SZA has revealed she once wanted to become a member of Odd Future way before signing with Top Dawg Entertainment, explaining she was a big fan of the collective.
In a new interview with The New York Times, the New Jersey native reflected on the early days of her career when she was an independent singer looking for somewhere to call her music home. At the time, SZA was putting out tracks where she freestyled over Odd Future beats, which fueled her desire to be a part of the group even more.
“Quiet as it’s kept, I wanted to be with, like, Odd Future,” SZA told The New York Times. “I felt more like a [Odd Future manager Christian Clancy] girl.”
Christian Clancy and his wife, Kelly Clancy, are the founders of 4 Strikes Management, the same firm that managed Odd Future and Frank Ocean. SZA hoped she would find a way to join the collective, but she ended up forming a relationship with TDE once she moved to California.
She signed with TDE in 2013, becoming the first woman to join the label, and the rest is history. Although fans would never know which direction SZA’s career could’ve taken had she found her way to Odd Future, history shows it probably would have led to success.
Odd Future were one of the most exciting collectives in the 2010s ushering in a new era for the culture. Their wild stage antics and shock value tactics built a devoted fan base and propelled various members into other avenues.
Tyler, The Creator is one of the most popular rappers in the game today with six Billboard Top 5 albums (two of which went No. 1) and two back-to-back Grammy wins for Best Rap Album under his belt. Frank Ocean has two Grammys himself and found astronomical success with his two albums, Channel Orange and Blonde.
Other members, such as Syd, Taco and Jasper, have all branched out and found success in their own lanes in music and TV/Film. Missing out on the Odd Future wave wasn’t all too bad for SZA as she found a formidable home with TDE.
The singer has become one of the most popular artists today and has released a pair of critically acclaimed albums in Ctrl and her most recent release, SOS. Her sophomore album went platinum earlier this week, and several singles of hers were certified gold or platinum.
SZA unleashed SOS last December and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with 318,000 equivalent album units sold in its first week. It also grabbed 404.5 million on-demand streams that same week, which broke the record for the biggest streaming week ever for an R&B album, and the second-largest streaming week for an album by a female artist.
SOS spent a total of seven straight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making her the third female artist to have an album spend at least seven weeks at the No. 1 position, alongside Adele and Taylor Swift. SOS has also become the first album in history to keep 10 songs on the Hot 100 singles chart for seven consecutive weeks.
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