SZA got the No. 1 album in the US and the highest first-week streaming for an R&B album in history.
When she dropped off her new album, SOS, just over a week ago, SZA had no idea the project would amount to a blockbuster debate and ignite a fan frenzy around the body of work. In case you saw her trending on Twitter over the past week, it’s because of fans reveling in how amazing the project is. That momentum helped propel her to her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart.
Speaking on her achievement, a humbled SZA says this was not what she had anticipated after dropping off the album.
“A number one album and two songs in the top ten is NOT what I expected,” the R&B singer wrote. “I’m bad at celebrating myself but I wanna thank everybody that rallied around me and positively reinforced me these last few years. Thank you to every person that poured into this album. I love my team . Thank y’all for loving and arguing about the album Lmaoo. Imma take another swing at it for the deluxe then shut up for a while . God is excellent.”
SZA also had two songs off the album debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, namely, “Nobody Gets Me,” an No. 10, and “Kill Bill” at No. 3. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” remains on the coveted top spot as that song continues to break records. Outside of Taylor Swift, SZA is the only female artist this year to simultaneously chart 20 songs on the Hot 100 chart.
SOS clocked 404.58 million streams in the United States in its first week of release, making it the biggest streaming week for an R&B album ever.
SOS is the follow-up to SZA’s 2017 debut album Ctrl, which is currently certified 3X platinum by the RIAA after debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart and No. 1 on the US R&B chart.
