SZA Blames TDE's Punch & RCA Records For Album Delay, Punch Responds

Punch promises that “an announcement will be coming sooner than you think.”

At this point, SZA fans are close to giving up on her sophomore album. It has been five years since she shared her Ctrl debut, and the TDE songbird’s fans have been pleading—literally begging—SZA and the label for a follow-up record. There have been promises of release dates and teasers about what’s to come, but with each new update comes disappointment as the announcement of a delay is soon to follow.

In both the Summer of 2020 and the Spring of 2021, SZA returned with gripes about her label being responsible for her forthcoming album not seeing the light of day. She also mentioned that she wanted to scrap what she had already begun working on and start anew, further pushing back the album’s impending release.

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Dimitrios Kambouris / Staff / Getty Images

This week, we have another dust-up from SZA and TDE President Punch after she alleged that he and RCA Records were behind her album’s delay.

SZA stated that “it’s 100% punch and rca on this one,” adding that she wanted her album to drop in the summer, but “they wanted more time. Atp I’m just tryna have a good time stress free lol.” Her fans had quite a bit to say as they fired off scathing messages to Punch, and he returned with a statement sharing his perspective.

“I guess I should give a bit of context [eye roll emoji],” he stated. “SZA and myself initially spoke about a summertime album. Which is why she mentioned summer in a post-Grammys interview. Shortly after discussing everything with RCA and Top, we decided it was best to do it a little bit later to set everything up correctly, giving it its proper space and lead time.”

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“There is a lot that goes into putting out a album and especially one with this much anticipation,” he added. “We thank you for your continued patience and understanding. An announcement will be coming sooner than you think.”

Check it out below.