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Behind the Music: The Audio Engineer

February 14, 2023

The music industry is a place full of musicians, producers, and creators who have the magical ability to make those perfect sounds we hear everyday through our digital devices. We want to listen close

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Koji Kondo: Nintendo’s Melody Maestro

February 14, 2023

What do popular video games franchises Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Star Fox all have in common? They were all produced and published by Nintendo, and the iconic music themes that you hear in...

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Taylor Swift on Industry Sexism and Music Rights

February 8, 2023

Being a successful woman in the music industry is no easy feat. Not only do they deal with the typical trials and tribulations of being a musician, but there are also gender-specific challenges.

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What’s the Ideal Length for a Single— Are Songs Getting Shorter?

February 8, 2023

“Is it just me, or are songs getting shorter these days?” This is a question I have often pondered, especially in the last few years. It appears that in the era of social media, attention spans are

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SG Lewis: Who Is He - and What’s Next For This Rising Star?

February 6, 2023

SG Lewis (Samuel George Lewis) is a rising star in the dance/electronic music realm. He is a DJ/producer turned singer-songwriter, and is known for his disco-inspired, transcendent sound. He routinely

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Lessons to Learn From the Launch Of Sam Smith’s “Unholy”

February 4, 2023

Sam Smith just released their new album “Gloria” on the 27th of January. As described by Pitchfork, “Gloria flips between hyperpop, country, dancehall, disco, 2-step, and intimate, Kehlani-esque R&B”.

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Are Virtual Idols the Future of Music?

February 5, 2023

Virtual reality and the metaverse have become popular topics in the music industry where more and more technology and music have been combined, creating something that could revolutionize the entire

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Grammy Awards Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical: The Category Songwriters Deserve

February 5, 2023

The 65th annual GRAMMY Awards are here, and there's a long-awaited addition to the awards. This year marks the introduction of a new category: the Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical Award. For all

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How Zach Bryan’s Authenticity Makes His Music So Appealing, Even to Non-Country Fans

January 31, 2023

Zach Bryan released his first album in 2019, and in the short time since he has become one of the biggest names in country. His biggest album, “American Heartbreak”, broke single-day album streaming

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Miley Cyrus is Going to Take Over Pop in 2023

January 31, 2023

Miley Cyrus was born into the music industry, and has spent her career channelling her Nashville and Hollywood roots into a diverse discography stacked with hits. Add to that countless covers that are

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Why This Pop-Rock Band Got Hate For Starting On YouTube

January 31, 2023

Before the invention of TikTok, many music artists gained popularity through YouTube. However, similar to the TikTok stars of today, people in the music industry saw ‘YouTube bands’ as lesser because

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Will Google End Work for Music Creators with their New Music AI?

February 1, 2023

Google has done it. They have created an AI that can generate music from text descriptions. The announcement of this is timely because recently Chat GPT, (a language learning model created by OpenAI

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Breaking Down The Genius of SZA’s Album ‘SOS’

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92.5 The Beat

Since SZA has released her latest album ‘SOS’, it has made a lot of buzz in the music industry. The album has received positive reviews for its combination of R&B, pop, and hip-hop and featured other artists like Travis Scott, Doja Cat, Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

The strong vocals and relatable lyrics in the album resonated with fans for its honesty and vulnerability, addressing self-love, heartbreak and empowerment from her ex-fiance. With her hit song “I Hate U” becoming a viral trend all over social media in 2021, the release of SOS was highly anticipated.

Billboard

This isn’t SZA’s first rodeo of album success. When her album ‘Ctrl’ came out in 2017, that’s when she started gaining recognition. The theme of ‘Ctrl’ was similar to ‘SOS’ but what makes her latest album different is its raw and blunt lyrics in a variety of the tracks.

The most played track in the album “Kill Bill,” has received over 800,000,000 million streams on Spotify. This song is not like many other songs, SZA’a ability to express her sarcasm in a catchy and soulful way is what got fans addicted to it.

Despite the fact that ‘SOS’ became a big hit, SZA revealed in an interview with HOT 97 that the process of creating it was so stressful that she never wanted to put music out again. It seems like a lot of artists can feel this way when there's a lot of pressure to succeed.

Streetz 94.5

Other viral tracks in the album also include “Blind,” and “Nobody Gets Me,”which are both amazing songs where fans can feel the vulnerability just by listening to the lyrics. It’s hard when you can’t see the red flags and no one else understands (pun intended).

As you listen to the other tracks, a majority of the album is inspired from SZA’s breakup with her ex-fiance. It just goes to show that celebrities are capable of experiencing love and pain as she shares her personal journey to her fans.

he album's title alone, 'SOS', speaks to the challenges that she has overcome and may even be a cry for help. It’s an evocative and powerful album that has captured many fans’ hearts.

Check the full interview of SZA by HOT 97, down below.