SZA isn’t a fan of having her music categorized in a single genre as she believes it limits people from appreciating her full range as an artist.
In an interview with Dazed published on Wednesday (May 1), the 34-year-old superstar discussed her image in the public eye and how she has been marketed in a way that doesn’t justly reflect her material.
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“The only reason I’m defined as an R&B artist is because I’m Black,” the New Jersey singer said. “It’s almost a little reductive because it doesn’t allow space to be anything else or try anything else. Justin Bieber is not considered an R&B artist; he is a pop artist who makes R&B, folk music, or whatever his heart desires.
“I simply just want to be allowed the same opportunity to make whatever I want without a label, [without it being] based on the colour of my skin, or the crew that I run with, or the beats that I choose. I want “F2F” to be seen as what it is. I want “Nobody Gets Me” to be seen as what it is. I want “Kill Bill” to be seen as what it is.”
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She added: “At the same time, it’s nothing to get bent out of shape about, because it’s just how people are processing you. As long as I don’t process myself that way. I don’t necessarily box myself into anything. I’m just trying to make music, trying to vibe out and enjoy the experience.”
Whereas SZA clearly has her qualms about how she has been presented in the music industry, she hasn’t lost sight of how her fans continue to recognize her brilliance. Last month, she expressed her gratitude to her supporters for making her realize just how great of a song “Snooze” is, especially since she didn’t initially see its charm.
“I’m not gon lie snooze wasn’t my favorite when I made the album but now it’s my favorite hands down,” she wrote on social media. “played it at the beach and it was noiiiiiiceeeee [teary eyed emoji]. I’m late but thank y’all for riding til I got some sense [laughing, heart hands and heart emoji]”
Peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, the SOS cut was the only song to chart in the United States for every single week of 2023 in addition to breaking the record for spending the most weeks atop the R&B/Hip Hop Airplay tallies.
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“Snooze” also won Best R&B Song at the 2024 Grammy Awards and was recently named the greatest R&B song of the streaming era by Spotify.
