On Friday, SZA released her highly-anticipated first single, Hit Different featuring Ty Dolla Sign, after a long, long, long a** break. The Neptunes produced song came accompanied by a self-directed music video currently trending #2 on Youtube. The song is receiving great reviews and, according to Chart Data, earned a top debut on US Spotify. It's currently #9 on Apple Music and #8 on iTunes. Now that we got all the stats out of the way, is the song actually good?
HIT DIFFERENT THE NEXT DAY
My first impression of Hit Different in one word..." meh" I watched the music video, and I guess because I
was not into most of the video, the song just did not do much for me. I remember thinking, SZA was going down the Summer Walker path where the music just doesn't hit the same. However, today I went for a walk and listened to it again, and the song "Hit Different, " pun intended lol. I am upgrading the "meh" to "good." The music sounds better today than it did last night for some reason. I don't think Ty Dolla Sign adds much. I'm not really into him as an artist.
I will say that the song switch at the 3:21 mark in the music video, and the snippet she shared on her Instagram page is what I want more of from SZA. Those songs got me excited about her project. If Hit Different is the weakest song on her forthcoming album, then we are in for a classic.
SZA CRYING WOLF?
The lead-up or the "rollout" to this single was SZA making fans believe that TDE's president Punch was the reason she was not putting out new music. When asked about the music, she directed fans to ask Punch. When asked about their relationship, she said, "it's been hostile." Since this was not the first
complaint that SZA had made against TDE, many fans, including myself, wondered WTF is going on with Punch. Fans started trending #FreeSZA on Twitter. Next thing you know, we get "Hit Different."
I'm all for a good rollout, but if this was planned..."I don't like that." I only have my suspicions because SZA did an interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe, where she spoke about the drama leading up to her song's release. She said that TDE has always asked her about when she will put out her music, respectfully, and do not pressure her even though she thinks they should. In fact, she owns up to her own "haphazard" behavior when it comes to releasing music. SZA told Zane, "If you leave it up to me, no telling when sh*t is going to come out because I have anxiety."
I get artists who want to drum up excitement for their releases, but this crying wolf rollout is not the way to go for me. The next time she tries to accuse TDE of stopping her from releasing music, I will retweet this article. She could be telling the truth, but because she played around, I have to look at her sideways.
What are your thoughts on the song and SZA's rollout?
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I didn't care for the song at all. Maybe it'll grow on me, but I'm not seeing it.