Is Sony about to close out 2023 with a bang?

On 12/10, TDE/RCA’s SZA posted six cover variants of her upcoming deluxe/new album, Lana, to her Instagram account. In several of the images she’s wearing a jersey with the number 15, which immediately sparked speculation that the album would finally be released this Friday, 12/15. SZA fans have been patiently waiting for the project—which may be a deluxe version or companion piece to Album of the Year Grammy nominee SOS—for nearly a year. The R&B phenom has been teasing the deluxe SOS since the first iteration of the album arrived last December.

Meanwhile, the biz is keeping a close eye on Slaughter Gang/Epic’s 21 Savage, who is long overdue for his third album. The Grammy-winning rapper hasn’t released a proper album since 2018's I Am > I Was, though he has participated in such high-profile collaboration projects as 2022’s Her Loss, in tandem with Drake, and 2020’s Savage Mode II with Metro Boomin, both of which debuted at #1. The chatter about his eagerly anticipated return has become deafening.

Insiders aren’t revealing any details, but our fingers are crossed that we'll have more in our stockings on Christmas morning than back issues of HITS. Stay tuned...