SZA has had quite the year, led by the release of her debut full-length album, CTRL. While the neo-soul singer has been around for many years at this point, she blasted into the mainstream thanks to both the album and her tantalizing performances. It’s enough that she could easily take the next couple weeks off and cruise into 2018, knowing that she’d conquered 2017 as well as anyone.
But SZA is not ready to let the year end just yet. She’s back with a video for “The Weekend” and it comes with the visionary muscle of Solange behind the camera. It’s a clip that helps to show why she’s got a spark that deserves attention and also helps to cement her authority for the 2018 Grammys, where she is nominated for Best New Artist, Best R&B Performance, and a few others.
The Solange-directed video opens and closes with the text, “one opted out, an imbalance of power, shifted the whole tide, it waved and waved,” bookending SZA’s sultry dancing in various locations like an empty parking deck, an apartment balcony, and some sort of art-deco space. It’s like a sort of foreign film, maybe like Tarkovsky or someone out of Italy, and it has this soft appeal that almost makes it a very personal experience. Of course, it isn’t a personal experience and many are already dropping their reactions to the video online.
https://twitter.com/CristinaBlack/status/944082151548391426
https://twitter.com/ira/status/944080215566888960
If anything is apparent, it’s that it blows the intentionally risque clips put out by Nicki Minaj and other artists away. It captures all the sensuality and sexuality without hitting you over the head with it. “The Weekend” is certainly another triumph to add to SZA’s excellent year.
(Via VEVO)
