User:PSA/Seek & Destroy (SZA song)

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"Seek & Destroy"
Song by SZA
from the album SOS
ReleasedDecember 9, 2022 (2022-12-09)
Length3:23
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Solána Rowe
  • Rob Bisel
  • Carter Lang
  • Tyran Donaldson
  • Cody Fayne
Producer(s)
  • Rob Bisel
  • Carter Lang
  • Scum
  • ThankGod4Cody
Lyric video
"Seek & Destroy" on YouTube

"Seek & Destroy" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA from her second studio album, SOS (2022). Written by SZA alongside producers Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, Scum, and ThankGod4Cody, it is a [X genre] song, incorporating [instruments]. Prior to SOS SZA had been known as an R&B artist, and refusing to be described as such because she deemed it racially insensitive, she conceived "Smoking on My Ex Pack" out of a desire to experiment with hip hop music on the album.

[lyrics, critical reception, commercial performance]

Background[edit]

Refer to caption.
SZA performing in Ctrl the Tour (2017–2018)

SZA released her debut studio album, Ctrl, in 2017. Primarily an R&B album that deals with themes like heartbreak, it received widespread acclaim for its vocals and eclectic musical style, as well as the emotional impact and confessional nature of its songwriting. The album brought SZA to mainstream fame, and critics credit it with establishing her status as a major figure in contemporary pop and R&B music and pushing the boundaries of the R&B genre.[note 1] Her next studio album was therefore highly anticipated,[8][9] and she alluded to its completion as early as August 2019 during an interview with DJ Kerwin Frost.[10][11]

From April to May 2022, SZA told media outlets that she had recently finished the album in Hawaii and said that it was coming soon.[12] Wanting to experiment with genres she had not yet incorporated in her discography, she envisioned it to be an amalgamation of various disparate musical styles, or in her words, "a little bit of everything". While some tracks were balladic or soft, certain others had an "aggressive" sound; apart from the "traditional" R&B that had been a staple of SZA's past works, the album also contained prominent elements of hip hop music.[13][14]

Music and production[edit]

SZA wanted to include rap as a major element of her second studio album, SOS (2022), refusing to be described solely as an R&B artist because she was a Black woman: "I love making Black music, period. Something that is just full of energy. Black music doesn't have to just be R&B [...] Why can't we just be expansive and not reductive?"[15] The album contains three rap songs—one in the beginning, one in the end, and one in the middle. "Smoking in the Ex Pack" is the rap song in the middle, placed between many acoustic songs with themes that discuss insecurities in her relationships.[16] Built around a chipmunk soul production,[17] it incorporates a looped, sped-up sample of "Open Up Your Eyes" (1981) by Webster Lewis[18][19] alongside hard-hitting drum beats that give it a boom bap musical style.[20]

"Smoking on My Ex Pack" was produced by Jay Versace, a record producer and a former comedian,[18] whom SZA credits with getting her interested in creating "aggressive" rap music. Versace created the beat for the song sometime in 2022, three years after the two first met up for the album's recording sessions. The production was inspired by boom bap music he had heard from his childhood, many of which reminded him of songs that would play on the car radio during drives with his father. For "Smoking on My Ex Pack", he wanted SZA's take on these childhood songs: "I literally made that for her [...] That was specifically for her."[21]

Versace chose "Open Up Your Eyes" as the song's sample because of his interest in love ballads from the latter half of the 20th century, citing the "really crazy instrumentation in their music". He became hooked with the horns and the vocals in "Open Up Your Eyes" in particular, so he created a sample of it in Ableton and started creating the beat around it. Once he was done, he sent the audio file to SZA, who started writing the lyrics almost immediately. About the production, she texted him: "Your beats are so easy to write to. Why am I already writing lyrics right now?"[21]

Lyrics[edit]

SZA said that while creating SOS, she learned that sometimes she could act like a villainous "bitch", and she had to come to terms with this perception of herself. According to her, many songs in the album centered around themes of revenge and "being pissed" to a degree that she had never felt before. She described how these feelings manifested in its tracks: "It is in the way I say no [...] It's in the fucked up things that I don't apologize for."[22][23] It was Versace who encouraged her to "talk her shit" on "Smoking on My Ex Pack"; its initial version was over 2 minutes long, but SZA scrapped the song's first half because she did not feel confident enough in her rapping skills.[21]

