"Love Galore" is a song by American singer SZA featuring fellow American singer and rapper Travis Scott. It was released through Top Dawg Entertainment and RCA Records as the second single from the former's debut studio album, Ctrl, on April 28, 2017.
The two artists wrote the song alongside Punch and producers ThankGod4Cody, Carter Lang, and Scum. "Love Galore" received widespread acclaim from music critics and a Grammy nomination at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. An alternate version of the song was included on the deluxe edition of Ctrl, released on the fifth anniversary of the album's release on June 9, 2022, which features an additional verse from SZA that replaces Scott's verse.
Background
The song was recorded in November 2016, during the early stages of developing Ctrl.
While talking about Travis Scott in an interview with Genius, SZA said;
"I’m definitely a huge fan of Travis. I think he merges that super-fine line between melody and syncopation and pocket. And I love his pockets, and I love his note choice. He’s just gnarly. He’s perfect."
The song blends alternative R&B and hip-hop and focuses on themes of love, desire, and the complexities of relationships.
It peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning multiple certifications, including nine-times Platinum status by the RIAA.
Release
SZA premiered "Love Galore" during a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in January 2017. The studio version of the song was uploaded on SZA's SoundCloud account on April 27, and the next day "Love Galore" was released for digital download on iTunes as a single. It is the second single from SZA's album, Ctrl, which was released on June 9.
On the five-year anniversary of Ctrl, SZA released in celebration of the milestone the album's deluxe edition. It contains seven bonus tracks, one of which being a version of "Love Galore" without Scott's verse subtitled "Alt version".
Gerrick Kennedy at the Los Angeles Times called the song SZA's "breakout single". Rolling Stone highlighted the song for its "vulnerability beneath the bravado" in their 2023 edition of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Music video
The music video for the song, directed by Nabil, premiered on April 27, 2017. It was uploaded to SZA's Vevo channel on April 28, 2017.
In it, SZA & Scott appear to prepare for a bondage session in an upstairs bedroom of a house, with the former tying the latter's hands to the bedposts. SZA gets up to look out the window, seeing an old woman sitting in a car across the street. The woman leaves the car and approaches the house as SZA returns to the bed, where she violently slaps Scott. As he struggles to free himself, she goes downstairs and lets the woman in, exiting afterwards. The woman climbs the stairs and enters the bedroom carrying a pickaxe, which she kills Scott with. Afterwards, she sits in a chair in the corner and laughs. Interspersed are scenes of SZA & Scott singing both together and separately in a gray room full of monarch butterflies.
↑Kennedy, Gerrick D. (2017-10-20). "Sza is having a killer year with 'Ctrl'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2025-08-25. It was the day after her sold-out tour played downtown at the Novo, and she had just learned that her breakout single, "Love Galore," had gone platinum —
↑Rolling Stone (2023-12-31). "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-06-04. On "Love Galore," a duet with Travis Scott that describes an ambivalent breakup, she makes clear the vulnerability beneath the bravado: "Gimme a paper towel, gimme another Valium."
