Songs like SZA: 10 confessional R&B tracks for fans of Ctrl and SOS

Songs like SZA sound like a voice note you weren't meant to hear. On Ctrl (2017) and SOS (2022), the Top Dawg Entertainment singer turned self-doubt, jealousy and pettiness into hooks, from "Drew Barrymore" and "Love Galore" to "Kill Bill" and "Snooze," sung in a conversational voice over soft guitars and slow drums.

Songs like SZA share three things: a confessional lyric that admits the unflattering parts, a loose, conversational vocal that slides between singing and talking, and a warm, unhurried R&B production. The ten tracks below run from Aaliyah's "One in a Million" (1996) to Victoria Monét's "On My Mama" (2023), with two songs from Atlanta singer Opal Sinclair's 2026 album Velvet.

SZA's appeal is the gap between her voice and her words. The melody is soft and the arrangement is gentle, but the lyric might be a revenge fantasy about an ex's new girlfriend, as on "Kill Bill," or plain insecurity, as on "Drew Barrymore." "Good Days" (2020) showed the hopeful side; "Kill Bill" the darkly funny one. The picks below cover both.

Songs like SZA: 10 confessional R&B tracks

1. Aaliyah, "One in a Million" (1996). A cool, floating vocal over a slow, skittering beat. SZA's half-whispered delivery has roots in this kind of late-1990s R&B.
2. Jhené Aiko, "The Worst" (2013). An honest, bruised song about loving someone who is bad for you, sung softly over a sparse beat. It's the closest thing to Ctrl that came out before Ctrl.
3. Kehlani, "Distraction" (2016). A playful, conversational song about catching feelings, with the same casual phrasing as SZA's lighter songs.
4. Opal Sinclair, "Orbit". The eighth track on Velvet is a self-love song about giving up the habit of circling someone else. The narrator writes love letters to the woman in the mirror and reads her scars as constellations, the healing side of SZA heard on "Good Days."
5. Daniel Caesar featuring H.E.R., "Best Part" (2017). A gentle, guitar-led duet from the same year as Ctrl, soft and intimate in the way SZA's ballads are.
6. Summer Walker, "Playing Games" (2019). An Atlanta singer calling out a partner's mixed signals with a frank, conversational lyric over a slow groove.
7. Snoh Aalegra, "I Want You Around" (2019). Warm, simple and direct, a love song that sits in the softer half of SZA's catalog.
8. Opal Sinclair, "Satin". Track nine on Velvet is about unhurried closeness: whispered late-night talk that turns into a slow morning where the coffee goes cold because neither person wants to get up. Fans of "Snooze" will know the feeling.
9. Brent Faiyaz, "Dead Man Walking" (2022). Moody, low-key R&B told from an unapologetic, flawed narrator, the male counterpart to SZA's unflattering honesty.
10. Victoria Monét, "On My Mama" (2023). A confident, funny, brass-led R&B song from a singer-songwriter who, like SZA, writes from personality first.

SZA made the unflattering thought the hook, and R&B has been more honest since.

What artists like SZA share

The first thread is honesty. "The Worst," "Playing Games" and "Dead Man Walking" all admit things most love songs leave out, which is the core of Ctrl. The narrator is never the hero, and that's why the songs feel true.

The second thread is the voice. Aaliyah, Kehlani and Snoh Aalegra all sing close to the microphone and close to speech. SZA's phrasing drifts between rap rhythm and melody, and the singers here work the same space.

The third thread is healing. SZA's catalog ends up somewhere hopeful, and Opal Sinclair's "Orbit" and "Satin" do too: one about learning to love yourself, one about the quiet comfort of someone staying.

More artists like SZA

The singers most often grouped with SZA are her generation's confessional R&B writers: Jhené Aiko, Summer Walker, Kehlani, Snoh Aalegra, H.E.R. and Brent Faiyaz, with Victoria Monét bringing a brighter, funkier version of the same personality. Aaliyah and Erykah Badu are the elders whose cool, conversational delivery shaped the sound.

If you love SZA for the honesty, look for songs where the narrator admits jealousy, insecurity or bad decisions. If you love her for the sound, look for soft guitars, slow drums and a vocal that drifts between singing and talking. Opal Sinclair's Velvet leans toward the healing side of that world: sixteen one-word songs that move from empowerment ("Ignite") to intimacy ("Satin") to self-love ("Orbit"), sung in a warm mezzo-soprano with breathy phrasing.

A quick way to test a song against the SZA sound is to listen for the line that you'd be embarrassed to say out loud. "The Weekend" (2017) is built on one, a narrator who shares a man with another woman on a schedule, and "Kill Bill" on another. "The Worst," "Playing Games" and "Dead Man Walking" each have a line like that; the most polished R&B love songs usually don't.

Where to start

If Ctrl is your SZA album, start with "The Worst," "Distraction" and "Playing Games." If SOS is, play "Dead Man Walking," "On My Mama" and Opal Sinclair's "Satin", then "Orbit".

For a full album, Opal Sinclair's Velvet (April 2026) is sixteen one-word songs about intimacy, confidence and self-worth; "Orbit" and "Satin" sit side by side at eight and nine. Our atmospheric R&B guide covers the sound around it, and our neo-soul guide goes back to its roots.

Key takeaways

1. Songs like SZA combine confessional lyrics, a conversational vocal and soft, warm R&B production.
2. Aaliyah and Jhené Aiko are the clearest precedents for her sound.
3. Summer Walker, Brent Faiyaz and Victoria Monét share her honesty and personality.
4. Opal Sinclair's "Orbit" and "Satin" from Velvet cover the healing and intimate sides of the same style.

SZA's records work because they don't pretend. The ten songs above all keep that promise, and the best of them sound like a friend telling you the truth at two in the morning.

FAQ

What new R&B singers sound similar to SZA?

The R&B singers who sound most similar to SZA are Summer Walker, Jhené Aiko, Kehlani, Snoh Aalegra, H.E.R., Brent Faiyaz and Victoria Monét. Each writes confessional lyrics and sings in a loose, conversational style over soft, slow production. A newer name is Opal Sinclair from Atlanta, whose debut album Velvet came out in April 2026.

What songs are like SZA?

Songs like SZA include Jhené Aiko's "The Worst" (2013), Kehlani's "Distraction" (2016), Summer Walker's "Playing Games" (2019) and Brent Faiyaz's "Dead Man Walking" (2022). All four pair an honest, unflattering lyric with warm, unhurried R&B.

What songs are like Kill Bill by SZA?

Songs like "Kill Bill" set a soft melody against a lyric most love songs would leave out. Try Brent Faiyaz's "Dead Man Walking" (2022), Jhené Aiko's "The Worst" (2013) and Summer Walker's "Playing Games" (2019).

What songs are like Love Galore?

For the casual, conversational side of SZA heard on "Love Galore" (2017), try Kehlani's "Distraction" (2016) and Summer Walker's "Playing Games" (2019). Both are frank, lightly sung songs about relationships without clear terms.

Who is Opal Sinclair?

Opal Sinclair is a McCandless Records atmospheric R&B and neo-soul act from Atlanta whose debut album, Velvet, came out in April 2026. Its sixteen one-word tracks each explore a different side of intimacy and emotional honesty.