SZA follows through on promise to give students free concert tickets

At an event hosted by The Effron Center for the Study of America on Sept. 19, Grammy Award-winning artist Solána Imani Rowe, better known as SZA, who gave the keynote address at the event, promised Princeton students free tickets to a concert in her then-upcoming tour.

“As the organizer and moderator of the event, I was just as surprised as everyone when SZA graciously offered to provide the Effron Center with tickets to distribute to Princeton students during the Q&A,” Effron Center Director Aisha Beliso-De Jesús wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. “Her team followed up with me late last week letting me know that SZA wanted to keep the commitment and were providing us with tickets to distribute.”

A few days later, a few dozen randomly selected students who attended the event received emails informing them that they had received free tickets to SZA’s Sept. 26 concert in Philadelphia. The Effron Center provided free buses to the selected students.

Matt Suh ’25, a longtime SZA fan, was thrilled to hear he had gotten a ticket.

“Everybody was just so so excited. At least for me, I was just like, ‘This is so surreal’... I was like, oh my god, we’re gonna see SZA live,” he said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’

Suh is a contributing Prospect writer for the ‘Prince.’

Osose Egbase ’25 also lucked into a ticket.

“I’ve wanted to go see SZA for a while, but I just couldn’t justify spending like hundreds of dollars on a ticket. So to be able to go for free and with one of my best friends was really, really exciting,” she told the ‘Prince.’

Egbase recalled that when SZA promised to provide free tickets, she didn’t believe her. “I was just saying, it’s like, it’s not actually gonna happen.” Even if SZA did follow through, Egbase said, she didn’t expect so many tickets to be offered.

“During both SZA’s talk and the roundtable discussion, the energy in Richardson Auditorium was electric,” Beliso-De Jesús said of the on-campus event. “SZA, the scholars, the sold out audience — we were all moved by the authenticity and inspiration infused in the stimulating conversation.”

She added, “The Effron Center for the Study of America is so grateful to SZA and her team for their generosity.”

Julian Hartman-Sigall is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’