The released version of "Smoking on My Ex Pack" is 1 minute and 23 seconds long.[24] Spin compared the song's lyrics to blind items, or articles that do not disclose the identity of their subject and are frequently gossip pieces.[25] Braggadocio is a major element of the songwriting;[26] in the song's verse, SZA communicates her desirability to other men[27] and announces "them hoe accusations weak" and "them bitch accusations true". After revealing how she embodies those traits by saying she presents an unfriendly attitude and has sex with men she deems heart throbs, she finds various ways to insult her ex-partners.[18][28]

SZA raps about having "your favorite rapper" blocked on social media, saying she heard a rumor that his "dick was wack". She deliberately ignores many athletes who try to flirt in her messages and insist "text me back", and because her "lesser" side loves "all the cap", SZA refuses to make exceptions for any of the men she does not acknowledge.[16][18][28] Then, she addresses an ex-boyfriend seeking to rekindle their relationship: "He screamin', 'Gеt back together', I'm screamin', 'Back of thе bus, trick!'"[29] SZA compares her former romantic partners to a character from The Simpsons named Sideshow Bob, a conservative TV personality and clown who becomes a criminal as the series progresses:[30]

Got you talkin' crazy
Abracadabra, you niggas Sideshow
I'm Bobbin' like Psycho

Release and reception[edit]

From April to May 2022, SZA told media outlets that she had recently finished the album in Hawaii and said it was coming soon.[31] During a Billboard cover story published in November, she revealed the album title and release date, which was scheduled sometime next month.[32] On December 5, 2022, she posted the album's track list on Twitter, and SOS was released four days later. Out of 23 songs, "Smoking on My Ex Pack" appears as the eleventh track.[33][34] Upon its release, the song charted in the United States and Canada, with peaks at numbers 52 and 61, respectively.[35][36] It peaked at number 23 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart[37] and number 71 on the Billboard Global 200.[38]

Critics were positive about SZA's experimenting with rap on "Smoking on My Ex Pack". They welcomed its lyrics as a departure from her other works, which primarily focused on angst and vulnerability, and lauded it for showcasing her more confident side. Much of the praise focused on the harshness and unfiltered nature of her songwriting, which they found clever, funny, or emotionally impactful.[note 2] Vulture and Okayplayer found the song a highlight of her discography;[28][41] Complex listed its rap verse as one of the best of 2022 and argued that SZA's usage of wordplay further strengthened her lyrics.[39] Asking SZA to make more lyrically similar songs, Vulture wrote: "in the context of her career, it's also a flex; her best is not her limit — it's the floor."[28]

Another point of commentary was SZA's flow and delivery, attributes that led critics to think her first attempts at rap music demonstrated her potential to become a good rapper. In the words of The Sydney Morning Herald, "she takes to rapping for the first time and she sounds like a natural, with impeccable flow and a healthy dose of venom."[note 3] For this reason, HipHopDX called "Smoking on My Ex Pack" a highlight of SOS, recommending readers to play it on repeat.[42] Some critics liked how the harsh rapping in "Smoking on My Ex Pack" juxtaposed the soft sound of the album tracks that come before it;[17][39][43] Slant Magazine argued that this provided the album's otherwise weak middle section some much-needed catharsis.[44] Meanwhile, a few others considered the song's length as its primary weakness, feeling like it did not reach its full potential due to its shortness.[28][39]

Credits[edit]

  • Solána Rowe – lead vocals, songwriting
  • Jahlil Gunter – songwriting
  • Raina Taylor – songwriting[a]
  • Clarence Scarborough – songwriting[a]
  • Jay Versace – production
  • Dylan Neustadter – engineering
  • Josh Deguzman – engineering
  • Rob Bisel – engineering
  • Katie Harvey – assistant engineering
  • Noah McCorkle – assistant engineering
  • Syd Tagle – assistant engineering
  • Jon Castelli – mixing
  • Dale Becker – mastering

Note

  1. ^ a b "Smoking on My Ex Pack" contains a sample of "Open Up Your Eyes" (1981) by Webster Lewis, written by Raina Taylor and Skip Scarborough.

