Around this time last year, SZA joined the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast and shared (among many things) that she “100 percent did not think” she’d enjoy mainstream success. She also discussed the somewhat accidental start to her now-acclaimed music career in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, posted Wednesday, December 13.
“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 said, beginning at the 26:19-mark. After Lowe asked her to whom that mentality was aimed at, she said. “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.”
SZA continued:
“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 a 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.”
The most-nominated artist at the 2024 Grammys went on to explain how ostracized she felt from “the kids from my little suburban town,” her evolution toward how comfortable she feels within herself now, and how she doesn’t “have any more goals” because she’s already achieved more than she ever thought she would. She finished by touching on how she wants “healthy relationships” moving forward.
“My biggest priority now is being an emotionally regulated person with healthy relationships,” she said.
Watch the full interview above.