SZA Recalls Crying After Earl Sweatshirt Swiftly Declined Her First-Ever Feature Request

While she was still a rising singer at the time, SZA’s 2014 breakout EP featured some big-name musicians like Chance The Rapper and Kendrick Lamar. Ever since, the singer has worked with her fair share of stars, including a recent collaboration with Justin Timberlake. But collaborating with established musicians wasn’t always easy for the singer, as she recently detailed on social media.

SZA took to Twitter Thursday to recall being heartbroken after her first-ever feature request was turned down. According to the singer, SZA worked up the courage to ask Earl Sweatshirt to lend a verse on one of her early songs. “he told me no faster than I could blink,” she said.

Even though she cried after being rejected, SZA said she still respects the rapper’s talent. “There’s literally ppl that hate me rn that I think are SO talented and idc that they hate me,” she wrote.

Ahead of her story, SZA finally shared an exciting snippet of new music which fans have been anticipating since she teased a 20-track “music dump” last month. The singer shared a screenshot of a text conversation with her mother after sending over a preview of unreleased music. A few hours later, her mom weighed in with some heartwarming words of encouragement. “There is no one quite like you and your sound,” SZA’s mother mused. “Soothing and disrupting at the same time. Such rich variations in texture, tone and tempos.”

SZA still has yet to reveal exactly when her next record will be released. But seeing as her mom gave her music the green light, SZA’s next album could arrive soon.

Earl Sweatshirt is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.