Behind the Spiritual Band Name: SZA

Although SZA is undoubtedly one of the most visible and accessible pop stars in music today, the origin of her stage name is a bit more niche. Many of her most loyal listeners may not know the inspiration behind her artist name, even though her recent album S.O.S. (2022) stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for 10 weeks and her prior breakout album Ctrl (2017) peaked at No. 3.

In fact, during the rollout and promotion for Ctrl, SZA did multiple interviews where she broke down how she arrived at her moniker. Born Solána Imani Rowe, the now 33-year-old gave an in-depth analysis of the process she used to decide the name the world would come to know her by. Staying in touch with her Islamic faith, SZA’s name is probably more religious than you’d expect.

The Supreme Alphabet

Raised by a Christian mother and Muslim father, SZA has always aligned with the Nation of Islam. So, when she first ran into a dead end when deciding on a name, which she spoke about with Rob Markman of Genius in June 2017, she turned to her faith. Instead of copying the nickname for Chicago rapper Chief Keef, she blazed her own path.

“It just kinda stumbled on me,” she said. “Cause my name is Solána… People called me Sos for short. Sos comes from Sosa. Nobody could call me that at the time, Chief Keef was blazing in the streets. It was weird for me to also be Sosa. SZA just kind of arrived at me, and the Supreme Alphabet and everything else that it meant.”

The Supreme Alphabet is a code developed by Clarence 13X, a pioneer for Islamic thought in America in the mid-1900s. Founding the Five-Perfect Nation, a New York-based black nationalist movement influenced by Islam, Clarence 13X and his followers used the Supreme Alphabet to give deeper meaning to letters based on God and religion.

Just like RZA and GZA of the great Wu-Tang Clan, SZA turned to the Supreme Alphabet to put together a powerful name. The Z and A that all three of them use represent self-awareness and praise for God. In the Supreme Alphabet, the Z translates to Zig-Zag-Zig, and the A resembles Allah. Speaking with InStyle in January 2018, SZA explained the full interpretation of the S, the Z, and the A.

“It’s an acronym derived from the Supreme Alphabet if you’re familiar with Wu-Tang and RZA,” she said. “So each letter stands for a different ideology and theme. The S stands for Sovereign or Self, Savior; the Z stands for Zig-Zag-Zig, which is enlightenment and acknowledgment of one’s self; and the A stands for the most high of all.”

An RZA co-sign leading up to Ctrl‘s release also helped validate this method for SZA. Narrating the album’s trailer, RZA broke down the Supreme Alphabet-inspired name.

Yo, peace and blessings
My name is the RZA, from the all mighty Wu-Tang Clan
I’m zonin’ in with my home girl, SZA
Self-savior, Zig-zag-zig, Allah
Yeah, I think you can take it that far mama
You know what I mean?

One of the most creative and meaningful stage names in all of music, SZA perfectly meshes subtlety and faithfulness.

Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage