Could Lana be on its way? On Sunday night, SZA dropped what appears to be six versions of cover art for the deluxe version of her smash album SOS, simply captioning the images “LANA.” In September the singer revealed the name of her upcoming album, a nickname for the rapper whose real name is Solána Rowe.
Although no release date has been announced, three of the images feature a jersey with the number “15” on it, causing fans to speculate that Lana might arrive on Dec. 15.
Just a few hours prior to dropping the six teasers, SZA reflected on the one-year anniversary of SOS in an Instagram post.
“A day late but Happy 1 year anniversary to an album that is ACTIVELY CHANGING MY LIFE .. like rn currently changing my life,” she wrote. “I haven’t processed this year AT ALL cause it’s still happening .. this is beyond my wildest dreams . I never imagined we’d accomplish a fraction of the accolades that came from this .. it often doesn’t feel real and it’s funny cause I swore I’d know what to do if it ever happened . turns out I froze.”
“I know the perils of drinking the koolaid so I won’t dabble in that .. but I have to express the immense GRATITUDE I have for every person that made this possible,” she continued. “Every person that’s been a part of this journey. Thank you to GOD and to my incredible TEAM and My FAMILY . My ancestors . Thank you to every person that streamed this album , came to a show , blasted it in traffic and connected w ANY part of me . To everyone that continues to believe in me and be patient w me as I figure it all out . your my driving force . I love you.”
SZA recently told Variety, that Lana has grown into “more than she expected.” “It’s definitely turning into its own album, and I guess I could drop a new album randomly because no one’s actually expecting that from me right now. But I can’t tell if now’s the time to be consistent or carefree. On the one hand it’s like, ‘What would Beyoncé do?’ But I am also deeply inspired by people who do whatever the f**k they want, like Frank Ocean and Andre 3000. Some of my favorite songs were the ones that I dropped on SoundCloud because it was so stress-free.”
In October, SZA opened up to Rolling Stone about the downside of fame and the scrutiny that comes with it. “People always say shit like, ‘You signed up for this,’” she said. “That scares me. Because like, no, we didn’t. We signed up to make music, and share our art. Some of us didn’t even sign up to make grand millions. I didn’t think I would get rich making music. But I did want to be cool and get my shit off and be like, ‘Look, my ideas were as cool as I thought they were in my head.’ I failed out of college and, like, I can’t keep a job, but I am a smart, creative person, and have a purpose and function.”
A year ago, at the time of the original album’s release, SZA shared the main theme behind SOS with Rolling Stone. “I think this album was partially inspired by love lost, but mostly inspired by my departure from attempting to be a nice girl,” she explained. “I’ve tried to be a nice girl for so long and it’s just not who I am, inherently. And I think I’ve done nice things and I am a kind person, but I’m not a nice girl. And that’s okay. And I think coming to terms with that and really expanding upon that and exploring that is kind of like this new chapter in my life.”
SZA is currently leading the Grammy nominations with nine nods, including Album of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. The 66th Grammy Awards will take place on Feb. 4, 2024, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.