Before Giveon was an R&B superstar, he was a server at a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant in Long Beach, California. When he landed the job, he didn’t know how far his passion for singing would take him. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he recalled a moment from eight years ago, in which he sang for a then-up-and-coming SZA.
While on his way to the third interview for the server job, he saw SZA inside the restaurant.
“I don’t know why Bubba Gump requires three interviews for some reason,” Giveon said. “I’m walking into the third interview and I just see SZA walking and I ambush her like, ‘Hi.’ I just was rambling out the words. I don’t even remember everything I said, but then I said too much. But she was extremely nice.”
At the time of the encounter, SZA had just signed to Top Dawg Entertainment, and had just released her major-label debut EP, Z. While Giveon doesn’t remember exactly what went down during the encounter, he did recall singing a few bars for the “Good Days” singer.
“Yes, I sang for her, OK?! I was gon’ leave that part out,” Giveon continued, following prying from Fallon. “I was a very big fan. Still am. I was singing for her and she was just like, ‘Who is this guy singing?!’ […] She came to a show years later and I told her and she was like, ‘Awww, I don’t remember.’ So I went on Instagram and unsent the DM that I sent her. […] I went to the DM and it said 2014. ‘Hi, my name is Giveon, I was the kid at Long Beach Bubba Gump. Do you remember me?’ I just took it off. If she brings it up, I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Check out the full interview above.
Give Or Take is out now via Epic. Stream it here.