SZA - Ctrl
Critic Score
Based on 23 reviews
2017 Ratings: #60 / 940
Year End Rank: #3
User Score
2017 Rank: #33
Liked by 1,211 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Line of Best Fit

From start to finish, it's nothing less than outstanding - the late arrival of a very important artist.

100
AllMusic
This is a marked improvement and an indication of more great work to come.
91
A.V. Club

Ctrl is as tough as Damn is tender, and it knocks as hard as The Sun’s Tirade swoons. It’s weirder than any of them, and maybe funnier, too.

90
Drowned in Sound

In Ctrl, SZA draws on her personal experience and explores women’s sexuality in a direct and honest way which was so far mostly reserved to male R&B and pop artists.

90
Exclaim!
SZA's knack for marrying her assorted tastes into an intriguing sound is her strong suit, and coupled with her distinct vocal and songwriting abilities, she comes across here as a consummate artist.
88
GIGsoup
SZA altered her direction in front of a world waiting on her words by discarding the guarded metaphors to evoke and examine darker realities, and ‘CTRL’ is all the better for it. It is a product that sets a new standard, raising the bar for herself and for other artists young and old.
84
Pitchfork
The long-awaited debut from the Jersey singer is an opulent, raw R&B album that constantly tests the borders of the genre. SZA’s deeply personal lens on modern romance gives these songs endless life.
83
Consequence of Sound

With Ctrl, SZA proves that the cult following that ballooned with the release of her 2014 mixtape, Z, was not some flash in the pan, but a deserved wellspring of attention from an adoring fan base whose faith in what she had yet to produce helped to produce the project that could eventually stand as the best thing she has ever done.

83
Pretty Much Amazing

Rowe admits she’s no idea what she’s doing when it comes to being an artist, but CTRL doesn’t suggest this at all. Rather it shows someone with a novel prose and delivery who uses these tools to explore music in ways those before her were unable to do.

80
Crack Magazine

On Ctrl, SZA’s debut retail album, she explores the full range of her voice over laidback hip-hop production that includes the textural variety of live instrumentation.

80
The Irish Times
This debut album is a much more striking affair than earlier releases as the New Jersey singer shows both tough and vulnerable sides with remarkable results.
80
The Sydney Morning Herald

The record blends alternative R&B with trap influences and aggressive lyrics delivered by her antithetically sweet voice ... On her debut album, SZA successfully flaunts her vocal range and her lyricism.

80
FLOOD Magazine
There’s no Nicki Minaj feature, no DJ Mustard club cruncher, no junk-food love songs; it’s great pop without the guilty pleasure factor.
80
The Observer

Languid and soulful, the debut album from New Jersey singer SZA is an immersive dreamscape.

80
Clash
Featuring savage and often heartfelt, diary-like ruminations, ‘CTRL’ pushes against the borders of convention lyrically and sonically, placing it on the upper echelons of potential ‘Best Of ’17’ lists.
80
PopMatters

Making these subtle tonal shifts so impactful is a truly rare feat for a debut record and proves that SZA already has a place among our most heart-wrenching writers and vocalists.

80
No Ripcord

Ctrl is a languid, cavernously soulful debut that is never anything but assured – a collection of delicious jams that are equal parts fragile, cozy and piercing.

80
NME
Across 45 minutes, she breathlessly leaps between genres, and laments on tired and broken relationships in a stream-of-consciousness style that fans of Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ will adore.
78
Paste

As a twenty-something woman who’s been single in the age of social media, SZA’s confessional debut album CTRL is strikingly relatable. But what’s remarkable about it is that she has spun her personal experiences into a soulful, touching R&B record with broad appeal beyond her particular demographic.

75
Spectrum Culture

Throughout the album, the 26 year-old SZA presents herself as an unapologetic femme fatale, often to hilariously blunt effect.

70
The Needle Drop

SZA delivers a strong full-length debut that explores the emotional complexities of being the other woman.

70
Sputnikmusic

It’s ... an assembly of tracks that prevail as mantras of self-affirmation, and it balances the two sides of its character with an awareness that feels like an accident, though it's welcomed all the same.

50
Albumism

A decent soundtrack for summer romance, even if some tracks get lost in the background.

halbery
80

girl frank ocean

barcooper
81

If Dj Khaled was laying on these televisions with no shirt this album would've been a 10.

I will be honest I've listened to this album only because I loved SZA's feature in Utopia, So I wanted to give this album a chance. When I've heard SOS I thought the album was decent, But nothing too special or adventures, And I wanted Ctrl to be more powerful and compelling. And well, Its definitely a huge improvement in my opinion.

This album feels more focused, Tight and conceptual than SOS, I ... read more

grave
84

She Ctrl + C Ctrl + V’d too many TVs on the cover like they were Gmod props

I’ve heard SZA in features before, which was my main drive to listen to this album. I wasn’t familiar with her style, but this was a fantastic showcase of it. I seriously did not expect this to be as amazing as it was.

Ctrl is the debut album of singer SZA. Before this album, SZA would release the odd EP that wouldn't be all that successful commercially or critically, but this album changed the game ... read more

lasyu
73

better than sos imo.

lucidreiji
87

Supermodel - 10
Love Galore - 9
Doves in the Wind - 8
Drew Barrymore - 9
Prom - 7
The Weeknd - 9
Go Gina - 8
Garden (Say It Like Dat) - 9
Broken Clocks - 10
Anything - 8
Wavy (Interlude) - 8
Normal Girl - 10
Pretty Little Birds - 8
20 Something - 9

FRANKTZU
80

This album has a special place in my heart but there's some tracks I usually skip.

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Added on: January 24, 2017