The real reason SZA started making music

With the amount of success she’s had in her career, it’s hard to imagine a world without SZA’s music. But if she didn’t have this motive, we may not have had any of her discography today. 

On Wednesday, Apple Music released an interview with the R&B phenom and Zane Lowe ahead of her Brooklyn SOS Tour show. Prior to the release of her highly anticipated SOS deluxe album, LANA, SZA talked about being perceived, connecting with her fans, and the preparation for her tour.  

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SZA is one this generation’s most successful and critically acclaimed artists, but her start in music wasn’t necessarily fueled by the desire to create art, but rather to prove a point. When Lowe asked her who she was trying to prove a point to, she disclosed that it was to her ex-fiancé.

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“When I started making music, it was to my ex-fiancé because he was paying for everything,” SZA said. “My food, my clothes, where I lived and he was eight years my senior and I was so codependent, and he was so talented.”

SZA went on to describe how she felt that the women from her ex-fiancé’s past were so accomplished and how she compared herself to them. 

“His ex-girlfriends were all lawyers, business women and artists that went to RISD and all these things, and I’m a college dropout,” SZA said. “I’m still bartending at the strip club. So it’s giving, I felt like I lacked value.”

Anyone listening to SZA’s work knows that she has learned about her worth, but they also know that her struggle with navigating her self-worth is something she continues to struggle with throughout her music. Fans also know that her intensely honest lyricism and connection to her emotions is what sets her apart from most artists, something she stated made her successful too. 

“So when I started trying to make music, it was this thing that I didn’t have to try at, but I was randomly good at because I’ve always written poetry and always felt emotional,” SZA said. 

SZA added how the breadcrumbs of music she would put out would be eaten up by people on the internet, fueling her desire to make more music. And while she lacked vocal training, access to producers, and an understanding of music theory at that time, there was one thing she did have. 

“I did have taste, though,” SZA said. “Taste is important.”

Well, when you have a collection of number one songs, albums, and awards, one can’t argue with that. 

Check out the full interview below.