Everyone knows the Grammys from their iconic golden gramophone and artist lineups, along with their performances. The Grammys has always been a significant part of the music industry for many years. The first Grammys to ever be held was in 1959 and has slowly been evolving over time. The Grammys is used to acknowledge the hard work these artists have put into their music and this year showed a lot of that. Many artists were there this year like Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, SZA and so many more.
Throughout last year SZA had a huge impact releasing her album, S.O.S after not releasing another album since 2016 ‘Ctrl’. S.O.S reached over 1.4 billion streams after releasing the album on December 9th, 2023. Every single on S.O.S reached the Billboard Hot 100 except ‘Shirt’. These songs were ‘Good Days’, ‘I Hate U’, ‘Nobody Gets Me’, and her chart-topping singles being ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Snooze’.
SZA had 24 nominations this year for the Grammys. Some of the nominations she had were ‘Best R&B Performance – Kill Bill, “Album of the Year – S.O.S, “Record of the Year – Kill Bill, “Song of the Year – Kill Bill” and so many more nominations. SZA won 3 out of the 24 nominations, her wins being: “Best R&B Song – Snooze”, “ Best Pop Duo/ Group Performance – Ghost in the Machine: SZA featuring Phoebe Bridgers” and “ Best Progressive R&B Album – S.O.S”.
When SZA won her Grammy for “Best R&B Song – Snooze” she was introduced by a good friend of hers, Melissa Viviane Jefferson, or as many people know her by Lizzo. SZA had come to accept her Grammy and gave an appreciation speech along with it. Having Lizzo call out SZA’s win was a massive moment for the both of them because in the speech SZA says “ Lizzo and I have been friends since 2013, when we were both on a tiny Red Bull tour together opening up in a small room for like 100 people and to be on the stage with her is so amazing, I’m so grateful.” SZA then goes on saying “I would like to thank my parents, my mom, my dad, god, Top dog punch, all of TDE, and my siblings at TDE, to my godparents, to my niece.” As SZA continued her speech she had gotten a bit emotional, feeling overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness. In the last bit of her speech she leaves with “ you don’t really understand um I came really really far and I can’t believe this is happening it feels very fake… I’m just very grateful and I’m not an attractive crier. Have a good evening.” Leaving it off on a light note trying not to get emotional in front of everyone SZA left the stage thanking everyone.
During this year’s Grammy performances, SZA performed her chart topping songs, Snooze and Kill Bill. She came out wearing a black trench coat, outfit, and hat and on a set that resembled an alleyway. She started off by singing Snooze Live. Towards the end of Snooze, a backup impersonating an ex-lover started walking up while she was singing, leading into the transition of Kill Bill. As the song started playing, a dancer came out from the audience holding a samurai sword and stood on a table, representing SZA’s music video for Kill Bill. The set changed as the song did and SZA was underneath red curtains as well as her dancers some holding samurai swords. The performance ended with the dancers fighting each other with the swords and SZA walking up some stairs. The same background dancer from Snooze had come back trying to get SZA but the song ended with him falling and the curtains falling.
Overall , SZA has left a huge mark on the music industry and continues to leave a mark in the music world. Sza has gone on tour, released new music and is continuing to grow on her journey. She is a very talented person constantly spreading positivity into the world. This year she has big plans for the industry and we hope to see her at the Grammys next year!