Seraphina Lotkhamnga on October 16th, 2013

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R&B isn’t just a man’s world anymore. Sure, the ladies will still swoon over Miguel and the Weeknd, but with artists like Solange, Jessie Ware, Banks and more, strong innovative females are taking the genre in their own hands. Enter SZA (rhymes with GZA), whose real name is Solana Rowe. She’s the first female signed to Top Dawg Entertainment (home to Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock) and she’s also the first singer to join the label. Rowe’s previously released two EPs, “See.SZA.Run” and “S,” under the same moniker – when you load “S” into iTunes, the genre pops up as “Glitter Trap” by the way – but her next EP, “Z” shows the most color and range within her songwriting skills. Newer songs like “Julia” boast a pop sheen on top of her R&B vocals while “Teen Spirit” pays attention only to the groove and builds from there. If there happens to be a collaboration with Lamar on the EP somewhere, well, that’s just the icing on the cake.

||| Stream: “Julia” and “Teen Spirit”

||| Live: SZA plays Thursday at El Rey Theatre with Little Dragon.

Photo by Carlos Gonzalez