PSA (song)
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"PSA" (also called "Potting Season") is a song by American singer-songwriter
SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...
. It was released on February 9, 2025, as part of the extended version of ''
Lana Lana may refer to: *Lana (given name) *Francesco Lana de Terzi (1631–1687), Italian Jesuit priest and scientist *Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter *Lana Turner, American actress *Lana Rhoades, American former adult film actress * CJ Perr ...
'' (2025), the reissue of her second studio album ''
SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...
'' (2022). Prior to this, the song was released on January 5, 2023, as one of two bonus songs on an exclusive digital version of ''SOS''. "PSA" is an orchestral song with a simple, stringed production, consisting of pianos and harps alongside vocal harmonies. The lyrics are delivered in a rap cadence and with braggadocio; SZA demands that people call her nothing but number-one and serve her, says she takes pleasure in angering people, and mocks those she views as " bottom feeders". SZA has performed "PSA" several times during the SOS Tour as the concert opener, as well as at a surprise concert celebrating the release of ''SOS''. The song was used for the official teaser for ''SOS'', yet despite this, it did not appear on the final track list for the standard edition. It was also intended to appear on the initial release of ''Lana'' but was scrapped by SZA's manager.


Background

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...
released her debut studio album, '' Ctrl'', in 2017. Primarily an R&B album with lyrics that address facets of contemporary life and romance, it was commercially successful and received considerable acclaim. Critics credit it for being innovative within the R&B genre and establishing her as a major figure in
contemporary pop Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...
and R&B music. Even so, she grew discontented with being classified as an R&B musician; she later stated that she felt like her music was being reductively categorized because she was a Black woman. After the album's release, media began speculating on when her next one, ''
SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...
'', would arrive. Within the following years, SZA began releasing the first singles from the album, fueling anticipation for ''SOS'', starting with "
Good Days "Good Days" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA. It was released through Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA on December 25, 2020, as the lead single from her second studio album, ''SOS'' (2022). SZA wrote the song alongside Jacob Collier, ...
" in 2020. " I Hate U" followed in 2021, and "
Shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. ...
", which she had been teasing since 2020, was released in October 2022. Upon releasing "Shirt", she posted on
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to reveal that it was finally "album time", and outlets surmised that it would have a December release upon noticing that a car had the date written on the license plate. Later on November 8, during SZA's 33rd birthday, she celebrated the occasion by uploading a video to her
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
account, which uses a snippet of a song titled "PSA", reposting it on social media with the caption "clock starts now."


Music and lyrics

SZA sought to prove her musical versatility with ''SOS'' by imbuing her established sound with elements from multiple genres; one of her visions for the album was to make songs that were orchestral and simple but at the same time aggressive. Producer
Carter Lang Carter Lang is an American record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his production work on SZA's albums ''Ctrl'' (2017) and ''SOS'' (2022), as well as his contributions to Chicago's burgeoning R&B/Hip-Hop scene. Lang was nominated ...
met with Will Miller alongside two other producers to create around 20
demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * Plural for Demo (computer programming ...
that incorporated this sound, inspired by what Lang described to '' Rolling Stone Music Now'' as "very minimal" and "beautifully haunting" pieces. Among the demos were "PSA", also called "Potting Season", alongside the standard edition track " Blind". After they arranged the
layering Layering can refer to: * Layering (horticulture), a means of vegetative propagation * Layering (finance), a strategy in high frequency trading * Layering (linguistics), a principle by which grammaticalisation can be detected * Surface layering ...
on the demos, they sent the songs to SZA for her to write lyrics. Being an orchestral track, "PSA" is a song that consists of soft piano and harps. SZA raps in a braggadocious manner as she harmonizes in the background; in the lyrics, she demands that people call her nothing but "number-one" and serve her so she can cope with her problems, because she doesn't "know how to take losses ..even when they are lost causes." She also says she takes pleasure in making people angry—"pissing
hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...
off just to get off"—then mocks " bottom feeders" who "suck dick by the liter", perceiving them as of less value than her. The closing lines are "you should go cry about it, not trying to fight about it."


