Solána Imani Rowe, who is known by her artistic name, SZA was born on November 8th, 1990 in St. Louis, Missouri. Born to a Muslim father and Christian mother, she was raised “orthodox Muslim” and attended “Muslim school” after her regular school. Although she wore a hijab as a child, she stopped due to the bullying she received after the 9/11 attacks. Rowe’s name was inspired by artist RZA—the last two letters mean Zig-Zag and Allah, while the S can stand for sovereign or savior. In October of 2012, SZA released her debut EP, See.SZA.Run. SZA would go on to release another EP to critical acclaim, garnering attention for her artistry and Jazz inspired voice. In 2016, SZA released her debut album, Ctrl, which shot her to mainstream success, debuting at number 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart. Ctrl was ranked as the best album of 2017 by Time. In November 2017, SZA received five Grammy nominations including one for Best New Artist. She received the most nominations of any female artist for the 2018 Awards and was the fourth most nominated artist in total. SZA has cited artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Nicks, and Lauryn Hill as influences. In August of 2018, SZA announced she is launching a clothing line with Champion to promote sustainability by eliminating plastic. She has said 100% of profits will go to charities against the use of plastic. She is currently working on new music.