. After the initial losses that evening, SZA laughed, like, “That’s weird that that happened to me on TV,” she remembers. “That night, right before I lost the last two, Tyler the Creator was like, ‘Nah, it would be so f***ing weird if you lost everything and they asked you to perform. That’d be so terrible, don’t even worry.’ Child, when I lost that last one …” she says, her speech slowing. She remembers looking back at Tyler, a few rows behind her, and walking out.

“It’s not normal,” SZA says. “I hate that niggas be acting like this s*** is normal and nobody talks about it at all.” Think about it: having to smile, interview, and even sing through some of the stiffest competition you’ll ever face. “The Grammy room is one of the weirdest rooms ever,” SZA says. “There is so much wanting in there. Wanting to be noticed, wanting to be, like, acknowledged, to win, wanting to just be amongst niggas in the room, wanting to feel valuable or validated. All of us are in there striving for something. It means something, even though, like, this isn’t everything. But it’s kind of important that I’m here. It kind of matters.” Last year, with little on the line personally, she had a blast cheering for people like Beyoncé, Lizzo, Bad Bunny, and Steve Lacy. Still, she says, “it’s like a thirsty, dark space.”

i hate the idea of doing the deluxe like the Uzi album, because that put the new tracks at the top. whenever artists do that, or completely changed the order of the standard edition tracklist to add extra songs (i think Wunna did that for example) i'm just like what happened to the vision? just starts to feel like a random ass collection of songs. hopefully she tacks em on at the end

I think that the convo about grammys is hard to balance

as fans of the music we honestly don't think an album we love becomes Better because it wins an award

but it is good to see your favorite acts get acknowledged on that level for the work they're putting in

Grammys are like a sort of who's who for the music world

so I definitely understand why people like SZA feel blown when they get a bunch of nominations and 0 awards to take home

and then ask them to perform

she originally wanted to release "DTM" the song the teased at the end of the Snooze video, but Bieber recorded vocals for Snooze and they put that out instead. i wonder if that's really the full version at the end of the video or if it'll be extended on LANA.

yeah i just think it's odd to downplay the significance of the establishment and what it means to the artists themselves, just because we may not see our favorite artists or people we feel like deserve to be up there winning. it holds weight, ya know?

I hate when they're unserious like this too

Why would I rate or defend your album if you're not as serious for it yourself?

label just doing anything these days and the artists don't care bro. this s*** the streaming services are doing now when they take an album that was just released a month ago and break it up into a few smaller fake ass "themed" EPs to make it look like new releases i saw some s*** called Pink Tape: Boss Battle and thought he put out a few extra tracks, turns out it was 1 of 5 EPs breaking up Pink Tape, disgusting

Man I reacted the same way I thought I missed out on something

Turns out they just randomly padding streams

They don't care about cohesive thematic experience

It'll surely be extended

Grammys better give this woman album of the year.