SZA highlighted SOSthe long-awaited follow-up to her 2017 debut controlin a new interview via painting. Ahead of the December issue, the TDE singer admitted he was feeling “currently nervous” about the impending deadline and the “routine” that comes with it.
The New Jersey native delved into the various delays that plagued the sophomore’s release, including death and illness in her family, touring, and pandemic hurdles, while examining her ability to manage the weight of fan expectations with the pressures of a rapidly expanding platform.
“I feel like a musician,” she said, “in this capacity, I don’t see longevity.” “I love creating, I love writing, I love singing, and I love sharing. But I don’t know if chasing stardom or whatever I’m supposed to be doing right now is sustainable for me or for anyone. .
At one point, SZA explicitly faced the obligations of putting out the album against her desire to be cared for by her paternal grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. “I have an album to hand in at the end of the month, but will it matter by the time I get back to New Jersey and Grandma doesn’t remember me? I don’t know,” she said. “And whose fault would that be? my king. It’s not your fault for having me here – it’s my choice. And those are the things I deal with.”
Elsewhere, SZA opened up about the difficulties of balancing her personal life with the new album cycle. “I could literally burst into tears and run through this wall at any moment. I’m literally falling apart,” she said. “Life is so hard. Being expected to do anything at a high level while life is crazy. This is not intended for a person. It is for a machine. “
TDE President Terrence “Punch” Henderson gave an update on the singer’s productivity, likening her work ethic to an “NBA game scorer” who can cry intermittently. “Recently, I ran and hit about 10 records in a week and a half to two weeks,” he said. “It was a lot of starts and stops and then we finally got into that rhythm.”
Meanwhile, producer ThankGod4Cody, who helped control““Love Galore” and “The Weekend” marvel at her improved songwriting skills, sharing, “The lyrics are so simple…and she’ll write so fast that it scares her—like, ‘Is this really the fire?'” “”
The profile also delved into SZA’s hasty decision to surprisingly release three new tracks in August 2021 via SoundCloud with the singer declaring, “I just do what I want to do, and it makes me feel free, safe, and unrestrained.” She also confirmed that her latest single from October, which featured a music video co-starring Lakeith Stanfield, teases another unreleased song from her upcoming collection.
Read full painting interview here.
