Ctrl

Reviewing Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: #472

Overrated/Underrated?: Overrated

While I don't think SZA's debut was groundbreaking the way many critics at the time did, it's a solid R&B release with an emotional depth and lyrical maturity that's kind of rare for an artist this early in her career. It would foreshadow her much better sophomore release where she would establish herself as a real force in pop music.

I definitely found the production on some of these tracks to be a bit flat but a few songs in, I realized I didn't mind this so much since it really allowed for SZA to shine as a vocalist and a lyricist. There are tracks that have pretty interesting production here like 'Anything' and the instant classic 'Drew Barrymore'.

I wouldn't include this in my personal 500 but I guess if you're looking for modern R&B, this is an okay pick (considering the fact that SOS hadn't come out at the time the list was published).

Highlights: 'Drew Barrymore', 'Prom', 'The Weekend'