This is one of those times when you just sit back, relax and enjoy music done right. Female vocalist (and Top Dawg Entertainment signee) SZA is the quiet riot that pairs with the intense, raging storm of Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Isiah Rashad to add the certain something that arguably puts the TDE crew over the top. As a lead in to her debut album being one of the five albums promised by TDE in 2014, SZA's productions have all been melodious and introspective soul-stirrers (check out Big Makk speeding up the vocals on "Teen Spirit" and creating a lithe, yet heavy trap banger of a bootleg).
The latest from SZA is "Childs Play," a pairing with beta-male rap star-on-the-rise Chance the Rapper, produced by Orlando lo-fi wizard XXYYXX along with Dae One. The pairing feels like what would've happened if Andre 3000 jumped on a remix of Janet Jackson's "Any Time, Any Place" back in 1993. Sultry vibes blend with a track that coasts along like a river seemingly flowing into a sunset. If this is the path that TDE as a camp wants to take with SZA, then it's a path of least resistance that has the possibility of ending up at the top of the pop charts.