Release


As ''SOS'' bonus track

The "PSA" teaser for ''SOS'' was directed by Bradley J. Calder, with
pyrotechnic Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demol ...
and luminescent visual effects by Rick Braukis. Nearly two minutes long, it features alternating shots of SZA in two scenes: in one, she wears a brown bikini and crouches in a ring of neon green fire, and in the other, she pours blue, fluorescent liquid over her naked self by a beach. As the teaser ends, she makes her way towards the sea, and the video cuts to black before playing
Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...
for the
SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...
distress signal. ''SOS'' spent ten weeks at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200, and the tracking week ending January 6, 2023, marked its fourth week at the top. For the following week, there was a chance that
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's ''
Midnights ''Midnights'' is the tenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 21, 2022, by Republic Records. She conceived ''Midnights'' as a concept album about nocturnal ruminations inspired by her sleepl ...
'' (2022) might replace ''SOS'' at number one. On January 5, when tracking was about to end, SZA and Swift tried to boost their respective albums by releasing digital versions that contained exclusive bonus material. SZA's version was available to purchase only on Top Dawg's website, and it contained all 23 tracks from the standard edition alongside two previously unreleased songs. "PSA" was one of the two, and the solo version of " Open Arms" was the other.


As ''Lana'' bonus track

''SOS'' was released on December 9, 2022, and despite being used for the teaser, "PSA" was not one of the 23 songs that made the final cut. SZA said that Punch, president of her label
Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...
, encouraged to excludes unreleased tracks like "PSA" on the standard edition despite her and her fans' wishes because it did not fit with his vision for ''SOS''. According to SZA, he told her that the song sounded "too much like 'Blind and "people
ould Ould is an English surname as well as an element of many Arabic names. In Arabic contexts it is a transliteration of the word wikt:ولد, ولد, meaning "son". Notable people with this surname include: English surname * Edward Ould (1852–190 ...
get bored of hearing" it, saying that only one of them should be on the track list. As a response, SZA suggested that "PSA" could be a bonus track on the album's deluxe edition. The edition developed into an album reissue she called ''
Lana Lana may refer to: *Lana (given name) *Francesco Lana de Terzi (1631–1687), Italian Jesuit priest and scientist *Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter *Lana Turner, American actress *Lana Rhoades, American former adult film actress * CJ Perr ...
'', which would consist in large part of ''SOS'' outtakes. However, like with ''SOS'', Punch scrapped the song from its tracklist. Hours after ''Lana'' release, SZA posted on social media to share text conversations with him, in which she asked permission to release "PSA" sometime soon. Punch replied by saying she can "give it to he fansfor new years or
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
." Due to the holiday break, the label postponed the release to January 6, 2025. The release was postponed again, following some issues with a sample clearance. After a few weeks, SZA's official website was updated to reveal a new release date of February 9. The exact time was 7PM
Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...
, around an hour before her performance with
Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...
at the 2025
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.


Live performances

The first live performance of "PSA" was during the SOS Tour, debuted at her concert at the
Schottenstein Center Value City Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The arena opened in 1998 and is currently the largest by seating capacity in the Big Ten Conference, with 19,049 seats, ...
in
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, on February 21, 2023. Her set lists for the European and North American legs started with "PSA", which she performed as she recreated the album cover art on stage, atop a diving board with a screen behind her that projected a video of the ocean. Once she was done with the song, the screen showed her dive into water below. SZA also played "PSA" during an invitation-only album celebration event in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York, in September 2023 as the third out of seven songs on the set list, which included three other songs intended for the deluxe edition. When she headlined Glastonbury on June 30, 2024, she included "PSA" as her set's opener.


Release history


Notes


References

{{SZA songs 2023 songs SZA songs Songs written by SZA Songs written by Carter Lang Song recordings produced by Carter Lang 2025 songs