SZA Blames TDE’s Punch & RCA For Album Delay
Months after SZA hinted towards her sophomore album, she got into a Twitter shade-off with TDE President Terrence “Punch” Henderson Jr.
It looks like there won’t be a “SZA summer” anytime soon. One month after honoring the five-year anniversary of her debut album Ctrl with a deluxe edition, on Wednesday (July 20), the singer went to Instagram to answer a fan who’s anticipating her next album.
“Congrats on the collab but Summer is almost over and there’s still no album,” the fan said. “Please don’t tell me you lied again.”
The Grammy-winning vocalist, whose real name is Solana Rowe, responding by putting the weight on Top Dawg Entertainment president Terrence “Punch” Henderson Jr. and RCA Records.
SZA says her album delay is Punch (from TDE) and RCA’s doing.
Punch responds with some words of his own.
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/wOaz06pYY2
— FLAVOR WAVES ? (R&B Playlist) (@flavwaves) July 21, 2022
“it’s 100% punch and rca on this one,” she wrote. “I wanted the summer. They wanted more time. Atp I’m just tryna have a good time stress free lol.”
Punch apparently caught went of the interaction, quote-retweeting it on Twitter with the comment, “Starting to get tired of this. Getting tired of the whole business.”
Starting to get tired of this. Getting tired of this whole business. https://t.co/3F9aYLs9Og
— Punch TDE (@iamstillpunch) July 20, 2022
The tweet went viral, with fans of the “Good Days” singer demanding an explanation about the delay. Shortly after Punch’s tweet, SZA clapped back, saying, “We all tired.”
Punch has since questioned fans, asking, “what do you feel you are owed besides music when it’s presented?”
I’m curious… as a fan of an artist, what do you feel you are owed besides music when it’s presented?
— Punch TDE (@iamstillpunch) July 21, 2022
We all tired .
— SZA (@sza) July 21, 2022
Five years before Kendrick Lamar announced that his latest album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers would be his final release on TDE, in October 2016, Rowe said in a since-deleted tweet that she was quitting TDE citing issues with her debut album.
“I actually quit,” she tweeted at the time. “@iamstillpunch can release my album if he ever feels like it. Y’all be blessed.”
Instead of responding to the singer directly, Punch responded with a picture of the Joker and captioned “Lol.”
In August 2020, SZA tweeted that her relationship with TDE was “hostile” and that went asked about the release of her Ctrl follow-up, Punch answered “soon.”
“At this point y’all gotta ask punch,” she said. “I’ve done all I can do.”
When fans questioned Punch, he responded, “I am a person and you guys are hurting my feelings. I’m gonna remember you n***as once the meet and greets pop off again.”