SZA has officially added another major honor to her résumé — and this one celebrates the place she calls home.
The Grammy-winning singer was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame on Thursday, Sept. 24, during a ceremony at American Dream in East Rutherford. SZA was recognized in the Performing Arts & Entertainment category, with actor and fellow Hall of Famer Danny DeVito hosting the event.
Although SZA was born in St. Louis, New Jersey is where much of her identity was shaped. She was raised in Maplewood and attended Columbia High School before becoming an international music star.
During her acceptance speech, SZA made it clear that the Garden State still holds a special place in her heart.
“I just want to say, I love Jersey, every corner of Jersey,” she told the crowd.
She also made sure to represent her home county.
“I love my county. Shout out to Essex County,” SZA said.
The singer, whose full name is Solána Imani Rowe, looked back on the more ordinary parts of her New Jersey upbringing, recalling Maplewood Middle School and jobs she held before music became her career.
Those included working at Village Trattoria in Maplewood and at a sneaker store in Irvington.
SZA also reflected on the diversity she experienced growing up in New Jersey, pointing to the different cultures and communities that surrounded her. She specifically mentioned Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood while revisiting memories from her childhood.
For SZA, that experience is part of what makes New Jersey deserving of greater recognition.
“Sometimes people [skip] over Jersey and go straight to New York,” she said.
Her parents, Audrey and Abdul Mubarak-Rowe, were also part of the celebration. Both reflected on watching SZA grow into an artist, with her mother recalling that she always believed her daughter would accomplish something significant even before knowing exactly what path she would take.
Her father also recalled hearing Ctrl and discovering another side of his daughter through her songwriting.
SZA later described the induction as “one of the biggest honors I’ve ever had.”
That honor arrives after a career filled with major milestones. SZA has won seven Grammy Awards and, according to the organization, accumulated more than 70 billion streams across platforms.
Her 2017 debut album, Ctrl, helped establish her as one of R&B’s defining voices.
Now, years after the Maplewood school days and local jobs she remembered from the stage, SZA has another piece of New Jersey history attached to her name.
