SZA

Following the release of her sophomore album, SOS, in December 2022, SZA was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year at the March 1, 2023 ceremony.

“Since she burst onto the scene in 2017, SZA has defied genres and continually released raw, powerful songs which have landed her music on the Billboard charts,” Hannah Karp, Billboard’s editorial director said in a press release announcing the award.

During an interview with Cosmopolitan published in 2021, SZA (pronounced Sizza, and born Solána Rowe), 33, explained that she felt she was still “figuring out” who she was as an artist.

By 2022, SZA told PEOPLE that in the midst of working on SOS, she realized the importance of embracing who she really is.

“Right now I’m just entering my era where I am accepting that I might be a bitch, and that’s OK,” she said. “Not all the time, but I’m not a bubblegum sweetheart and that’s OK.”

She continued, “I’m OK with also being the villain, I’m OK with speaking my mind and just being who God designed me to be.”

Ultimately, she said, this album is her “coming to terms with all the different parts of me.”