SZA got into music to make a point to her ex-fiance.
Most aspiring artists want to have a chart hit or become rich and famous, but for the ‘Kill Bill’ hitmaker it was about showing her anonymous former partner, whom she admits she was “co-dependant” on, that she doesn’t need him to make it in life.
The ‘Good Days’ hitmaker has had huge success with her acclaimed LP, ‘SOS’, which references her complicated relationship with her ex.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, she explained: “Some people choose music as a career, and they feel very certain about what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, but I was never quite certain, and I really only did music to prove a point.
She continued: “When I started making music, it was to my ex-fiancé because he was paying for everything. My food, my clothes, where I lived, and he was eight years my senior, so I was so co-dependent.
“And he was so talented, and like, he’s a designer — so brilliant. His ex-girlfriends were all lawyers and businesswomen and artists that went to [Rhode Island School Of Design], and all these things, right? And you know, I’m a college dropout. I’m still bartending at the strip club, so it’s giving — like, I felt like I lacked value. So, when I started trying to make music, it was this thing that I didn’t have to try at but was randomly good at because I’ve always written poetry and always felt emotional.”
After winning a Grammy, going platinum, and meeting her idols, SZA says she has achieved all of her goals and anything else is just a bonus now.
She said: “The business side is scary, but on the creative side, it’s kind of just like, ‘Nah, I don’t have any more goals, so I might as well just try at this point.'”
SZA, 34, went on: “I caught up to that on [2017 debut album] Ctrl.
“I don’t have any more goals, and that sounds terrible, but career-wise … I keep saying that — nobody believes me — but it’s just like you don’t understand. These are my goals.”
Sharing her biggest achievements, she said: “I have already gone platinum — I didn’t think I would ever go platinum — I sold a bunch of records. I got to meet Stevie Wonder, I got to meet Beyoncé and work with her, I got to meet Frank Ocean. My mom came and my dad came to all these cool countries to see me perform. I’ve had sold-out shows, I got to headline a festival.
“Like, what else do I want?
“I’m nominated for Grammys. I’ve won a Grammy. I’m done, for me, personally.
“Anything past this is so much more than I wanted, thought of, dreamed of.”