Charts[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Cited to multiple sources:
    • Vulture: "Raw, candid writing isn't new for SZA; it's what made the previous album, Ctrl, such a breakout and one of the high marks of the confessional R&B; of the past decade."[1]
    • The Recording Academy: "The release of her critically acclaimed debut album Ctrl in 2017 solidified the artist not only as an R&B mainstay, but soundtracked the heartbreaks and growing pains of millions of young people. With her eloquent vocals and layered storytelling abilities, listeners felt every word like it was their own."[2]
    • The Line of Best Fit: "her debut Ctrl has ascended to classic status, going down as one of the decade's best and cementing SZA's voice at the forefront of contemporary R&B, and of pop."[3]
    • NME: Ctrl "ushered in a new era for R&B, one where the genre's boundaries shifted, bringing new levels of inventiveness into a classic sound and fusing it with indie, alternative, trap and more [...] SZA herself spent the aftermath of Ctrl trying to grapple with her new stardom and the huge impact that had on her life."[4]
    • The Daily Telegraph: "Ctrl, the triple-platinum, four-time Grammy nominated debut that propelled SZA to popstar status"[5]
    • The New Yorker: "Ctrl opened a portal—one that represented not just a major leap for the artist but a breakthrough for the genre itself. Her alternative slow jams pushed her voice to the fore and laid bare all the quirks of her dating life, establishing her as a distinguished millennial anecdotalist in the process."[6]
    • Consequence: In Ctrl, "SZA's personal style of lyricism has always read like an endless diary entry, and the transcendent nature of her genre-shifting abilities helped revolutionize modern R&B and pop."[7]
  2. ^ Cited to the Los Angeles Times,[16] NPR,[18] Vulture,[28], Complex,[39] and The Sydney Morning Herald.[40]
  3. ^ Cited to The Sydney Morning Herald,[40] Exclaim!,[17] Vulture,[28] and Okayplayer.[41]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Curto, Justin (December 9, 2022). "SZA Finally Unleashed Her Inner Rock Star". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Ashlee (December 13, 2022). "5 Takeaways from SZA's New Album SOS". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  3. ^ Taylor, Ims (December 9, 2022). "SZA Hits the Heights on the Dense but Masterful SOS". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  4. ^ Daly, Rhian (December 9, 2022). "SZA – SOS Review: A Comeback Album Well Worth the Wait". NME. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  5. ^ McCormick, Neil; Haider, Arwa; Johnston, Kathleen (December 9, 2022). "Sam Ryder Is No One-Hit Wonder, SZA Channels Princess Diana – The Week's Best Albums". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on December 17, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  6. ^ Pearce, Sheldon. "SZA: Ctrl (Deluxe)". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  7. ^ Siregar, Cady (December 9, 2022). "On SOS, SZA Once Again Blows Expectations Out of the Water". Consequence. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  8. ^ Lee, Cydney; Lipshutz, Jason; Mamo, Heran; Robinson, Kristin; Unterberger, Andrew (January 4, 2023). "Five Burning Questions: SZA Holds at No. 1 for Third Week with SOS Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2022. {{cite magazine}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; January 5, 2023 suggested (help)
  9. ^ Kornhaber, Spencer (December 14, 2022). "What Gives SZA Her Edge". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  10. ^ Robinson, Ellie (June 7, 2021). "SZA Reveals She 'Burst Into Tears' During a Rehearsal of '20 Something'". NME. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  11. ^ Alston, Trey (January 3, 2020). "SZA Is Dropping a New Album This Year but When Is Beyond Her Ctrl". MTV News. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  12. ^ Kenneally, Cerys (April 4, 2022). "SZA Says New Album Is 'Finished' and Describes It as Her 'Most Unisex' Project Yet". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  13. ^ Carmichael, Emma (February 26, 2020). "The Rebirth of SZA". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  14. ^ Blake, Cole (October 16, 2022). "SZA Confirms 'Shirt' Music Video Is on the Way: 'It's Turned In'". HotNewHipHop. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  15. ^ Paige, Deasia (December 13, 2022). "On SOS, SZA Proves She's One of This Generation's Best Songwriters". Elle. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  16. ^ a b c Wood, Mikael (December 9, 2022). "On the Dazzling SOS, SZA Spares No One, Least of All Herself". