SZA has ended her professional relationship with Terrence “Punch” Henderson, who discovered her more than a decade ago.
Source: Christopher Polk / Getty
Less than a week after releasing her new album, SOS Deluxe: Lana, SZA and Punch have parted ways.
The co-president of Top Dawg Entertainment was very involved in the making of Lana before it dropped on Friday, Dec. 20, having teased the project for almost a year.
Only hours after the record’s release, SZA took to X to share some screenshots of her conversations with Punch about releasing even more songs, writing, “punch gave the go ahead to purge and drop all songs .. more things are on the way.” After that, she shared a screenshot of a conversation with her then-manager, which shows her requesting to release three additional tracks called “Take You Down, ” ” PSA, ” and ” Open Arms, ” adding, “they’re all mastered already.”
In the screenshot, Henderson responded by telling SZA to “let this breathe for a week at least” before suggesting they release the songs “for new years or Christmas.”
But, not long after, the end of their professional relationship was announced, making the future of these songs uncertain.
SZA responded to a fan on Instagram asking about the tracks, saying: “Those were tracks punch and I spoke about releasing together prior. Obviously he stepped away abruptly so sorting the drop out was a bit tricky. Pls Give me a second .. they’ll be loaded.”
She went on to clarify that there’s no bad blood between her and Henderson, writing: “And to be clear I love punch deeply ! NO ONE should be attacking him or being cruel on my behalf . Sometimes ppl grow apart and that’s okay.”
“Nothing to celebrate . The end of an era,” she continued. “I wish him the best whatever his choices may be.”
It’s unclear what happened to make Punch “step away abruptly,” though he and SZA have had a turbulent working relationship in the past. Disagreements have led to song and album delays throughout her career, a problem that both of them have brought to social media many times before.
Henderson generates his fair share of hate on social media for being one of the bosses at TDE–a label known for withholding their artist’s music–and he definitely got his fair share of negativity after SZA confirmed he’s no longer her manager.
“SMH. Change your bio and everything goes haywire. Sheesh,” he wrote on X. “I’m beginning to suspect some of you guys don’t fancy me very much.”
Since both SZA and Punch love to take their inner thoughts to X, it seems like we’ll likely find out more about their professional split in the coming days.