SZA can exhale. During an interview with Rolling Stone last week, she shared that she “never thought in a million years that people would like” SOS, her sophomore album, before its highly hyped December 9 arrival. Well, SOS became her first career No. 1 album last week with 318,000 first-week equivalent album units, per Billboard, and Barack Obama probably contributed to those numbers.
SZA held firm at No. 1 on the new Billboard 200 chart dated December 31 for a second consecutive week. According to the publication’s Luminate data source, SOS netted 180,000 equivalent US album units in the week ending on December 22.
Tracks “Kill Bill” and “Nobody Gets Me” also debuted at Nos. 3 and 10, respectively, on last week’s Billboard Hot 100. “Blind” came in at No. 12, with “Low” at No. 17, “Love Language” at No. 21, “Seek & Destroy” at No. 24, “Snooze” at No. 29, and “Used” featuring Don Toliver at No. 30. Elsewhere on the Billboard charts, “Kill Bill” notched SZA her first career No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and second career No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
This week’s Billboard 200 top five is rounded out by Taylor Swift’s Midnights (No. 2), RM’s Indigo (No. 3), Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains (No. 4), and Michael Bublé’s Christmas (No. 5). Drake and 21 Savage’s record-setting Her Loss collaborative album fell out of the top five to No. 6.
SZA will take SOS on the road with opener Omar Apollo for her first-ever arena tour beginning February 21, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio.