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  17. ^ a b c McLean, Wesley (December 13, 2022). "SZA Is Untouchable on the Legacy-Defining SOS". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  18. ^ a b c d e Truth, Jerusalem (December 12, 2022). "SZA, 'Smoking on My Ex Pack'". NPR. Archived from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  19. ^ Callas, Brad (January 28, 2023). "Latto Earns Praise from SZA for New 'Smoking on My Ex Pack' Freestyle". Complex. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  20. ^ Jenkins, Craig (December 12, 2022). "SZA Wants It All". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  21. ^ a b c Conteh, Mankaprr (December 12, 2022). "How Jay Versace Got SZA to Talk Her Shit on SOS". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  22. ^ Mendez, Marisa (December 19, 2022). "SZA Earns First No. 1 Album as SOS Tops Billboard 200". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  23. ^ Avila, Daniela (January 5, 2023). "SZA Says She's Embracing Her 'Bitch' Era: 'I'm Not a Bubblegum Sweetheart'". People. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  24. ^ "SOS: SZA". Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA Records. December 9, 2022. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2023 – via Apple Music.
  25. ^ "The 22 Best Albums of 2022". Spin. December 22, 2022. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  26. ^ Hakimian, Rob; McMullen, Chase; Sentz, Tim; Pickard, Joshua; Wohlmacher, John; Finlayson, Ray; Amen, John; Kohner, Kyle; et al. (December 15, 2022). "BPM's Top 50 Albums of 2022". Beats Per Minute. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  27. ^ Wicker, Jewel (December 12, 2022). "SZA Is Trying to Save Herself". Consequence. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g Frank, Jason P. (December 9, 2022). "SZA Lights Up and Spits Fire in 'Smoking on My Ex Pack'". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  29. ^ Woods, Cat (February 1, 2023). "Shakira & Miley Follow a Long History of Women Exposing Their Cheating Exes Through Music". StyleCaster. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  30. ^ Guy, Zoe (December 9, 2022). "Everything SZA References on SOS (Including Herself)". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  31. ^ Kenneally, Cerys (April 4, 2022). "SZA Says New Album Is 'Finished' and Describes It as Her 'Most Unisex' Project Yet". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  32. ^ Serrano, Athena (November 16, 2022). "SZA Is 'Currently Stressed' About Releasing New Album S.O.S.". MTV News. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  33. ^ Curto, Justin (December 5, 2022). "SZA Puts Fans on Alert, Announces New Album S.O.S". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  34. ^ Paul, Larisha (December 5, 2022). "SZA Taps Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott for S.O.S Album". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  35. ^ Cite error: The named reference USAChart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  36. ^ Cite error: The named reference CanadaChart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  37. ^ Cite error: The named reference HotR&BHipHop was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  38. ^ Cite error: The named reference Global200 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  39. ^ a b c d Caraballo, Ecleen Luzmila; Skelton, Eric; Rose, Jordan; McKinney, Jessica; Berry, Peter A. (December 28, 2022). "The Best Rap Verses of 2022". Complex. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  40. ^ a b Moran, Robert; Shand, John; Nguyen, Giselle Au-Nhien (November 29, 2022). "SZA's Addictive Album Is the Summer Soundtrack You've Been Waiting For". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  41. ^ a b Mowatt, Robyn (December 16, 2022). "SZA Strips Herself of Toxic Love on SOS — and Burns Some Bridges, Too". Okayplayer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  42. ^ Fondren, Precious (December 16, 2022). "SZA SOS Reveals Everything We've Wanted to Know for 5 Years". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  43. ^ Assaly, Richie; Grant, Demar; Ejiofor, Annette; Smirlies, Justin; Vega, Manuela; Wong, Madison; Murphy, Aisling; Passafiume, Alessia (December 17, 2022). "Star Tracks: Our 24 Favourite Albums of 2022". The Toronto Star. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  44. ^ Attard, Paul (December 10, 2022). "SZA SOS Review: Finding Comfort Amid the Chaos". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved January 30, 2023.

Category:2022 songs Category:SZA songs Category:Songs written by SZA

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