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50 free SZA trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free SZA trivia questions with answers. SZA went from self-released EPs on Tumblr to the first woman with 100 weeks in the Billboard 200 top ten, and this quiz follows the whole arc. Forty-two questions cover Solana Rowe's childhood in Maplewood, New Jersey, the Wu-Tang-inspired stage name, signing to Top Dawg Entertainment, the long-delayed debut Ctrl, the five-year wait for SOS, the Lana reissue, the hits Kill Bill, Snooze, Good Days and Luther, the Grammys she lost and won, and her partnership with Kendrick Lamar from Babylon to the Grand National Tour. Easy questions ask which film franchise Kill Bill is named after and who she duetted with on Kiss Me More; the hard ones want the album's original title, the college major she abandoned, whose voice is sampled as Granny and the princess referenced on the SOS cover. Made for fans who know their Ctrl deep cuts, and workable for anyone who has had SOS on repeat. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on SZA, her albums and singles, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is SZA's real first name?
Solána
SZA's real name is Solána Imani Rowe; she was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 8, 1989, and adopted SZA as a stage name.
Q 02SZA was born in St. Louis but grew up in which New Jersey town?
Maplewood
SZA grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey, after her family left St. Louis, and attended Columbia High School there; her mother worked for AT&T and her father for CNN.
Q 03SZA's stage name was inspired by the Supreme Alphabet and which two rappers?
RZA and GZA
She modeled the name on Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and GZA; in the Supreme Alphabet the S stands for savior or sovereign, the Z for zig-zag and the A for Allah.
Q 04SZA wore a hijab in elementary and early middle school but stopped after which event, fearing bullying?
The September 11 attacks
SZA stopped wearing her hijab after the September 11 attacks, fearing she would be bullied; raised by a Muslim father and a Christian mother, she attended both Sunday school and Muslim school.
Q 05What did SZA study at Delaware State University before dropping out in her final semester?
Marine biology
SZA studied marine biology at Delaware State University, her third college, and dropped out in her final semester, then worked bar and retail jobs while recording music.
Q 06Which record label signed SZA in July 2013, making her its first female artist?
Top Dawg Entertainment
Top Dawg Entertainment signed SZA in July 2013 as its first female artist; she had met label president Terrence 'Punch' Henderson at a 2011 CMJ show her boyfriend's clothing company sponsored.
Q 07What was the title of SZA's self-released debut EP from October 2012?
See.SZA.Run
See.SZA.Run, self-released in October 2012, was SZA's debut EP; The Guardian likened its moody production to Drake's records, and it earned her early blog attention.
Q 08Which SZA EP, released in April 2014, was led by the single 'Babylon' featuring Kendrick Lamar?
Z
Z, released in April 2014, debuted at number 39 on the Billboard 200 with 6,980 first-week copies and was led by the Kendrick Lamar collaboration 'Babylon'.
Q 09Which rapper delivered a guest verse on the remix of SZA's 2013 song 'Teen Spirit'?
50 Cent
50 Cent rapped the guest verse on the 2013 remix of SZA's 'Teen Spirit', released months after she signed her first label deal.
Q 10Which Rihanna song did SZA co-write and feature on, having planned it as the centrepiece of her own album?
Consideration
SZA co-wrote and sang on 'Consideration', the opening track of Rihanna's 2016 album Anti, after originally intending it for her own record.
Q 11SZA co-wrote 'Feeling Myself', a 2014 collaboration between Beyoncé and which rapper?
Nicki Minaj
SZA holds a writing credit on 'Feeling Myself', Nicki Minaj's 2014 single with Beyoncé from The Pinkprint; she calls Beyoncé her biggest inspiration after her mother.
Q 12What was SZA's debut album originally going to be titled before it became Ctrl?
A
The album was first announced under the one-letter title A, meant to complete the trilogy begun by her two earlier one-letter EPs, before being renamed Ctrl.
Q 13In what year was Ctrl finally released?
2017
Ctrl was released on June 9, 2017, after delays so frustrating that SZA tweeted she was quitting music, then took it back.
Q 21Which December 2020 single, the lead single from SOS, gave SZA her first solo top ten in the US?
