Drake is hoping that SZA will finally release a song she teased years ago that has yet to be released officially on streaming platforms.
Taking to his Instagram Story on Sunday (January 21), Drizzy shared a screenshot of the New Jersey singer’s unreleased track “Joni” that a fan has posted to SoundCloud.
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“My [goat emoji] pls drop this,” he wrote.
“Joni” was written from the perspective of singer Joni Mitchell and first teased during an interview in early 2020. The following year, SZA dropped a two separate versions of the song on SoundCloud and Instagram respectively, telling fans that its album version would include a feature. However, she has since removed both tracks from her online profiles and has never released the song officially.
SZA and Drake recently collaborated on the 2023 song “Slime You Out,” which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release. However, the singer initially thought Drizzy was trying to sabotage her on the joint project.
During an interview with The Wall Street Journal in October, the 34-year-old explained that she initially sent Drake a demo recording of her part on the song, intending to re-record it for the finished product. After sending him a more polished version, however, the Canadian superstar still used her earlier recording on the final release.
“I just handed in the first draft to Drake, and he’s putting it on his album,” she recalled. “I’m scared because I handed in second vocals and he didn’t use that. And now I’m like, ‘Are you trying to sabotage me?’
“I know that’s not true. I literally know that’s not true, but that’s how bad I feel about my first draft. When things come from an effortless space, I almost can’t enjoy it.”
The pair’s first official collaboration came complete with all sorts of chatter in the media space, including a roast from Charlamagne Tha God and talk about them working together after being romantically linked more than a decade prior.
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The two briefly dated back when the TDE singer was spending a lot of time in New York during the late 2010s, but nothing ever came of it. In a Rolling Stone profile over the fall, SZA clarified that they “were really young” and that “it wasn’t hot and heavy or anything. It was like youth vibes. It was so childish.”
While some thought it was a diss, others felt she was simply saying that they were both young and having a casual fling. The topic of the pair dating was all over social media when Drake first dropped the bombshell, partially due to the fact that she could have been underage based on the timeline he provided.
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“Yeah, said she wanna fuck to some SZA, wait/Cause I used to date SZA back in ’08/If you cool with it, baby, she can still play,” the Toronto native rhymes on “Mr. Right Now.”
The “Kill Bill” hitmaker then took to Twitter and confirmed their relationship, clarifying that she was over the age of 18.
“So it was actually 2009 lol,” she wrote. “In this case a year of poetic rap license mattered. Lol I think he jus innocently rhymed 08 w wait. Anybody who really knows me and was around during this time can confirm.. it’s all love all peace.”
She added: “I just didn’t want anybody thinking anything underage or creepy was happening. Completely innocent. Lifetimes ago.”
