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"Kill Bill" is a song by American singer-songwriter SZA from her second studio album, SOS (2022). The song is titled after the 2003 martial arts film directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Background and composition

"Kill Bill" has been described as a pop-R&B, psychedelic pop, pop-soul, and doo-wop track. Lyrically, it finds the singer harboring resentment towards her former boyfriend after a break-up which she tries to navigate through by consulting a therapist at first. The story takes a darker turn when she expresses desire to kill both him and his current girlfriend. In the end, the narrator has in fact commited double homicide, repeatedly choosing "jail" or "hell" over being "alone".

The perspective of SZA's narration was described as "no exception" to "masters of self-delusion", that she presents over a "spacey, mid-tempo R&B groove". While the lyrics are not directly related to the Kill Bill film series, the plotline implies a specific influence. However, the plot of Kill Bill: Volume 1 tells the story of a female assassin killing her ex-boyfriend. In that regard, the main topic of the song being a "revenge relationship" is based on the movie.

The song was called a fan favorite upon release.

Critical reception

Zoe Guy at Vulture noted the song for being an integral part of "an arsenal of pop-culture references" throughout the album and pointed out the "already well-seasoned lyrics about growing up". Steffanee Wang of Nylon chose the track as the top essential song of the album, praising the artist's ability to showcase her own emotions through "unspooling diaristic toxic thoughts and worst case scenarios". Pitchfork's Julianne Escobedo Shepherd referred to the song as a "stalker lullaby" that the singer uses to convey "all her darkest thoughts". Jon Pareles of The New York Times thought that Rowe sounded "both lighthearted and dangerous" on this "plush R&B ballad".

Commercial performance

With "Kill Bill" and "Nobody Gets Me", another track from SOS, SZA acquired her sixth and seventh top 10 songs in the United States. On the Billboard Hot 100, the country's main record chart for songs, "Kill Bill" debuted at number 3, marking her highest debut on the chart. It also became her highest-charting song as lead artist, tied with Doja Cat's "Kiss Me More" (2021) on which she is featured, as her highest-charting song overall. During its debut week "Kill Bill" was streamed 36.9 million times in the United States, sold 1,000 digital downloads, and had a radio airplay audience of 22,000, according to Luminate Data. With this, the song debuted atop Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, her second number 1 after "I Hate U" in 2021. It was one of 20 SOS tracks that debuted in the chart and one of seven that were in the top 10. Due to its streaming numbers, it also debuted atop Billboard's Streaming Songs chart on the issue dated December 24, 2022, and gave SZA her first number 1 song there. "Kill Bill", along with three other tracks from SOS, were the only non-Christmas songs in the top 10 of the December 24 issue, and it also became the first non-Christmas song since 2018 to be the chart's number 1 entry. Overall, there were 19 album tracks on the issue, which made SZA tie with Taylor Swift for the second-most simultaneous appearances by a female artist in Streaming Songs.

Charts

References

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2. ""Kill Bill": vollendeter R&B-Pop von SZA". Byte FM (in German). December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
3. Kellman, Andy (December 9, 2022). "SOS Review by Andy Kellman". AllMusic. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
4. Hussain, Shahzaib (December 9, 2022). "SZA - SOS". Clash. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
5. ^ "SZA 'Kill Bill' lyrics meaning explained". Capital Xtra. December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
6. Xie, Teresa (December 13, 2022). "SZA, 'Kill Bill'". NPR. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
7. Beamer, Amelia (December 9, 2022). "Sounds from SZA: What is Kill Bill about? SZA lyrics explained". The U.S. Sun. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
8. ^ Pollacco, Laura (December 9, 2022). "A Quentin Tarantino classic gains new life thanks to SZA's new album". We Got This Covered. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
9. Guy, Zoe (December 9, 2022). "Everything SZA References on SOS (Including Herself)". Vulture. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
10. Wang, Steffanee (December 9, 2022). "SZA's SOS in 5 essential songs". Nylon. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
11. Escobedo Shepherd, Julianne (December 9, 2022). "SZA: SOS Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
12. Pareles, Jon (December 13, 2022). "SZA Revels in Mixed Emotions on 'SOS'". The New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
13. Trust, Gary (December 19, 2022). "Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' Scores Milestone 10th Week at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
14. Anderson, Trevor (December 22, 2022). "SZA's 'Kill Bill' Fills No. 1 Spot on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
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37. "SZA Chart History (Billboard Vietnam Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2022.

• 2022 songs
• Number-one singles in New Zealand
• Songs written by SZA
• SZA songs