SZA has spoken candidly about her rise to fame, admitting that she didn’t know what she was signing up for when she started her career.
The R&B star and 2024 Glastonbury headliner appeared on Extra this week to promote her new film One Of Them Days, a female buddy comedy movie in which she co-stars with Keke Palmer.
When asked about her relationship with the nature of fame, she said: “I don’t really know what is happening. I don’t know what the hell going on. I didn’t grow up famous, I grew up in the ‘burbs, I went to regular school, went to regular college, did regular odd jobs until everything popped off.”
“I’ve never been examined in this way,” SZA continued. “I get just a comfortability with letting my shoulders down and knowing that I’m not in danger just because I’m being perceived by people that I don’t know.”
“They be like, ‘That’s what you signed up for,’ and then I’m like, ‘I didn’t even know what I was signing up for, actually,’” she shared. “I just made a couple songs and I was grateful that they were liked, and then I kept going.”
SZA first came to major prominence when she became the first female artists to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2013, and has gone on to pick up four Grammys and a Brit Award.
One Of Them Days, which is produced by Issa Rae and directed by Lawrence Lamont, is in US cinemas now, although no UK release date has yet been announced.
In other SZA news, she recently paid tribute to her late friend and collaborator Mac Miller, following the release of the rapper’s second posthumous record ‘Balloonerism’.
“I love my friend I miss my friend,” she wrote on X. “Grateful he saw something in me before most and treated me w love from day 1 . Wish he could see how right ab everything he truly was . Please go stream Balloonerism RIGHT NOW.”
Meanwhile, SZA’s own new release ‘Lana’ came out last month after almost a year of speculation about its release. Rather than a standalone album, it exists as a deluxe version of her 2022 LP ‘SOS’, her second studio record.
‘Lana’ included a Kendrick Lamar feature on ‘30 For 30’, as well as production from Lil Yachty and Benny Blanco on one track each. Lamar’s feature comes after SZA appeared on his surprise album ‘GNX’, and the pair and labelmates have also announced a joint North American tour for this year.
‘SOS’ has gone on to secure nine Grammy nominations. It has also hit Number One on the Billboard 200 and Number Two on the UK singles chart, as well as being certified 3x Platinum in the US.
In a five-star review, NME described it as “a comeback album well worth the wait”.