All I want for Christmas is new music to gorge myself on. It looked like we might finally have some new Beyoncé (sans her unfaithful sidekick) and SZA as surprise albums under pseudonyms appeared on Spotify and Apple Music.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility for Beyoncé to drop an album online unannounced as she dropped her self-titled album straight to iTunes with no warning in 2013. She had a similar release for Everything is Love with Jay Z as they embarked on the second On The Run tour together. However, the two 10-track projects entitled Have Your Way and Back Up, Rewind released under the mysterious Queen Carter moniker have since been pulled down.
Tracks included “Hey Goldmember” a song taken from her starring role in the third instalment of Austin Powers, which like other projects in her acting portfolio, has become buried in lost 00s pop culture history.
There is no new SZA album out. Old songs were stolen and leaked. We are currently fixing the issue. Please feel free to continue enjoying Ctrl until the next album is ready.
— Punch TDE (@iamstillpunch) December 21, 2018
-Punchino from TDE
Comethru sent SZA fans into overdrive as they celebrated the release of new material under the name Sister Solana, Solana being SZA’s real first name. However, the singer took to her Instagram story to confirm this was an unauthorised project. She called the songs “random scratches from 2015” and said they were "def not new new! But... creative? And scary?"
She promised fans she has actual new music on the way but that didn’t stop people rushing to stream the unheard collaboration with Kendrick Lamar, credited as King Kenny.
In November, Ariana Grande was hit by a mysterious leak of a new album entitled Nobody Does It Betterunder the name Zandhr. The bio for the artist appeared in upside down font similar to Grande’s social media post in the run-up up to Sweetener. However, as the BBC reported a source close to the singer said the album was “not affiliated with her” in any way.
Spotify has declined to comment.