The album features guest appearances from Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard.

SZA worked with a variety of record producers and songwriters such as Babyface, Jeff Bhasker, Rob Bisel, Benny Blanco, Darkchild, DJ Dahi, Ant Clemons, and Lizzo.

[1] Primarily an R&B album that deals with themes of heartbreak and self-discovery, Ctrl was widely acclaimed by critics for its vocal performances and eclectic musical style, as well as the relatability, emotional impact, and confessional nature of its songwriting.

The album brought SZA to mainstream fame, and critics credit it with establishing her status as a major figure in contemporary pop and R&B music and pushing the boundaries of the R&B genre.

[13] Four months prior, Punch, CEO of SZA's record label Top Dawg Entertainment, teased that he had begun overseeing ideas for the project.

[16][17] When asked by a fan on Twitter whether new music was coming soon, she replied that she and Punch had been discussing a potential release date scheduled for 2020 and she felt anxious about the build-up to that day.

[18] The next month, an interview between her and Rolling Stone was published, in which she announced recent collaborations with American record producer Timbaland, as well as Australian singer-songwriter Sia with whom she wrote three songs.

Alleging that the label was the reason for the postponement, she affirmed one fan's suspicion that she had been having hostile interactions with Top Dawg, and when someone showed her a post from Punch saying that the album would be released soon, SZA replied with "this is all he says to me as well.

"[24][25] Vulture and Variety noted that Ctrl also suffered a similar problem with its release date; SZA quarrelled with Top Dawg executives over its two-year delay and threatened to quit music because of it.

[28] From April to May 2022, SZA told media outlets that she had recently finished the album in Hawaii, describing it as her most relatable or "unisex" body of work she had made to date.

[34] During a Billboard cover story published in November, SZA revealed the title of her second studio album was SOS, scheduled for release sometime next month.

[46][47] SZA worked with a number of songwriters and record producers including Babyface, Jeff Bhasker, Rob Bisel, Benny Blanco, Darkchild, DJ Dahi, Ant Clemons, and Lizzo.

[50][51] Whereas he sought to create uptempo tracks on Ctrl to contrast the album's more alternative songs, he was "throwing paint at the wall" and seeing which musical ideas worked well for SOS.

[50] The experimental sounds are present in tracks like the single "I Hate U" (2021), which Shelby Stewart of Okayplayer wrote felt "light with sublime progressions that sway with SZA's mood".

[57][58] SZA told Billboard that the sound of the album is "a varied palette",[59] drawing on surf rock and grunge in parts alongside "her beloved lo-fi beats".

The cover is a reference to a 1997 photo of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a similar pose aboard a yacht during a trip in Portofino, Italy, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea.

[66] On the cover, SZA wears a modified version of the St. Louis Blues hockey jersey, with her name on the back and the album title on the sleeves.

[67] The jersey was designed by SZA's art director, Jas Bell, who also worked with her on merchandise and cover artwork for the album's three pre-release singles.

SZA reported on the decision to associate the cover and album with Princess Diana's photo:[70] Originally I was supposed to be on top of, like, a shipping barge[.]

[71] Every single from SOS, but "Shirt", reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100—"Good Days", "I Hate U", "Nobody Gets Me", the chart-topping "Kill Bill", and "Snooze".

[78] On December 13, 2022, SZA took to social media to announce merchandise for SOS, which included the St. Louis Blues jersey she wore in the cover art.

[95] In November 2024, British Vogue claimed that the deluxe edition of SOS was said to be releasing that fall, alongside the singer's third studio album Lana.

[96] Lana eventually became the name of the deluxe edition of SOS, which was released on December 20, 2024 and featured an additional 15 tracks, including the singles "Saturn" and "Drive".

[106] Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Pitchfork named the album "Best New Music", stressing how it "solidifies her position as a generational talent, an artist who translates her innermost feelings into indelible moments".

Petridis found that the songs "shine harder individually than taken in toto, where the sheer profusion causes them to merge into one, blended by a mood of stoned melancholy", with a final product of a "unwieldy" album, where SZA sounds as "a fabulous vocalist, powerful but unshowy, capable of shifting seamlessly into melodic rap".

[102] NME's writer Rhian Daly reported that "under SZA's command it feels cohesive, organic and like every skip into a new genre is completely justified for each track", pointing out that SOS is "a phenomenal record that barely puts a foot wrong and raises the bar even higher than she set it before".

[5] Cady Siregar by Consequence defined the album "an assured, ambitious, expansive, and genre-defying journey into the very depths of heartbreak and the many shades it comes in".

The journalist emphasized that in Ctrl there is no predefined musical genre, because "the theme lies in her vocal prowess, the daringness of her vision, and her lyrical frankness".

In the Sydney Morning Herald, Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen commented that the album's December release was a "bold move" and a reminder that critics should have waited until the year was almost over before curating their rankings.

These include Mesfin Fekadu for The Hollywood Reporter (2nd out of 10 albums),[108] Jem Aswad for Variety (10th out of 10),[109] Allan Raible for Good Morning America (10th out of 50),[110] Spin (10th out of 22),[111] Consequence (11th out of 50),[112] and Beats Per Minute (22nd out of 50).