Good Days
'Good Days', released on Christmas Day 2020 as the lead single from SOS, peaked at number nine on the Hot 100, SZA's first solo top ten.
Q 22Which SOS track features indie singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers?
Ghost in the Machine
'Ghost in the Machine' pairs SZA with indie singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers and was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2024 Grammys.
Q 23The SOS teaser video hinted at the album's title by playing what?
Its Morse code
The teaser played its Morse code: SOS as three dots, three dashes, three dots, over a snippet of the then-unreleased song 'PSA'.
Q 14Which actress's name is also the title of a single from SZA's album Ctrl?
Drew Barrymore
'Drew Barrymore', the lead single from Ctrl, is named after the actress SZA saw as a fellow misfit; she also named 'Go Gina' after Tisha Campbell's character on Martin.
Q 15Which Ctrl single features Travis Scott?
Love Galore
'Love Galore', the second single from Ctrl, features Travis Scott; the deluxe edition later added an alternate version without his verse alongside six other outtakes.
Q 16Where did Ctrl debut on the Billboard 200?
Number three
Ctrl debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 60,000 first-week units and went on to spend hundreds of consecutive weeks on the chart.
Q 17How many Grammy nominations did SZA receive for Ctrl in 2018, making her that year's most-nominated woman?
Five
SZA earned five nominations at the 2018 Grammys, including Best New Artist and a nod for Ctrl itself, making her the most-nominated woman that year, yet she lost all five.
Q 18'All the Stars', SZA's 2018 duet with Kendrick Lamar, led the soundtrack of which film?
Black Panther
'All the Stars' led the Black Panther soundtrack curated by Kendrick Lamar and earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song plus four Grammy nods including Record of the Year.
Q 19SZA's first Billboard Hot 100 top ten came as a featured artist on 'What Lovers Do' by which band?
Maroon 5
Maroon 5's 'What Lovers Do', featuring SZA, peaked at number nine on the Hot 100, her first top ten, months before 'All the Stars' reached number seven.
Q 20'Kiss Me More', which won SZA her first Grammy, was a collaboration with which artist?
Doja Cat
Its chorus interpolates Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical', so Steve Kipner and Terry Shaddick got writing credits too.
Q 24The SOS album cover, with SZA seated on a diving board over the sea, references a 1997 photo of whom?
Diana, Princess of Wales
The cover restages a 1997 photo of Diana, Princess of Wales, sitting on the diving board of a yacht off Portofino, Italy, weeks before her death.
Q 25How many tracks are on the standard edition of SZA's album SOS?
23
The standard edition of SOS runs 23 tracks and nearly 68 minutes, opening with its title track and closing with 'Forgiveless', making it SZA's longest album.
Q 26SOS broke which two albums' records for the longest-running US top ten by a woman and by a Black artist?
Adele's 21 and Michael Jackson's Thriller
SOS overtook both Adele's 21 and Michael Jackson's Thriller in mid-2024 to become the longest-running Billboard 200 top-ten album by a woman and by a Black artist.
Q 27Which rapper features on 'Used', a track from SZA's album SOS?
Don Toliver
'Used' features Houston rapper Don Toliver; the album's other guest rappers include Travis Scott on 'Open Arms'.
Q 28Which actress from the original Kill Bill films appears in SZA's 'Kill Bill' music video?
Vivica A. Fox
Vivica A. Fox, who played Vernita Green in the Tarantino films, cameos in Christian Breslauer's video, which restages several scenes with SZA in the Bride's role.
Q 29'Kill Bill' ranked third on Billboard's year-end Hot 100 for which year?
2023
'Kill Bill' finished third on Billboard's 2023 year-end Hot 100, behind only Morgan Wallen's 'Last Night' and Miley Cyrus's 'Flowers', after peaking at number one that April.
Q 30Which SOS single won Best R&B Song at the 2024 Grammys, where SZA was the most-nominated artist?
Snooze
'Snooze' won Best R&B Song at the 2024 Grammys, where SZA led all artists with nine nominations; an acoustic version of the song features Justin Bieber.