SZA‘s breaking records with her album SOS, which dominated the Billboard 200 for a 12th nonconsecutive week. The 2022 original and its recently released deluxe, Lana, earned 130,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 2, according to Luminate, becoming the first R&B album/hip-hop album by a woman to spend 12 weeks at #1 since 1986.
That feat was previously accomplished by Whitney Houston, whose self-titled album stayed atop the Billboard 200 for a total of 14 weeks. She also led The Bodyguard soundtrack, the last R&B album to dominate for 12 weeks, totaling 20 nonconsecutive weeks at #1 in 1992 and 1993. Drake‘s Views was the last R&B/hip-hop album to achieve that feat, marking a total of 13 nonconsecutive weeks as a chart-topper.
SOS is followed by Kendrick Lamar‘s GNX on the Billboard 200, jumping up from #5 to #2. Tyler, The Creator‘s Chromakopia comes in at #10, after previously securing the 27th spot.
With two more albums left to fulfill the terms of her recording label contract, SZA is considering targeting a different audience: children.
“To fulfill my last 2 album requirements I think I just wanna make peaceful children’s music n get outta here,” she wrote on social platform X over the weekend. “Then go be a farmer n donate the produce to underserved communities.”
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