SZA parts ways with longtime manager after releasing ‘Lana’

SZA has confirmed her split with her longtime manager, only five days after releasing her new album ‘Lana’.

The singer revealed yesterday (December 25) that she had parted ways with Terrence “Punch” Henderson, who she has worked with since 2011.

Henderson, the co-president of Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), had been heavily involved in the making of ‘Lana’, which arrived last Friday (December 20) after almost a year of teasing. Rather than a standalone album, it exists as a deluxe version of her 2022 LP ‘SOS’.

Less than a day after the record’s release, SZA shared screenshots of her conversations with her former manager about releasing even more songs. “punch gave the go ahead to purge and drop all songs .. more things are on the way,” she wrote on Twitter/X, less than a day after the album’s release.

Then, she shared a screenshot of a conversation with Henderson, where she’s requesting to release three additional tracks called ‘Take You Down’, ‘PSA’ and ‘Open Arms’, saying “they’re all mastered already”.

Henderson then responded by telling SZA to “let this breathe for a week at least”, adding: “Give it to them for new years or Christmas”.

Now, it seems the future of those songs is uncertain, after SZA responded to a fan on Instagram asking about them, saying: “those were tracks punch and I spoke about releasing together prior. Obviously he stepped away abruptly so sorting the drop out was a bit tricky. Pls Give me a second .. they’ll be loaded.”

She then added: “And to be clear I love punch deeply ! NO ONE should be attacking him or being cruel on my behalf . Sometimes ppl grow apart and that’s okay.”

“Nothing to celebrate . The end of an era,” she continued. “I wish him the best whatever his choices may be.”

‘Lana”s release was subject to delays, with SZA writing on X the day of its release: “Just needed a few more hours for new mixes to ingest evenly across all platforms.. (mixes are important) love you camp.”

When it was eventually shared at 8pm GMT, and it included a Kendrick Lamar feature on ‘30 For 30’. Elsewhere, there’s production from Lil Yachty and Benny Blanco on one song each.

On December 24, the singer then told fans that she’d be making some changes to the version of the album on streaming services after she re-listened with “a clear mind”. She added that the updated mixes would be live “on Christmas”, writing: “This means nothing to you but had to say it for me lol . Who knows u might notice.”

Lamar’s feature comes after SZA appeared on his surprise album ‘GNX’ last month, and the pair announced a joint North American tour for next year.

The other collaborators on the album are mostly those she worked with on ‘SOS’, including Michael Uzowuru, ThankGod4Cody, Rob Bisel and Carter Lang. You can check out the full tracklist here.

When ‘SOS‘ was released two years ago, it received acclaim from critics, as well as nine Grammy nominations. It hit Number One on the Billboard 200 and Number Two on the UK Single Chart, also being certified 3x Platinum in the US.

In a five-star review of ‘SOS’, NME described it as “a comeback album well worth the wait,” adding: “I’m making the best album of my life for this next album,” SZA told Flaunt in 2020 and ‘SOS’ is just that – a phenomenal record that barely puts a foot wrong and raises the bar even higher than she set it before. That quote, though, came with a caveat: “Because it’s going to be my last album.” Here’s hoping SZA reneges on that declaration but, if this is the last we hear from here, at least she’s going out on the highest of highs.”