Photo Credit: SZA by Erin Cazes for The Come Up Show / CC by 2.0
SZA officially cuts ties with her longtime manager, Terrrence ‘Punch’ Henderson, the co-president of Top Dawg Entertainment.
R&B star SZA has severed ties with her longtime manager, Terrence “Punch” Henderson, the co-president of Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). Their partnership started in 2012 and played a key role in SZA’s rise as a contemporary music superstar over the last decade.
SZA announced the news on her Instagram Story, expressing gratitude for her time spent working with Punch. “Nothing to celebrate. The end of an era. I wish him the best, whatever his choices may be,” wrote SZA.
She also discouraged her fans from being negative toward him on social media. “And to be clear, I love Punch deeply,” she wrote. “NO ONE should be attacking him or being cruel on my behalf. Sometimes people grow apart, and that’s okay.”
During her time working with Punch at TDE, SZA released two critically acclaimed albums, Ctrl and SOS, the latter of which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It also held this position for 10 consecutive weeks, an impressive milestone for an R&B album. Both releases helped cement SZA among the top influential voices of her generation.
Meanwhile, TDE has not yet released an official statement about the split, but SZA’s social media posts emphasize the split is amicable. That’s despite the apparent fallout between the two after the chaos surrounding the release of the deluxe version of SOS, Lana.
SZA mentioned in an earlier Instagram post tracks left off the album despite speaking to Punch about them beforehand. “Those were tracks Punch and I spoke about releasing together prior,” she wrote last week about the release of the tracks “PSA” and “Take You Down.” “Obviously he stepped away abruptly so sorting the drop out was a bit tricky.”
It seems likely the split is still related to the issues with Lana, but SZA is encouraging her fans to remain mature about it.