After signing to record label, TDE, SZA released her single, “Teen Spirit.” Teen Spirit is a hauntingly-good track that is part of SZA’s earlier discography as an artist. In the song, she talks about how, as a teenager, it’s common to fool yourself into thinking that you know who you are and how the world works.

In her line “Emmanual, how foolish of me/ To think I had it,” she draws attention to the famous poem “How Foolish We Were” by Emmanuel Oduro. The poem discusses the theme of teenage angst and inexperience including the impact that ignorance can have in your adolescence and beyond.

Over a chilling beat, the entrancing melody is heightened as she recites “Don’t come close/ Don’t come close/ You don’t even know me, know me,” calling to mind the tug of war that many young people find themselves in as they navigate their youth.

As her fans know, SZA is a deeply spiritual artist. In the song, she highlights her spirituality with references to the Bible including the story of Noah and the “Morning Star.”

Normal Girl is an soul-baring song about the desire to be wanted for who you are rather than what you can do for someone.

It starts off by describing her tumultuous inner battle, knowing that the person that she’s intimate with wants nothing more from her. The song also draws attention to society’s gender norms, as she talks about feeling inadequate due to not being the stereotypical girly girl.

Throughout the song, she fluctuates between attempting to change herself and accepting who she is. She explains the meaning behind the lyrics in her Breakfast Club Interview, stating that she “took this idea of, you know, when you want a man he’s unattainable. Like, you want his attention, you want his favor, you want to be the apex of his taste level, like all these things, so it’s just a natural feeling.”

The track’s dazzling upbeat tempo speaks to the anxious longing that SZA has for her love interest in the song.

In the song “Garden,” SZA pens a love letter to her younger self as the final single from her debut album Ctrl. In the song, she discusses her feelings of self-doubt as she navigates a romantic relationship.

Throughout the song, she constantly seeks validation from her lover with lines like, “Lie to me and say my booty gettin’ bigger even if it ain’t” and “You’ll never love me but, I believe you when you say it like that.”

SZA evokes feelings of self-loathing and despair on top of a robust mix of R&B and pop melodies. The outro of the song features a soundbite from her grandmother, who passed away. In the audio clip, her grandmother can be heard encouraging SZA to know when to leave a toxic situation and to always stand her ground.

Paying homage to the hit television show, Martin, SZA writes about one of the main characters, Gina, drawing parallels between her and someone who can’t seem to let loose and enjoy life. The song’s melody is dream-like and wistful, yet heavy—all of which support the themes SZA writes about in the song.

Her storytelling begins with her explaining that “Picking up a penny with a press-on is/ Easier than holding you down,” alluding to the idea that someone is uptight, overbearing, or ungrateful. SZA goes on to say that while she’s been focusing on bettering herself, this person always finds a way to bring her down, similar to Gina’s character.

She ends the songs triumphantly exclaiming that she “belongs to nobody” and highlighting her approach to minding her business works in her favor.

“It works for me, it works for me, no (Go Gina, go Gina)”

The song ends with the lyrics “Go Gina,” taken from the well-known phrase “You go girl” that Martin would typically say to Gina when he was proud of her.

In 2017, SZA released “Supermodel,” another captivating track from her debut album Ctrl. In her interview with MTV News, she describes it as “the easiest song to make” for the album, calling it a “hodge podge” of her thoughts.

SZA talks about her experience dating a guy who had a habit of constantly negging her, a common relationship theme that many of her fans found relatable. She tells interviewers, “he laughed at everything I tried to do. If I tried to sing, or if I thought I was too cute, he’d be like, ‘Haha, no.’” In the empowering break-up song, she writes that she’s leaving him for good, finally coming to her senses that she can do better than him.

And in the ultimate act of revenge, she admits that she cheated on him with his friend.

Her defiant “Oh no, she didn’t, ooh yes, I did/ Oh no, she didn’t, I’ll do it again” is heard over the sound of softly-strumming guitar strings. Although the song’s whimsical melody draws listeners, SZA notes that there’s a lesson there. She learned not to compare herself to other women and hopes that her fans can apply the same message in their personal lives as well.