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Solana Rowe's proper debut album, due to its title, invites comparisons to Janet Jackson's 1986 personal and commercial breakout. It's an individual statement, however, one distinct from even the contemporary likes of Kehlani's SweetSexySavage. Placed beside only Z, its three-year-old prelude, Ctrl is the work of a considerably less-inhibited songwriter. Rowe likewise truly fronts these frank songs that wield power as they lament lonesomeness, insecurity, and inertia. She neither projects slight wisps nor obscures herself inside swirling synthesizers, yet she oversells not a single thought. On screen, a slight shrug from her would probably devastate an expectant admirer. In the slow-motion hip-hop soul of "Doves in the Wind," featuring a hectoring verse from fellow TDE artist Kendrick Lamar, Rowe schools inapt and inept male behavior, offering intimate counsel and acerbic derision in a uniquely offhanded style. As assured as she is in this mode, she's not too proud to test a partner ("Call me on my bullshit, lie to me and say my booty gettin' bigger even if it ain't"), express personal dissatisfaction ("All alone still, not a thing in my name"), or plainly grieve ("Do you even know I'm alive?"). The production crew here is almost completely different from the one involved on Z, with TDE regular Tyran Donaldson (aka Antydote and Scum) the lone holdover, present on seven tracks. For every overdone trap trick, there's a couple of sly wrinkles, like the thick, chiming groove in "Go Gina," where Rowe brilliantly illustrates a specific kind of fatigue ("Picking up a penny with a press-on is easier than holding you down") and the woozy, decayed synthesizer line in the Travis Scott-assisted single "Love Galore," ideal for a song about rekindling a dead-end affair. This is a marked improvement, a distinctive statement, and an indication of more great work to come.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
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Mommy, AssociatedPerformer - Pharrell Williams, Background Vocal - Stix, Drums - Scum, Producer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist - Tyran Donaldson, Composer, Lyricist - Gregory Landfair, Jr., Composer, Lyricist - Ray Charles Brown, Engineer
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Travis Scott, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Jacques Webster, Composer, Lyricist - Tristan Bott, Assistant Engineer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - Blake Harden, Recording Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist, Producer - SZA feat. Travis Scott, AssociatedPerformer - Terrence Henderson, Composer, Lyricist - thankgod4cody, Producer - Cody Fayne, Composer, Lyricist - Chris Classick, Engineer
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Dana Stinson, Composer, Lyricist - John Bowman, Composer, Lyricist - Trevor Smith, Composer, Lyricist - Reggie Noble, Composer, Lyricist - James Yancey, Composer, Lyricist - Kendrick Lamar, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Granny, AssociatedPerformer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Cameron Osteen, Composer, Lyricist - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Matt Schaeffer, Recording Engineer - Cam O'bi, Producer - Prophit, Engineer - SZA feat. Kendrick Lamar, AssociatedPerformer
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Mommy, AssociatedPerformer - Scum, Producer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Macie Stewart, Composer, Lyricist, Strings - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist, Producer - Tyran Donaldson, Composer, Lyricist - Prophit, Engineer - Terrence Henderson, Composer, Lyricist
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Scum, Producer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist, AdditionalStudioProducer - Tyran Donaldson, Composer, Lyricist - Prophit, Engineer
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Timothy Mosley, Composer, Lyricist - Justin Timberlake, Composer, Lyricist - Floyd Hills, Composer, Lyricist - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - thankgod4cody, Producer - Cody Fayne, Composer, Lyricist - Chris Classick, Engineer
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Juan Carlos, Engineer - Frank Dukes, AdditionalStudioProducer - Scum, Producer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Adam Feeney, Composer, Lyricist - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist, Producer - Tyran Donaldson, Composer, Lyricist
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Daniel Tannenbaum, Composer, Lyricist - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - Craig Balmoris, Composer, Lyricist, AdditionalStudioProducer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - The Donuts, AdditionalStudioProducer - Bekon, Producer, Engineer - Hector Castro, Producer, Mixing Engineer - Sergiu Adrian Gherman, Composer, Lyricist - Tyler Reese Melenbacher, Composer, Lyricist
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Adam Feeney, Composer, Lyricist - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist - Thomas Paxton-Beesley, Composer, Lyricist - thankgod4cody, Producer - Cody Fayne, Composer, Lyricist - Chris Classick, Engineer - Ashton Simmons, Composer, Lyricist
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Giorgio Moroder, Composer, Lyricist - Donna Summer, Composer, Lyricist - Peter Bellotte, Composer, Lyricist - Scum, Producer, Engineer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - Peter Cottontale, Bass - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Wilkins, Composer, Lyricist - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist, AdditionalStudioProducer - Tyran Donaldson, Composer, Lyricist
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
James Fauntleroy, Composer, Lyricist, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - Blake Harden, Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Lukasz Plas, Composer, Lyricist - Brandon Wood, Assistant Engineer - Prophit, Producer, Engineer, Recording Engineer - thankgod4cody, Producer - Cody Fayne, Composer, Lyricist - SZA feat. James Fauntleroy, AssociatedPerformer
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
JT, Engineer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist, Producer - Tyran Donaldson, Composer, Lyricist - Carrington Harris, Composer, Lyricist
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Josef Leimberg, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, Recording Engineer - Scum, Producer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Isaiah Rashad, FeaturedArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist, Producer - Tyran Donaldson, Composer, Lyricist - Prophit, Engineer - SZA feat. Isaiah Rashad, AssociatedPerformer - Isaiah McClain, Composer, Lyricist
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Mommy, AssociatedPerformer - Scum, Producer - Derek "MixedByAli" Ali, Mixing Engineer - Blake Harden, Engineer - SZA, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Solana Rowe, Composer, Lyricist - Carter Lang, Composer, Lyricist, Producer - Tyran Donaldson, Composer, Lyricist
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
Album review
Solana Rowe's proper debut album, due to its title, invites comparisons to Janet Jackson's 1986 personal and commercial breakout. It's an individual statement, however, one distinct from even the contemporary likes of Kehlani's SweetSexySavage. Placed beside only Z, its three-year-old prelude, Ctrl is the work of a considerably less-inhibited songwriter. Rowe likewise truly fronts these frank songs that wield power as they lament lonesomeness, insecurity, and inertia. She neither projects slight wisps nor obscures herself inside swirling synthesizers, yet she oversells not a single thought. On screen, a slight shrug from her would probably devastate an expectant admirer. In the slow-motion hip-hop soul of "Doves in the Wind," featuring a hectoring verse from fellow TDE artist Kendrick Lamar, Rowe schools inapt and inept male behavior, offering intimate counsel and acerbic derision in a uniquely offhanded style. As assured as she is in this mode, she's not too proud to test a partner ("Call me on my bullshit, lie to me and say my booty gettin' bigger even if it ain't"), express personal dissatisfaction ("All alone still, not a thing in my name"), or plainly grieve ("Do you even know I'm alive?"). The production crew here is almost completely different from the one involved on Z, with TDE regular Tyran Donaldson (aka Antydote and Scum) the lone holdover, present on seven tracks. For every overdone trap trick, there's a couple of sly wrinkles, like the thick, chiming groove in "Go Gina," where Rowe brilliantly illustrates a specific kind of fatigue ("Picking up a penny with a press-on is easier than holding you down") and the woozy, decayed synthesizer line in the Travis Scott-assisted single "Love Galore," ideal for a song about rekindling a dead-end affair. This is a marked improvement, a distinctive statement, and an indication of more great work to come.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 00:49:01
- Main artists: SZA
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Top Dawg Entertainment - RCA Records
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B R&B
(P) 2017 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records
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