Last week I received a little whisper from View The Vibe’s Associate Editor, Azra. She told me to check out the American artist SZA. Before I knew it, my night was filled with listening to her tracks on Soundcloud, watching her videos, and reading about her career and influences. Upon reading about SZA’s inspirations, it was obvious that her music is a mesh of all of those artists. To give you an idea of her sound, artists that have been an influence on SZA are Sade, Lauryn Hill, Bjork (points), and the Wu-Tang Clan. I would call it light, alternative R&B. Vocally, her style reminds me of the sultry Banks and Lana Del Rey. How I’ve never heard of her is beyond me.

Not only has SZA been making music for a few years now, but she’s also worked with some other notable people such as Schoolboy Q, Chance The Rapper, and Jill Scott. Her debut EP, See.SZA.Run, was released in October of 2012 and is available on her Soundcloud along with her follow up EP, S. With positive reviews and growing popularity, earlier this year SZA announced she was releasing her third EP, Z, later in April. She also played SXSW and released a video for the track “Babylon,” which is quite beautiful. SZA is creating waves considering Z debuted on the Billboard 200 in the 39th spot. In my opinion, her music has the perfect vibe for simply chillin’… or baby-making.