SZA’s SOS begins with Morse code for ships lost at sea. Gemini Rights ends a middle-finger-to-my-ex album with a tender plea. Gemini Rights and SOS share the same theme of breakups and relationships gone wrong. SZA slowly goes from rage to begging a man to notice her, willing to settle for less of a relationship on “Notice Me” to bargaining for more on “Too Late”. Steve Lacy brings a resentful conversational tone in “Mercury” to remorse that feels targeted towards himself on the wildly successful “Bad Habit.”
SZA’s creativity and musical prowess tie in so much with her influences, referencing iconic films on her songs, such as Kill Bill, and singing a track that directly references the things that are done by Beatrix Kiddo. There have been five million projects since 2022, but for me? That was the year of the heartbroken, and Steve Lacy and SZA held it down.
When SOS arrived in December 2022, it was more than just a follow-up to Ctrl—it was one of the most anticipated R&B releases of the decade. SZA had spent five years teasing clips of songs, facing public label disputes, and enduring the weight of Ctrl’s legacy. At some point, I equally lost patience because I had never waited for and wanted anything more in my life. Ctrl and my own world had become so closely tied that I could not wait to see what was next. The singles “Hit Different” and “Good Days” were certainly my favourites, and in a sense, they filled a gap that a sophomore album would have. Indeed, Ctrl stayed on the charts for years because it was a well-loved and resonant album that aged wonderfully. Still, we all wanted what was next. Now that I am older, and SZA has dropped a deluxe version of the album, I understand why that pressure must have been insane. However, it was not for nought. Once the album was released, it was a commercial success and went platinum in my household. Many Ctrl-loyalists who even had the album title tattooed were considering an SOS tattoo and were already claiming that it surpassed the singer’s debut.
The album’s 23 tracks seamlessly moved across genres, pulling in pop and punk, gospel, lo-fi, trap, and rock, while never losing the confessional intimacy that made SZA a generational voice. Although these were genres that I was initially skeptical of, I soon grew to appreciate them because, in my eyes at the time, SZA could do no wrong. While 23 tracks is lengthy, what I do appreciate about it – and some may say is its downfall– is that it can be listened to and enjoyed in different sections. There are some three-track runs I enjoy, and others, I have yet to grow to love. Yes, even three years later.
Meanwhile, Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights, released in July 2022, came as his most polished and fully-realized solo effort after years of being known for his work with The Internet and his lo-fi, self-produced debut Apollo XXI. This album dropped, and reader, I wrote a review after two listens. Needless to say, I loved it. I am proud to say that I am one of Lacy’s earliest fans, so I have been here since the Soundcloud days. I, especially, loved his Pharrell-Kelis-esque run with Ravyn Lenae (who I am also a day one stan of), so I don’t expect harsh judgment for saying that Apollo XXI was not a favourite. I was an outlier, truly. The Recording Academy, my fellow day-one Steve Lacy stan, was in love, but the album just did not resonate with me the way I needed to. This was why I eagerly waited for Gemini Rights the way I did.
In many ways, the album cemented Lacy as a singular talent in modern funk and neo-soul, balancing his signature slick guitar riffs with airy vocals and offbeat lyricism. Both projects landed in a musical landscape still recovering from the pandemic, where audiences were especially drawn to personal storytelling and emotionally complex breakup records – a necessity when faced with increased isolation.
What unites both albums thematically is their refusal to present a linear emotional arc. These are not neatly packaged stories with clean resolutions—they are chaotic, contradictory, and deeply human. Our narrators progress and regress in the vicious game of love. In SOS, SZA allows herself to oscillate between bravado and desperation, often within the same song, mirroring the way heartbreak actually feels in real life. Except at the time, in my small corner of Twitter, a lot of people were lamenting that this heartbreak was shameful and outdated. Which was strange. I loved how SZA fully embraced the embarrassment that came with the experience of loving and being loved. After all, is that not what life is about?
In Gemini Rights, Lacy leans into the messiness of astrology and a terrible relationship with dry humor and the whimsical but breezy production he is known for, as if acknowledging that even in our most dramatic moments, life continues to move forward.
Three years on, both albums still feel tied to specific cultural moments. SOS dominated the Billboard 200 for ten nonconsecutive weeks, an almost unheard-of achievement for a modern R&B album. Tracks like “Kill Bill” became a global phenomenon thanks to TikTok, where millions of users acted out its cinematic revenge fantasy. Later, the love-filled and Leon Thomas produced “Snooze” claimed this spot. In contrast, Gemini Rights built its cultural footprint more slowly, but Bad Habit exploded into one of the biggest hits of 2022, earning Lacy his first No. 1 single and a Grammy.
At their core, SOS and Gemini Rights are breakup albums, but they approach the subject with very different emotional palettes. SZA’s S.O.S unfolds like a sprawling internal monologue, moving through rage, “Smoking on My Ex Pack”, longing “Nobody Gets Me”, self-doubt, “Special”, and reluctant hope on “Good Days”. Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights, on the other hand, delivers its heartbreak in a more concise, almost playful package. Songs like Bad Habit and Helmet dress up frustration in catchy and playful choruses, while tracks like Amber and Cody Freestyle offer quieter, but melancholic textures.
Both SZA and Steve Lacy manage to distill the chaos of failed relationships into works that feel personal yet universally relatable. Additionally, these are both amazing sophomore projects. Where SOS sprawls into a rich, layered mosaic of emotions and genres, Gemini Rights opts for a tighter, more energetic burst of charm and melancholy. In their own ways, both artists reject the idea that heartbreak is something to be neatly resolved; instead, they embrace its contradictions, its messiness, and its lingering bitter aftertaste. They both romanticise how heartbreak is tattooed on our skin like a scar of age.
Written by Nthatile Mavuso
